What do you want more than anything right now?

Maybe you’d love to upgrade your smartphone to latest snapdragon 855+. Drop off the college to pursue a creative passion. Or finally own your own home.

Goals like these drive us to improve our lives. But we’ve got bad news. Getting the stuff you’ve always wanted won’t make you happy. Or at least, not for as long as you hope.

That euphoria you feel when you reach a goal or accomplish something great — it has a shelf life. Whether it’s getting a promotion, buying your first house, or reaching 10K subscribers, eventually that achievement will start to feel…normal.

It’s all thanks to something called “hedonic adaptation” (or the “hedonic treadmill”)

Basically, we’re hardwired to return to our natural baseline level of happiness no matter what. Hedonic adaptation is why:

🤑 Most people who win the lottery return to their original levels of happiness within a year.

💍 “Just married!” eventually turns into “Just…married” after a couple years.

📵 Dropping your phone into the toilet sucks – only until you get it replaced.

Hedonic adaptation makes it easier for us to bounce back from loss or disappointment. But, over time, it also dulls the shine of our success — no matter how big or “life-changing” it is.

As Daniel Gilbert says in his book Stumbling on Happiness: