Pursuing happiness is like running on a treadmill - no matter how fast you run, you’ll never catch it. On the other hand, less-educated soldiers saw themselves reasonably well compared to their peer or civilians. But that didn’t make them feel happy - they saw themselves as doing poorly compared to their peers in civilian life or those who were already officers. In World War II, American soldiers with a high-school education or better had greater chances of being promoted. Happiness is something we create from within - we have a responsibility to protect it. It’s neither a gift other people give to us nor something that things provide us. Plato approached happiness as a form of personal growth - it’s about getting satisfaction from our achievements, not from what those accomplishments can earn us.Īs Aristotle said, “Happiness depends upon ourselves.” Happiness is about the journey, not the destination. What about you? The Hedonic Treadmill Trap Most people live in a hamster wheel - the constant effort to run away from where they are, gets them stuck in a never-ending routine. We eat or drink too much, buy stuff we don’t need, and lose our sleep - by trying to feel better, we perpetuate our problems.

The things we do to cope usually make matters worse. You can hide on a hamster wheel, but you can’t run away from your real problems. However, things won’t change if we keep using the same approach. Doing the same over and over seems like a safe choice. In times of burnout, we don’t have the energy to jump off the wheel. The paradox is that, by wanting to protect their way of life, their lives become more miserable. They have many ideas to make their jobs less painful - but can’t tell their bosses. But I also see a lot of people that want to stay but are afraid to speak up. Many want to quit but are afraid of making any changes because of their responsibilities - mortgages, family, kid’s education, etc. Vilayat Inayat Khan said, “The human spirit lives on creativity and dies in conformity and routine.” Most people feel their jobs are like soul-sucking - they feel trapped in an endless vicious cycle. I spend a lot of time talking to people to understand their challenges and help them ease the pain - work should be exciting, not a painful experience. I now focus my energy on something meaningful: to help leaders and their teams make positive change. I turned my frustration into fuel to start my consultancy to build fearless cultures. When I decided to get off the hamster wheel, I stop living on autopilot.Īt some point, I decided to stop complaining about how toxic my job was. The more we try to run away from something, the less we realize how stuck we are. Three years ago, I was experiencing exactly the same. We discussed various solutions in previous conversations, but he feels stuck in a vicious cycle. He wants to quit his job but doesn’t have the energy to look for a new one - being on a hamster wheel is exhausting. Our conversation felt like a déjà vu - we talked about his issues many times before. Yesterday, I went for a coffee with a friend of mine. I didn’t want to acknowledge it, but my life had turned into a hamster wheel.

I was afraid to act - fear was holding me back. The more I complained, the more I hated my job. I got stuck in useless struggles with my boss and others. I was so frustrated that I was boycotting everything and accomplishing nothing. My job didn’t challenge me enough - it wasn’t fulfilling either. Everyone thought I had a dream job - an executive management position and a big fat paycheck. But I didn’t have the energy to quit either. Have you ever felt like you are on a hamster wheel that you can’t get off it?Ī couple of years ago, I was so burned out at work that I couldn’t take it any longer. Are you burned out and getting nowhere? 'It’s a hard thing to leave any deeply routine life, even if you hate it.”― John Steinbeck

The hamster wheel of life