And yet many don’t just want to hit the next milestone, they need to hit it for their own sanity. The vast majority of people around me make far more than $75,000 right out of school, let alone 5-10 years later. In fact, income as a whole only contributes to approximately three percent of our well-being, and that’s primarily reserved for avoiding poverty. $75,000 is the upper limit at which people are no longer happier after making more money.
How much does money contribute to that 40 percent? Barely at all. Research tells us happiness is approximately 50 percent genetic, 10 percent circumstantial (where we’re born, to whom, etc.), and 40 percent subject to our own influence. Despite this, we still chase more dollars, telling ourselves that we’ll eventually quit our day jobs and go sunset sailing in Aruba. In fact, the feelings of excitement fade as early as a few weeks afterwards.
Studies consistently show that reaching the next promotion, or increase in salary, or buying that new home, doesn’t boost underlying happiness levels. Three months later, the new car doesn’t bring you nearly the same joy, the new job doesn’t feel so special anymore and even being admitted to your dream university feels less of a big deal as time passes.Īnd yet, our overall happiness rarely increases with more success. The problem, though, is those feelings quickly fade away within a few weeks, days or even hours after achieving said thing. If you’re anything like me, the process of chasing after what you want is filled with bursts of dizzying excitement. It’s human nature, not to mention a core American ideal, to pull yourself up by your bootstraps and create your own success. I’d bet you can recall several moments where you’ve aspired to have something you didn’t currently possess. Īs I approach my very own Bartlett x Fury moment - the sale of my company - I’ve started to put our addiction to life’s great sprint under the microscope.Ĭan you recall a time in your life when you desperately wanted something? A new car, job promotion or a stellar vacation, for example. In short: my world is filled with people running ‘fast’ on the hedonic treadmill, chasing their next big achievement. I’ve also graduated from a top-tier university best known for sending its students into the ‘prestigious’ (read: high-paying) world of banking, consulting and big tech. For the last four years, I’ve worked in an industry – the creator economy – that VC firms are pumping billions into. I’ve become fascinated with the treadmill because I’ve been running on it for longer than I’d care to admit. It is “the observed tendency of humans to quickly return to a relatively stable level of happiness despite major positive or negative events or life changes.” Psychologists refer to this phenomenon as the hedonic treadmill. Lately, I’ve found myself asking one question: why?
#HEDONIC TREADMILL PROFESSIONAL#
Stories like these are infinite across all stages of professional success. Fury becoming heavyweight boxing champion of the world led to him having “everything in life” but “still feeling like sh*t on a daily basis.”
The reality couldn’t have been further from the truth.īartlett listing his company on the European Stock Exchange at the age of 27 for a valuation of $300M was one of the worst days of his life. Steven Bartlett and Tyson Fury believed the achievement of success and wealth would finally make them ‘feel’ happy.
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