MindTango #7: When Success Becomes Normal!

Oct 11

2 min read

There was a point in my life when getting a job at the United Nations felt like making it.

I had worked hard for it, imagined what it would feel like, and when it finally happened, I was genuinely proud.

But eventually, it became normal.

And I think that's one of the strange things about achievement: we can spend years wanting something, finally get it, and then become so used to it that we barely notice it anymore.

Psychologists call this hedonic adaptation — our tendency to return toward our usual level of emotional experience after positive or negative changes.

It made me think about how often we do this with our own lives.

The promotion becomes normal. The salary we once dreamed about becomes the new baseline. The goal we worked so hard for becomes the thing we're already trying to improve.

And suddenly we're looking at what's next instead of noticing that we're living something we once wanted very badly.

I don't think the answer is to stop being ambitious.

I still want more. I still have things I want to build and experience.

But I'm trying to get better at holding two thoughts at the same time:

I want more. And what I have already matters.

“Happiness is not something ready made. It comes from your own actions.” Dalia Lama

More on this

in my Latest YouTube https://youtu.be/StTaS0BV0vo?si=SAUlkw_I-3wPczKc

Science Corner:

If this idea interests you, take a look at the research on hedonic adaptation and the “hedonic treadmill.”

A classic review by Brickman & Campbell introduced the idea that people tend to adapt to changes in circumstances, while later research has explored how this adaptation affects our pursuit of happiness and well-being.

Worth exploring: Brickman & Campbell (1971), Hedonic Relativism and Planning the Good Society.