If these feelings resonate with you, psychologists suggest that you might be stuck on what is commonly known as the hedonic treadmill—a relentless psychological cycle where we constantly chase the next achievement, possession, or milestone, only to return to our baseline level of happiness shortly after we reach it.
The mechanics of this treadmill are twofold. The first component involves what researchers call homeostatically protected mood. Human high-arousal emotional states—whether they are overwhelmingly positive, such as pure joy, or deeply negative, such as acute sadness—tend to be remarkably transient. No matter how high we climb or how low we sink, our psychological state naturally adjusts and returns in short order to a mildly positive, low-arousal baseline.
The second component of the treadmill is our persistent human tendency to envision ways that life could be better, no matter how good our current circumstances might actually be. In ongoing research involving interviews with people about how they report their overall life satisfaction, many individuals consistently state that they would never award their life a rating of more than eight out of ten. Their reasoning is not necessarily that their life is flawed, but rather that they simply do not want to claim they are completely satisfied, leaving psychological room for improvement.
During one such interview, a respondent who rated their life satisfaction as an eight out of ten offered a revealing perspective on this mindset. "If I’m really honest, I think ‘what could make my life better?’ I don’t actually know. I really have no clue," the respondent admitted. Yet, despite being unable to name a single specific improvement, they remained adamantly rooted in their eight-out-of-ten assessment, unwilling to grant a higher score.
From an evolutionary standpoint, the hedonic treadmill has nature’s fingerprints all over it. If human beings were perpetually ecstatic or perpetually depressed, our ancestors would never have prepared for harsh winters so industriously. If we were entirely content and never on the lookout for ways to make things better, humanity would eventually have been overwhelmed by parasites, outcompeted by rival tribes, or defeated by environmental predators. Dissatisfaction, in evolutionary terms, was a survival mechanism.
Why Fear the Treadmill in the Modern Age?
Historically, human societies recognized the psychological toll of this evolutionary drive and invented social technologies designed to dampen the effects of the hedonic treadmill. For instance, most major world religions developed gratitude practices intended to make individuals mindful of the good things they already possess, such as traditional mealtime prayers that pause the rush of daily life to acknowledge sustenance and community.
In recent decades, however, the materialistic, competitive, and hierarchical culture of modern capitalism has actively encouraged individuals to lean into the treadmill rather than resist it. In contemporary society, the message is pervasive: you could always drive a fancier car, live in a larger house, or secure a further promotion at work.
This relentless push toward external validation increasingly makes people miserable. As the old adage warns—and as a growing body of scientific research continues to confirm—comparison truly is the thief of joy.
People who have become utterly exhausted by the relentless turning of the treadmill have recently begun reviving many ancient philosophical techniques in an effort to step off it. Buddhism, for instance, argues that unbridled desire is the root of all human suffering and teaches charitable giving as a practical way to quieten the psychological craving for more. Meanwhile, Stoic philosophers advise mindful attention to present experiences, echoing the words of Marcus Aurelius, who wrote that each day provides its own unique gifts. Similarly, the ancient Greek philosopher Epicurus counseled people to take profound joy in what they have already achieved in life, famously noting that one should not spoil what they have by desiring what they have not, remembering always that what they now possess was once among the things they only hoped for.
While such philosophical insights certainly deserve to form a core part of any individual’s well-being practice, researcher and author Mark Fabian suggests a fundamentally different overarching paradigm in his book Beyond Happy: instead of trying to escape the treadmill entirely, make it a place you actually want to be.
The treadmill, Fabian argues, is an inescapable biological reality of human neurochemistry. While gratitude practices and mindfulness techniques can certainly help individuals slow down and notice life’s immediate delights, a person cannot simply stand still in a dynamic world.
Therefore, the challenge is to organize your life in such a way that its natural dynamism is not nauseating or overwhelming, but instead continuously generates pleasant, fulfilling, and valuable experiences. The goal shifts from trying desperately to get ahead to simply enjoying the process of moving forward.
This dynamic approach cuts out the crushing relentlessness of the traditional treadmill and keeps individuals sharply focused on what is genuinely good in their lives, leaving little mental attention left over for chronic dissatisfaction. Furthermore, it actively generates new experiences so that people are regularly lifted up from their homeostatic baseline. Combined with a bit of deliberate training in how to savor positive moods, this mindset can reverse the traditional misery vortex of the treadmill into a sustainable, positive life vortex.
Achieving this state boils down to a core concept: self-actualization.
To make the treadmill a desirable place to be, individuals must learn to listen closely to their emotions, deeply understand their personal values, remain extremely mindful of their underlying motivations, and clearly articulate the reasons why they live the life they do.
Once these elements are understood, a person must work to make all of them internally coherent and consistent. This is often a long, iterative process of psychological refinement that Fabian terms "the coalescence of being." The journey of coalescence begins by turning inward. A person cannot accurately identify their true intrinsic motivations or ground their personal values in what genuinely matters to them without first gaining some critical distance from the pervasive social influences that constantly condition them to move in socially prescribed directions.
Following this phase of deep self-discovery comes the process of self-creation. Individuals are encouraged to experiment with different facets of identity that truly inspire them and test whether those identities are a genuine fit for their personality and goals. Introspecting on the emotional and social feedback received along the way helps individuals make necessary refinements and recalibrations. For example, a person might discover a passion for ballet, but after spending a few years immersed in the local dance community, they may realize that they derive far more personal fulfillment from designing and sewing the stage costumes than they do from performing on stage.
The final stage of this process involves turning outward to find one’s community and tribe. True well-being is rarely a solitary endeavor; it is something we do together with others. Those pleasant, fulfilling, and valuable experiences that ultimately make the treadmill a place we want to be often stem directly from other people, or from shared achievements accomplished alongside them. Stitching a delicate tutu can be a rewarding creative task in its own right, but that satisfaction is amplified profoundly when seeing it worn in a live theatrical production, contributing tangibly to something meaningful for an entire group.
