{"id":122280,"date":"2024-01-25T00:52:00","date_gmt":"2024-01-25T04:52:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/?p=122280"},"modified":"2024-01-31T12:53:15","modified_gmt":"2024-01-31T16:53:15","slug":"the-hedonic-treadmill-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/the-hedonic-treadmill-2\/","title":{"rendered":"What Is the Hedonic Treadmill and How Do You Get Off?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>What is the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/the-hedonic-treadmill\/\">hedonic treadmill<\/a>? How can you get out of the cycle of constantly chasing after more?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The hedonic treadmill is a behavioral pattern where people chase after happiness but never feel content or satisfied once they get what they want. To get off the treadmill, you have to slow down and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/practicing-gratitude\/\">practice gratitude<\/a> and appreciation for the simple things in life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Take a look at how to approach your own negative patterns.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<!--more-->\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-the-hedonic-treadmill\">The Hedonic Treadmill<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>There is a pattern of behavior commonly called the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.healthline.com\/health\/hedonic-treadmill\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><em>hedonic treadmill<\/em><\/a>: People chase after something they think will make them happy, enjoy a moment of pleasure when they get it, then start chasing the next thing in order to recapture that feeling. It\u2019s referred to as a treadmill because people constantly \u201crun\u201d after happiness but always end up in the same place emotionally.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>There are many tools that people can use to help themselves <a href=\"https:\/\/www.happify.com\/hd\/sustainable-happiness-how-to-find-contentment-that-will-last\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">get off the treadmill<\/a>. A few examples are:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Ask \u201cDo I need this?\u201d <\/strong>When you\u2019re considering buying something, you should pause for a moment and ask if it\u2019s something you <em>need <\/em>or just something you <em>want<\/em>. Another way to approach this is to consider whether it\u2019s going to help him in some way; if so, then it may be a need, but if not, then it\u2019s only a want.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Practice gratitude. <\/strong>Instead of thinking about what you want to buy or experience next, remember and appreciate what you already have. Examples might include your health, your family and friends, your job, your home, and your accomplishments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Find pleasure in simple things. <\/strong>Happiness doesn\u2019t always require money or a lot of effort.<strong> <\/strong>Instead of chasing after expensive items and intense experiences, indulge in the simple pleasure of taking a walk or watching your favorite TV show.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>What is the hedonic treadmill? How can you get out of the cycle of constantly chasing after more? The hedonic treadmill is a behavioral pattern where people chase after happiness but never feel content or satisfied once they get what they want. To get off the treadmill, you have to slow down and practice gratitude and appreciation for the simple things in life. Take a look at how to approach your own negative patterns.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":122281,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[42,9,43],"tags":[1388],"class_list":["post-122280","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-motivation","category-psychology","category-self-improvement","tag-king-warrior-magician-lover","","tg-column-two"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v24.3 (Yoast SEO v24.3) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>What Is the Hedonic Treadmill and How Do You Get Off? - Shortform Books<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The hedonic treadmill is a constant chase after happiness that never ends in satisfaction. Here are strategies for getting off the treadmill.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/the-hedonic-treadmill-2\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"What Is the Hedonic Treadmill and How Do You Get Off?\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The hedonic treadmill is a constant chase after happiness that never ends in satisfaction. Here are strategies for getting off the treadmill.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/the-hedonic-treadmill-2\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Shortform Books\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2024-01-25T04:52:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2024-01-31T16:53:15+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/wordpress.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/woman-looking-at-reflection-in-mirror.jpeg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"675\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Becca King\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Becca King\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/the-hedonic-treadmill-2\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/the-hedonic-treadmill-2\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Becca King\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/a98d1f6c931222c11a5c5d087f3376fe\"},\"headline\":\"What Is the Hedonic Treadmill and How Do You Get Off?\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-01-25T04:52:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-01-31T16:53:15+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/the-hedonic-treadmill-2\/\"},\"wordCount\":314,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/the-hedonic-treadmill-2\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/woman-looking-at-reflection-in-mirror.jpeg\",\"keywords\":[\"King, Warrior, Magician, Lover\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Motivation\",\"Psychology\",\"Self-Improvement\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/the-hedonic-treadmill-2\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/the-hedonic-treadmill-2\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/the-hedonic-treadmill-2\/\",\"name\":\"What Is the Hedonic Treadmill and How Do You Get Off? - Shortform Books\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/the-hedonic-treadmill-2\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/the-hedonic-treadmill-2\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/woman-looking-at-reflection-in-mirror.jpeg\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-01-25T04:52:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-01-31T16:53:15+00:00\",\"description\":\"The hedonic treadmill is a constant chase after happiness that never ends in satisfaction. 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