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Dec 31, 2003
"You can't always get what you want. I don't think that's the problem. The problem is you can't always know what you want." --Daniel Gilbert
Pursuit of Happiness
If this Harvard psychology professor is right, then you are wrong. That is to say, if Daniel Gilbert is right, then you are wrong to believe that a new car will make you as happy as you imagine. What Gilbert has found is that we overestimate the intensity and the duration of our emotional reactions -- our "affect" -- to future events. On average, bad events proved less intense and more transient than predicted, as did good events. In other words, we might believe that a new BMW will make life perfect. But it will almost certainly be less exciting than we anticipated; nor will it excite us for as long as predicted.
BE THE CHANGE
Write down what you really want for the coming year. Save the list for next year, to see if it really made you happy.
