CandleFocus Glossary Editor
The Hedonic Treadmill is a phenomenon in which a person's happiness levels remain constant even when there is an increase or decrease in their wealth, health, or personal circumstances. The concept comes from the idea that our feelings and emotional state tends to return to their default level once a particular event has passed. In other words, even if something good or bad happens in life, our emotional state eventually finds its way back to its pre-event baseline.
The Hedonic Treadmill is closely associated with the idea of "hedonism," which is a belief that pleasure and happiness are the most important goals of life and that we should focus all our efforts on attaining them. However, this is problematic because once the pleasure from an experience has faded, we are often left feeling dissatisfied and unfulfilled. This is due to the fact that our happiness levels don't maintain their high, but instead tend to return to their previous baseline.
This phenomenon can be difficult to grapple with, especially when it comes to striving for success and trying to increase our levels of happiness. After achieving a goal, we may feel an intense surge of excitement and joy, but soon this dissipates and we find ourselves back at the same level of happiness we experienced before the goal was set. This can be discouraging, but it can also offer a valuable insight into our attitude towards life.
Rather than strive for continual happiness and peak experiences, it is important to focus on the journey and appreciate the process of achieving our goals. This way, we can make sure that our goals are ones set with our personal growth, development and values in mind, instead of just aiming for life's superficial pleasures.
In modern psychology, the Hedonic Treadmill is useful for understanding happiness and emotional states, and shows us why it is important to appreciate the journey, not just the destination. It reminds us that life is about striving for a balanced emotional state, rather than aiming for the highs and lows that come with success and failure. Therefore, when focusing on our life goals and ambitions, it is important to be mindful of the Hedonic Treadmill, and to use it as motivation to work on ourselves and our own life satisfaction.
The Hedonic Treadmill is closely associated with the idea of "hedonism," which is a belief that pleasure and happiness are the most important goals of life and that we should focus all our efforts on attaining them. However, this is problematic because once the pleasure from an experience has faded, we are often left feeling dissatisfied and unfulfilled. This is due to the fact that our happiness levels don't maintain their high, but instead tend to return to their previous baseline.
This phenomenon can be difficult to grapple with, especially when it comes to striving for success and trying to increase our levels of happiness. After achieving a goal, we may feel an intense surge of excitement and joy, but soon this dissipates and we find ourselves back at the same level of happiness we experienced before the goal was set. This can be discouraging, but it can also offer a valuable insight into our attitude towards life.
Rather than strive for continual happiness and peak experiences, it is important to focus on the journey and appreciate the process of achieving our goals. This way, we can make sure that our goals are ones set with our personal growth, development and values in mind, instead of just aiming for life's superficial pleasures.
In modern psychology, the Hedonic Treadmill is useful for understanding happiness and emotional states, and shows us why it is important to appreciate the journey, not just the destination. It reminds us that life is about striving for a balanced emotional state, rather than aiming for the highs and lows that come with success and failure. Therefore, when focusing on our life goals and ambitions, it is important to be mindful of the Hedonic Treadmill, and to use it as motivation to work on ourselves and our own life satisfaction.