Your brain often convinces you that happiness exists just beyond your next achievement.

Hedonic adaptation causes today's dream to become tomorrow's expectation.

Hope grows when we stop waiting for life to begin and start finding meaning in the journey itself.

"When I lose weight, I'll be happy." "When I receive my next promotion, I'll be happy." "When I buy my dream house, I'll be happy."

"When I lose weight, I'll be happy."

"When I receive my next promotion, I'll be happy."

"When I buy my dream house, I'll be happy."

When we get to the finish line of our goals, there is happiness for a moment in time, but then something happens; the finish line moves.

You have worked so hard, lost the weight, but want to lose 5 more pounds; you received the promotion but are still looking for the next promotion; you bought your dream home, but it quickly becomes just your home.

Your objectives never changed; your brain did.

The Biggest Lie Your Brain Tells You

In the mind of the brain, one of the greatest lies has to do with our inability to be happy with our life as it is now, but that it exists for a life that we will have in the future.

Your mind creates a false hope that after you accomplish one task (goal), you will be happy if you can accomplish the next.

Every time we arrive, our brains build a new destination. Psychologists refer to this phenomenon as hedonic adaptation. This refers to the ability of humans to return to a stable level of happiness after both positive and negative life experiences. (Brickman & Campbell, 1971; Frederick & Loewenstein, 1999).

For example, when you first purchased a new car, the excitement of a new car wore off as the car became........

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