Republishing this article with edits, as it aligns with similar themes in the Work and Leisure series
As humans we spend most of our lives in a state of perpetual craving and desire. We land a big promotion at work, but soon fantasize about continuing to move up the corporate ladder. We become consumed by discontent and dissatisfaction as we constantly compare our social standing to that of our peers. Wealth, status and power are engrained in our cultural ethos. However, all these pursuits are elusive. The temporary pleasure that we receive from these aims quickly fades as we relentlessly try to fill the void.
Psychologists call this phenomenon the ‘hedonic treadmill’ (also known as the hedonic adaptation). The concept states that despite the events we experience (positive or negative), we always revert back to our ‘baseline’ level of contentment or happiness. While we may feel initial euphoria after experiencing something pleasurable, diminishing returns kicks in and we soon crave for more. Look at the surprising fortune of lottery winners. Many think that if only I could I win the lottery than surely all my problems could be solved. They imagine this would enable them to live a carefree life of eternal bliss.
Despite these fantasies, this reality is quite different. One study demonstrated that lottery winners were not any happier than those who did not win the lottery 18 months after wining. The excitement and dopamine rush that you once felt when you won soon fades. Moreover, the grand lifestyle that you become accustomed to inhibits you from finding joy in the everyday mundane aspects of life. The same is true of attaining other milestones in life such as winning a championship or getting a promotion.
Yuval Noah Harari summarizes this sentiment in his book Sapiens,
When the mind experiences something distasteful it craves to be rid of the irritation. When the mind experiences something pleasant, it craves that the pleasure will remain and will intensify. Therefore, the mind is always dissatisfied and restless. This is very clear when we experience unpleasant things such as pain. As long as pain continues we are dissatisfied and do all we can to avoid it. Yet even when we experience pleasant things we are never content. We either fear that pleasure might disappear, or we hope that it will intensify.
As I argued in my previous article, our desire for pleasure makes sense from an evolutionary perspective. Humans need a signal to motivate them to ensure their survival, to eat, to reproduce pass on their genes to the next generation. Yet our inability to detach from pleasure and our longing for more is one of the main causes of human misery. It is synonymous to being on a treadmill, running faster and faster, yet going nowhere.
So the question remains – how does one end this cycle of discontent and get off the ‘hedonic treadmill’? One piece of wisdom comes from the Siddhartha Gautama, also known as the Buddha. He taught that we ought to accept things as they are without craving. Refrain from immediate intuitive judgements about our experience, and let things be as they will be. For instance, if we experience something pleasant, be cognizant of the fleeting nature of this emotion and do not be distressed when it passes.
To achieve this state of mind the Buddha developed a set of mediation techniques which were aimed at allowing one to be aware of the contents of their consciousness and focus on the present moment. While it comes in many forms the most common form of meditation is ‘mindfulness meditation’ in which one pays attention to their present experience using the breath as an anchor. One will quickly realize the inherent chaos and noise in their minds. In meditation the task is straight forward, acknowledge the thought and return back to the breath. However, as many who have attempted meditation know it is far too easy to get distracted and lost in thought.
What this practice allows us to do is to detach from our thoughts, emotions and yearnings. It enables us to see the futility of our efforts to intensify or extend pleasure. In Buddhism, the ultimate goal of these meditation techniques is to achieve a state called ‘enlightenment’. Enlightenment is a state of mind in which an individual is liberated from the ego, the constant ‘mental chatter’ and from the cognitive and emotional distortions that are so pervasive in our day to day experience.
As Joseph Goldstein states, it is “the mind of non-clinging, non-fixation, nonattachment to anything at all. It’s the mind of open groundlessness.” Attaining enlightenment doesn’t require us to achieve a particular goal or chase after an experience. Rather, it is available to us when our minds are grounded in the present moment, and we are liberated from our ego.
The meaning of life is just to be alive. It is so plain and so obvious and so simple. And yet, everybody rushes around in a great panic as if it were necessary to achieve something beyond themselves
Alan Watts
A Life of Virtue: Philosophy as a Way of Life 
Lovely reminder for me to continue with a mindfulness routine, thank you so much
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When ancient Greek and Chinese philosophy, Existential philosophy and modern psychology all point to the same answer, one might consider looking.
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I think as humans, it is one thing to read about theory, however I think change is easier to come by when we experience something first hand
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This is a great post. The hedonic treadmill is often hard to get off of but I think it requires self awareness and the realization of our own self worth. We need to know what we want and how we want to be treated by not just the people in our lives but by current employers and future employers. Mindfulness of what we truly want is key. At the end of the day we are all seeking to be appreciated and valued for our talents, skills, and hard work. Hopefully we find that place and can fully appreciate what we have everyday. Feel free to read my latest post on why Writer’s should learn their self worth and know what they want out of new opportunities in 2022. ❤️Happy New Year and so glad I am now following your blog.
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Reblogged this on A Life of Virtue: Philosophy as a Way of Life and commented:
From the archives – how to step off the hedonic treadmill
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Thank you, Andrew, for sharing this post. Your message is an important lesson to learn. To be present in the flow of life is where the peace and beauty is. Can we find that sweet spot, in which we desire without need or attachment to the results? I loved the illustration at the top of your post, too. Such an accurate depiction of the situation for the majority of “persons.”
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Thank you Andrew for sharing this topic .
Mindfulness and meditation is definitely a great way to disconnect from the ego, and get off that hamster wheel of mindless thinking.
so much of that chatter in our mind goes on unrecognized, I found that mindfulness actually help you to become conscious of your thoughts and also gives you the great benefit and power to change those thoughts and chose better ones.
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