Hedonic adaptation. Hedonic adaptation. The first time I read it was in a book called The How of Happiness by Sonja Lyubomirsky. Sonja Lyubomirsky is one of the preeminent researchers in the field of positive psychology. I believe she worked with Martin Seligman, sort of the grandfather of positive psychology. And I really encourage you to read The How of Happiness anyway. In there is this term, hedonic adaptation, which very simply speaks to the phenomenon of the human being to be excited by something new until we become familiar with it and it becomes our new normal. Hedonic adaptation.
Let me give you an example. So you buy a new car or you buy a new bicycle. You’ve wanted to get this mountain bike ever since you were three years old, and you’re full of aliveness when you buy it. And then you ride it and it’s wonderful. And you see it parked against the wall and it fills you with delight. After weeks and months, you see other people with a similar mountain bike, or it becomes familiar. And the shiny toyness of this new bicycle really wears off. And it happens with a new job. It happens in a new relationship. It happens if you buy a new house or get into a new apartment or buy a new watch or buy a new handbag. Hedonic adaptation. And this, I believe, is the fundamental reason why for most people, nothing is ever enough.
We buy what we’ve always wanted, or we achieve what we’ve always dreamed of. And then hedonic adaptation clicks in and we want more. Now, how am I relating hedonic adaptation to productivity? Well, it’s if you always want more, then you’re going to be a
consumer versus a creator. Fundamental distinction. The people who achieve industry dominance, those people are not consumers primarily, they are creators. But you look at many who are stuck, who are stalled. They’re always buying, they’re always consuming. They’re never creating. So the piece of science to think about, hedonic adaptation. You want to be aware of it, so then you say, “Oh, I see. The very nature of buying things means I’m never going to be fulfilled, so I’m not going to create happiness by buying things.” That will not only save you time and energy, which will boost your productivity, it’ll save you a lot of money.