psychology
This habit makes you happier – and lets you live 8 years longer
© Mary Long / Adobe Stock
What really makes us happy in the long term? In any case, money, success and material things are not. According to a sociologist, we should rather focus on something else.
We probably all know that feeling: We’ve been working towards a goal for a long time, maybe a promotion or the financial possibility of being able to buy something specific. When we finally reach it, there is great joy. We are proud and grateful. But somehow that feeling doesn’t last as long as we imagined. We need the next feeling of happiness quickly – and thus end up in a vicious circle: striving – reaching – satisfaction – longing – striving and so on.
The Hedonistic Treadmill: Our Pursuit of Happiness
Psychologists call this phenomenon the hedonistic treadmill. It describes the human tendency to strive for certain things – an important-sounding job title, a lot of money, a new handbag or a home, for example. Once we have achieved that, our happiness jumps up, our brain releases dopamine, but only for a very short time. We get back to our base level of happiness very quickly, no matter how many wonderful goals we achieve or how many things we buy.
The problem: The more often we experience the short happy high, the faster we want to do it again. We become downright addicted and need the next big thing that will make us “happy” – until we quickly get down to earth, our base level of happiness, and start all over again.
How do we become (more) satisfied in the long term?
So how can we be happy in the long term – and outsmart the hedonistic treadmill? Countless clever people have already dealt with this from a philosophical, psychological and theological point of view. dr Arthur Brooks is a sociologist and author and has developed a plan that will make us happier in the long term: We should diversify our happiness portfolio.
He explains to “mindbodygreen” how he ironically uses an image from the stock market: Instead of relying on just one or a few not particularly sustainable stocks (money, success) for our life satisfaction, we should rather look for other building blocks for our portfolio . Because the more diverse our lives are, the more likely it is that we will be satisfied in the long term. These can be, for example, hobbies that bring us joy over a longer period of time, or small moments of happiness that we discover in everyday things.
Why purpose is so important
According to Dr. Brooks the subject of purpose. Anyone who strives for professional success can of course do so – but the person should be sure of their motives for doing so. Climbing the corporate ladder probably won’t make us happy just for money or status. But if we have a job in which we see a meaning that expresses our values, then it can certainly fulfill us if we have more opportunities to exert influence through a higher position.
Of course, there’s nothing wrong with working toward or looking forward to something, whether it’s a vacation or a new job. However, it becomes problematic when we base our life satisfaction on an if-then logic: When summer finally comes, I will be happy. If I have a better job, everything will be better. When we have the new apartment, I can finally relax. Because that’s the best recipe for disappointment – and the hedonistic treadmill that makes it impossible for us to be satisfied in the long term. The chances of this are much better if we look for many small moments of happiness in everyday life – and tackle the big issues with meaning and purpose instead of chasing after the next dopamine high.
Sources used: mindbodygreen.com, psychologytoday.com, sciencedirect.com