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The Hedonic Treadmill
Does buying more stuff make you happier?
Does it help you keep up with your social group?
Does getting promoted improve your long term happiness?
***THREAD***
1/14
Does buying more stuff make you happier?
Does it help you keep up with your social group?
Does getting promoted improve your long term happiness?
***THREAD***
1/14
Hedonic Treadmill states:
We will always return to our base level of happiness
Whether something positive or negative happens
Meaning if we get a promotion, new car and we experience a spike in happiness
Eventually we will come back to our original level of happiness
2/14
We will always return to our base level of happiness
Whether something positive or negative happens
Meaning if we get a promotion, new car and we experience a spike in happiness
Eventually we will come back to our original level of happiness
2/14
This works on the negative side as well
If you have a bad breakup or been fired from your job
There will be a low period
But you will bounce back to your original levels of happiness
3/14
If you have a bad breakup or been fired from your job
There will be a low period
But you will bounce back to your original levels of happiness
3/14
Lets focus on the materialistic trap on the Hedonic Treadmill
Thinking buying new clothes, toys, getting a promotion, is going to make us much happier
But in the end our happiness always returns to the original level
This then makes us get more stuff to get that spike
4/14
Thinking buying new clothes, toys, getting a promotion, is going to make us much happier
But in the end our happiness always returns to the original level
This then makes us get more stuff to get that spike
4/14
At the start of your success journey you may be thinking you need more cool clothes or a new job or the latest toy
Whatever it is you feel you need to make yourself happy
But it might not actually be bring you the happiness or fulfillment that you are imagining it will
5/14
Whatever it is you feel you need to make yourself happy
But it might not actually be bring you the happiness or fulfillment that you are imagining it will
5/14
The Hedonic Treadmill is the philosophical "keeping up with the Joneses"
By constantly buying things
Trying to keep up with the people around you
You will not be able to actually move forward
Instead, you will just keep looking for the next thing to fill the void
6/14
By constantly buying things
Trying to keep up with the people around you
You will not be able to actually move forward
Instead, you will just keep looking for the next thing to fill the void
6/14
The goal is to find what you really want
To really grow, you need to lose the necessity to 'show off'
Or to keep up with others' purchases
If you don’t, your happiness will continue to spike up/down
Returning to your baseline
Which is perhaps a mediocre baseline
7/14
To really grow, you need to lose the necessity to 'show off'
Or to keep up with others' purchases
If you don’t, your happiness will continue to spike up/down
Returning to your baseline
Which is perhaps a mediocre baseline
7/14
While increasing my income I thought I needed to buy stuff to solidify my happiness
Particularly because they were things that I couldn't afford before
I had put them on a pedestal
“If I only had that computer, if I only had that car, or job... Then I would be happier.”
8/14
Particularly because they were things that I couldn't afford before
I had put them on a pedestal
“If I only had that computer, if I only had that car, or job... Then I would be happier.”
8/14
I can tell you right now, yes, I did feel good about buying something I wanted, and it was a spike
But eventually, I returned back to my normal level of happiness
This is how I got interested in the Hedonic Treadmill theory
9/14
But eventually, I returned back to my normal level of happiness
This is how I got interested in the Hedonic Treadmill theory
9/14
In the last couple of years, I have greatly reduced my spending on material goods.
I don't put the same stock into toys or clothes that I used to
When I bought things, I never found I used them as much as thought I would
They just became things I had in the house
10/14
I don't put the same stock into toys or clothes that I used to
When I bought things, I never found I used them as much as thought I would
They just became things I had in the house
10/14
Do I like having them? Yes, sure
Do I use them everyday, have they changed me as a person? No
I thought these items would make me the person I wanted to be, or at least signal to others what kind of person I was
But
This was absolutely an egotistical exercise
11/14
Do I use them everyday, have they changed me as a person? No
I thought these items would make me the person I wanted to be, or at least signal to others what kind of person I was
But
This was absolutely an egotistical exercise
11/14
That spike of happiness is not sustainable through jobs and objects.
The only way to escape the Hedonic Treadmill is to truly investigate what fulfills you
To invest your time and energy figuring out who you are
And improving your baseline of happiness that way
12/14
The only way to escape the Hedonic Treadmill is to truly investigate what fulfills you
To invest your time and energy figuring out who you are
And improving your baseline of happiness that way
12/14
To improve your baseline of happiness
There are areas of focus:
-Fitness
-Journaling
-Meditation
-Eating healthy foods
-Saving money and investments
-Reading books on personal growth
Buying new stuff will not improve your baseline
Making smart choices will
13/14
There are areas of focus:
-Fitness
-Journaling
-Meditation
-Eating healthy foods
-Saving money and investments
-Reading books on personal growth
Buying new stuff will not improve your baseline
Making smart choices will
13/14
However, don't feel bad about treating yourself to things too!
But recognize that you are not your job title, your toys, or your car
You are a person who is capable of Growth and Great things
14/14
But recognize that you are not your job title, your toys, or your car
You are a person who is capable of Growth and Great things
14/14
