It’s fair to assume that the vast majority or people fall into the hedonic treadmill trap by believing retirement will have all the answers without having any plan. Three of the most common words used to describe retirement in a UK study of a 1,000 retirees were: boring, lonely and quiet. After an initial happiness bump from not travelling to work and avoiding the daily grind, the hedonic treadmill kicks in and a new life of leisure is not all it was cracked up to be. If the truth be known, for many people it’s a boring life that lacks purpose. The one thing many of us look forward to is retirement, because that’s when we can really enjoy life. This is because your baseline happiness was being suppressed.īut unless you have something significantly weighing you down, trying to get happier (permanently), usually won’t work. The same can’t be said for something or someone that is making you depressed, leaving an abusive partner or being released from prison will have a permanent positive effect. Whether that be, getting married, retiring, getting rich, moving to a new home - it really doesn’t matter as it becomes part of the new normal. Whatever that thing is in the future that you can’t wait to happen which you’re sure will make you eternally happy. The reason the hedonic treadmill is so important is because: it should make you question what you want in life. The founders of the hedonic treadmill theory researched this is a study called “Lottery Winners and Accident Victims: Is Happiness Relative?” This means, an elated feeling from owning a new car or from a lottery win is temporary, likewise, feelings of depression from losing a limb or other terrible event will also eventually disappear. Put simply, it’s our adaptive nature to return to a baseline of happiness regardless of events that affect our mood positively or negatively. In my opinion, it should be taught in school. If there’s one psychological phenomenon that everyone should know it’s: the hedonic treadmill (also called hedonic adaptation).
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