However, understanding how the hedonic treadmill operates in your life can make you experience the world more positively. You now see that running on the hedonic treadmill is not necessarily good in and of itself, because it creates a situation in which you require more and more to feel happy. Just as you must keep working on a treadmill to stay in the same place, so must you continue to achieve more success, earn more money, or gain recognition to maintain your happiness set point. ![]() After several weeks or months, the newly-minted millionaire becomes accustomed to her new lifestyle and experiences a corresponding decrease in happiness. At first, the person is ecstatic to have become a millionaire overnight. Eventually, you return to the same level of happiness as you began at when you were an office-worker.Īnother common example of the hedonic treadmill occurs after an individual wins the lottery. As time goes on, however, you find going to work each day less exciting and pleasurable. At first, you feel overwhelmingly happy and blessed to have become an entrepreneur and left your boring job behind. Finally, you quit your job, lease a retail space, and create the fun coffee shop of your dreams. You dream of changing careers and becoming the owner of a small coffee shop. ![]() Imagine that you are stuck at a job you dislike, performing monotonous work day after day. After good and bad events in your life, you eventually return to your set level of happiness. When bad things happen, that level of happiness can dip down. When good things happen, that level of happiness can spike up. You essentially have a set level of happiness where you consistently remain. ![]() The hedonic treadmill is a theory that people return to a relatively stationary level of happiness, sometimes considered a happiness “set point.” Although efforts or interventions to improve happiness have a transient effect, individuals inevitably return to their original happiness set point after a short period of time.
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