Why Getting What You Want Doesn't Make You Happy
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Why Getting What You Want Doesn't Make You Happy
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I once got a 25% pay rise. It felt euphoric. Within weeks, that feeling was gone.
There's research on lottery winners showing the same thing: happiness spikes, then drops right back to where it started. In this episode I ask why success, whether it's a pay rise, a promotion, or a goal you've worked years for, so often fails to give us lasting happiness. I share the old story of the Chinese farmer whose horse ran away, and how "good" and "bad" are really just judgments we place on events.
I also tell you about a violin competition I entered as a teenager, where I played the same piece twice with wildly different results, once with no pressure and once with everything to prove. That contrast taught me the difference between success as a place to get to (outside in) and success as a place to come from (inside out).
If you've ever achieved something you wanted and still felt a little hollow, this episode explains why, and what to do instead.