It's not unusual to feel empty and dissatisfied after achieving your most audacious set of goals. We ultimately derive meaning and fulfilment in hitting milestones, celebrating wins to feel something. Happiness. Oscillating between the highs and lows until you find your baseline of happiness. It's the perpetual hula hoop of emotions after you received the bonus from work, finished the key-lime pie and exited that startup. Happiness remains short-lived. So how does one escape the hedonic treadmill?

1. Focus on the Process Prioritise the journey. Focus on process-orientation rather than the destination. It's the joy of writing, building and failing that makes the path worth travelling. One's baseline of happiness can improve with the "continual effort and engagement in some intentional process" as proposed by Sheldon & Lyubomirsky. The intention and the confirmation one is on the path increases one's baseline happiness. Do this rather than simply chasing outcomes and sunsets.

2. Celebrate Small Wins Learn to celebrate small wins- Brewed your morning coffee. Check. Made your Bed. Check. Practicing gratitude for the smallest of tasks can be the positive feedback loop you build for yourself. Learning positivity and affirming your actions can uplift your baseline level of happiness ever so slightly. At the end of the day, appreciate serendipity and the lightness of being. Grow to appreciate these moments.

3. Learn Earnestly The journey of learning and self-development never ends. Finding a new perspective, uncovering the stories of others through their life's work, novels and art can kickstart the journey of self-discovery. Channel those learnings and find meaning in beginning a new project.

It's not unusual to feel empty and dissatisfied after achieving your most audacious set of goals. We ultimately derive meaning and fulfilment in hitting milestones, celebrating wins to feel something. Happiness. Oscillating between the highs and lows until you find your baseline of happiness. It's the perpetual hula hoop of emotions after you received the bonus from work, finished the key-lime pie and exited that startup. Happiness remains short-lived. So how does one escape the hedonic treadmill?

1. Focus on the Process Prioritise the journey. Focus on process-orientation rather than the destination. It's the joy of writing, building and failing that makes the path worth travelling. One's baseline of happiness can improve with the "continual effort and engagement in some intentional process" as proposed by Sheldon & Lyubomirsky. The intention and the confirmation one is on the path increases one's baseline happiness. Do this rather than simply chasing outcomes and sunsets.

2. Celebrate Small Wins Learn to celebrate small wins- Brewed your morning coffee. Check. Made your Bed. Check. Practicing gratitude for the smallest of tasks can be the positive feedback loop you build for yourself. Learning positivity and affirming your actions can uplift your baseline level of happiness ever so slightly. At the end of the day, appreciate serendipity and the lightness of being. Grow to appreciate these moments.

3. Learn Earnestly The journey of learning and self-development never ends. Finding a new perspective, uncovering the stories of others through their life's work, novels and art can kickstart the journey of self-discovery. Channel those learnings and find meaning in beginning a new project.