Misconceptions
(a free online course)
(The following information is from Coursera’s free online course: The Science of Well-Being)
Misconceptions - we assume that the following will make us happy:
More Money
Material Possessions
True Love
the Perfect Body
Why don’t these things lead to permanent happiness?
There is no such thing as “happily ever after.”
Our minds are not wired to be satisfied and content.
We will always change our expectations to want more.
Hedonic Adaptation
This is our natural response when good things happen in life.
We get used to what we have in life. Our positive emotions decline back to baseline/ back to how we felt before those good things happened.
We reset our reference points, so now we want more than what we have.
This prevents us from being content with what we have and keeps us always searching for more and better things.
How to overcome Hedonic Adaptation:
Investing in experiences instead of material possessions
Experiences don’t keep going, so you don’t have the chance to get used to them, so there is no hedonic adaptation.
Anticipation of experiences adds to happiness. (Waiting to buy something doesn’t make you happier.)
Sharing your experience with others: telling them about it or them actually being present for the experience adds to happiness. (Telling people what you bought doesn’t build relationships and happiness.)
We often prioritize and put energy into things that we think will make us happier (more money, more possessions…), but research shows that these things (more money, more possessions…) don’t actually make us happier.
5 things we should prioritize and make time for:
-Kindness
-Social connections
-Time affluence
-Mind control/ Meditation and Mindfulness
-Healthy practices of Sleep and Exercise
(Research shows that these do increase our happiness)
How often do we prioritize other things at the expense of these?
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