The Hedonic Treadmill

Go for a run, see how long it takes for you to burn out, it'll be a great workout for you nonetheless ;)

Currently chilling out at the gate before this flight to Vegas…

Since I’m heading to sin city it felt fitting to write a post on this topic.

Last night, I had a fantastic conversation with this guy AJ on all things fitness, health, mindset, spirituality, and traveling to different countries.

Honestly, I just love getting on these calls to see someone’s worldview and just find out what makes them tick.

I had heard about him through the grapevine of the internet marketing vineyard but had never spoken to him before, but he didn’t disappoint!

He went through a similar situation that I went through with money and an excessive lifestyle, but it was about 10X what I did.

17-bedroom mansion, multiple supercars, the whole nine yards…

He ended up getting rid of everything and now lives a super minimalistic lifestyle out in Thailand.

I love talking with guys who’ve gone through this removal of excess because we both share our insights on what this chase for more did to us…

It’s like a toxic ex-girlfriend who was super fun but drained you constantly because of how much stress she brought to your life.

During our conversation, he dropped an amazing term that I hadn’t heard before which was “The Hedonic Treadmill”

Man, I wrote that down so quickly on a little notepad because I absolutely loved how accurate it is.

Hedonism is defined as the ethical theory that pleasure (in the sense of the satisfaction of desires) is the highest good and proper aim of human life.

But there’s also this idea of Hedonic Adaptation…

Which is that humans quickly return to a relatively stable level of happiness despite major positive life changes like a new car, new home, new lifestyle, etc.

We jump on this treadmill because we think it’s going to make us happy…

But it never lasts.

You know what’s funny though, you reading this, if you haven’t experienced it probably won’t listen to me.

You’re thinking “Fuck all that, Nick! I want a Lambo, and starting that sucker up and hearing the engine roar will make me happy.”

That makes me smile because I thought those exact thoughts, and I believe understanding through experience will always be more powerful than through the osmosis of a third party’s experience.

Go hop on the treadmill my friend, enjoy it.

This reminds me of a conversation I had with my mentor Ron before I got my Porsche 911.

It was probably two months before I bought that car I was looking at a nice BMW M5 and I wasn’t sure if I wanted to sign for it…

So I gave him a call and asked for his thoughts.

His words still echo around in my head and they’re one of my favorite lessons he ever shared with me.

“Do you want the car or the lesson?”

Fuuuuuuuuuck that still hits me so hard because of how powerful of a question that is.

At the time, I said I wanted the lesson.

“You don’t want the car, you don’t even care about the car, you just want what comes with the car, you want the attention, the authority, and the credibility.”

Like a good mentee, I listened to him, and then two months later I went and bought a Porsche 911.

I remember texting him this photo saying “I did something kind of stupid…”

He responded to me “You deserve it.”

At the time, I thought he was saying I’ve worked hard and I should reward myself.

It wasn’t until I went to go visit him in Austin recently and I was telling the story to a group of friends with us that he asked me…

“What do you think I was saying you deserve?”

The question confused me at first, but I realized what he meant.

“Oh shit, you were saying I deserve the lesson.”

He smiled and gave one of his signature nods.

Sometimes you want the car…

Sometimes you want the lesson…

Sometimes you get both.