Material comforts and new experiences can bring a rush of positive emotions, but people become accustomed to them over time. While pleasurable new experiences can facilitate happiness, they don’t significantly improve it on their own. This effect is called hedonic adaptation. You may still love these things many years later, but the pulse-racing joy you felt while they were new was temporary. Somewhere along the way, “your new car” becomes “your car.” As the novelty wanes, these things become part of the regular picture of your life. Major life events like these can make us feel ecstatic, but that ecstasy gradually fades, and we eventually return to a relatively stationary level of happiness. It could be when you bought your first car, moved into your first apartment or house, or a time you fell in love. Think of a time in your life when a transition brought you a rush of joy. However, thanks to the hedonic treadmill, these improvements sabotage our finances while doing little for happiness. With each upgrade, our bar for material comforts gets a little higher. Similarly, the hedonic treadmill is an effect that creates these feelings but without benefiting your physical health.Īs life continues, we have countless opportunities to buy fancier things, visit prettier places, and live more luxurious lives. What do you think of when you picture a treadmill? Most likely, it’s some combination of working hard, going nowhere, feeling miserable, and wanting to be somewhere else.
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