psychology
This habit will make you happier – and allow you to live 8 years longer
© Mary Long / Adobe Stock
What really makes us happy in the long term? In any case, it’s not money, success and material things. According to a sociologist, we should focus on something else.
We probably all know the feeling: We have been working for a long time towards a goal, perhaps a promotion or the financial opportunity to buy something specific. When we finally achieve it, we are very happy. We are proud and grateful. But somehow this feeling doesn’t last as long as we imagined. We quickly need the next feeling of happiness – and so end up in a vicious circle: striving – achieving – satisfaction – longing – striving and so on.
The Hedonistic Treadmill: Our Pursuit of Happiness
Psychologists and sociologists call this phenomenon the hedonistic treadmill. It describes people’s 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 this, our feeling of happiness jumps up and our brain releases dopamine, but only for a very short time. We return 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 dependent and need the next big thing that will “make us happy” – until we quickly come back down to earth, our base level of satisfaction, and the whole thing starts all over again.
How do we become satisfied in the long term?
So how can we be happy in the long term – and outsmart the hedonistic treadmill? Countless smart people have already dealt with this, from a philosophical, psychological and theological perspective. 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 stocks that are not particularly sustainable for our life satisfaction (money, success), we should rather look for additional building blocks for our portfolio . 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 topic of purpose. Anyone who strives for professional success can of course do this – but the person should be sure of their motives for doing so. Climbing the corporate ladder just for money or status probably won’t make us happy. But if we have a job in which we see meaning that expresses our values, then it can certainly be fulfilling if we have more opportunities to influence through a higher position.
Of course, there’s nothing wrong with working toward something or looking forward to something, be it a vacation or a new job. But it becomes problematic when we base our life satisfaction on an if-then logic: When it’s finally summer, I’ll be happy. If I have a better job, everything will be better. When we get 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 happening are much better if we look for many small moments of happiness in everyday life – and approach the big issues with meaning and purpose instead of chasing the next dopamine high.
Sources used: mindbodygreen.com, psychologytoday.com, sciencedirect.com