Hedonic Treadmill ~ Why We Stay Stuck

HEDONIC TREADMILL ~ Elizabeth Scott wrote a wonderful article about why are we not happier. She speaks of a concept called the Hedonic Treadmill. That sounded as interesting as anything I had ever heard so I dove in.

My takeaway: Change up what’s gratifying to you so you can avoid the same pleasures, and be mindful of your suffering so you can avoid the same pains.

Peace and Love.

Transcript

I recently read a research paper by Elizabeth Scott called hedonic adaptation. Some people know it as the hedonic treadmill and I was like, What is that? I need to know more about that. So I dove in and it's interesting. As humans we are wired to chase pleasure after pleasure after pleasure and what happens is even in the negative side of things we get something, We get used to it, And then we want the next thing. Or something goes wrong, We get used to it being wrong, And then we look for something else that's wrong. So we're always on this constant treadmill of pleasure or pain and there are ways that we can stop that cycle. And she came up with some really cool concepts. She said one of the things that we can do is choose things that are gratifying to us. So things that take effort, Like if you enjoy going for a run, Go for a run. If you enjoy drawing, Draw. Things that are that are effort for us. And maybe what you can do is make a list of the things that you find that are gratifying and what she recommends is don't do the same thing over and over and over again. So don't wake up every day and draw and draw and draw because what's gonna happen is you're gonna get used to that and then you're not gonna feel that satisfaction and you're gonna be in that treadmill. So instead, Change up your different pleasures. Change up the things that gratify you. The other thing that she brought up is the concept of the small things in life. The things that are simple that you can find pleasure in or gratification in. I've said this before, But for every one bad thing that happens to us, There's three good things, But we don't have the emotional intelligence or the mindfulness to see the three good things. So somebody, You know, There's this thing stop and smell the flowers. I mean it's been around forever, But it's kind of true. Like we don't stop and smell the flowers and that to me is a perfect analogy for what are those three things that are happening to us right now that we can enjoy that are simple. Whether it's the sun on your on your back, Whether it's the laugh of a friend, Whether it's drinking a glass of Kool-Aid or water, You know, Any of those kind of like little pleasures. I don't know why I said Kool-Aid. That's hilarious. I haven't had Kool-Aid in years. Maybe it was the childlike instincts coming out of me again. But those kind of little things that happen to us throughout our day that we can enjoy that shift our pleasures so that we're not in that treadmill and we're not getting used to these wonderful things. It's like I've done that before. Guilty of it. It's like I have goals. I'm like, Okay, I want to play on a like tour. Okay, Got that. What's next? I want to land music in a TV commercial. Okay, Got that. What's next? I want to play on this person's record. Okay, I did that. What's next? It's like it's just not a way to do it. It's not a way to live life and it's an ego thing is attached to that too. Once you get to really understand that the simple things in life are the things that are to be enjoyed. Those macro things that happen to you are even more special. So think of the ways that you're living your life and feel grateful for them. Because what happens is we lose that gratitude because we get used to it. So gratitude lists, Mindfulness through meditation, Through really taking the time to engage in the world. Those are ways that you can get off that hedonic treadmill and be stuck in hedonic adaptation. So it's a great article and hopefully pull a few little tidbits out of there for you that you might be able to use. So until next time, Peace and love.