This redirection is especially pronounced when our goals are highly emotional. There’s even evidence that goals shift how our brains operate and prioritize. Goals having easy-to-follow hygiene: writing them down makes it more likely they’ll happen, specific goals are better than general ones, and so on. According to data from Peak Sales Recruiting, it’s possible to boost your cold calling effectiveness by 50 just by using a headset. Not only are you going to end your day in pain, you’re not being as productive or effective as you can be. This isn’t to villainize goals-we like goals. If you just pick up the phone and cradle it between your head and neck, you’re doing it wrong. If you’re driven or ambitious, however, you probably know you’ve been on this treadmill for a while–and you’re starting to tire out.

The good news about hedonic adaptation is that the principle goes both ways: Your buzz wears off over time, but so does the sinking feeling that comes from setbacks and disappointments. Campbell in the 1971 essay Hedonic Relativism and Planning the Good Society –notes how the happiness spike that stems from achievement often fades quickly. Hedonic adaptation–originally coined the “hedonic treadmill” by Philip Brickman and Donald T. We’ve been grappling with the fleeting feelings of happiness for half a century now. As it turns out, you can’t outrun this survival mechanism but you can find ways to leverage it to your advantage. Whether you realize it or not, you’re on a demoralizing hamster wheel known as hedonic adaptation. You know it’s bad when watching reaction videos of reaction videos is acceptable. Closing the rings on your Apple Watch just doesn’t hit the way it used to. You rack up gold stars, and yet, after a while, they don’t feel so shiny or special anymore. So you set insane goals and turn yourself inside-out to achieve them.

That research was more focused on changes in emotional well-being, not blanket happiness, and research published earlier this year from Wharton fellow Matt Killingsworth found instead that well-being continues to rise with income.

In case you missed it, the wildly popular statistic about happiness topping out at a salary of $75,000 is often cited incorrectly. Don’t get me wrong, going after your career aspirations is a worthwhile pursuit, and doing so will continue to make you happier.

You're doing it wrong achievement