This is a self-mastery post—part of my commitment to help you master AI, master yourself, and build what matters. Because here's the truth: the best AI tools in the world won't save you if you're stuck on the satisfaction treadmill, chasing the next feature instead of loving what you already have. Let's talk about that.
Daily Nugget
“The easiest way for us to gain happiness is to learn how to want the things we already have.” - A Guide to the Good Life by William B. Irvine
Hey, everybody. It’s Monday, January 19th, and I want to share something with you.
I love books. Every day, I read from The Daily Stoic by Ryan Holiday and The Daily Laws by Robert Greene. A lot of times, we need reminders of really important things—basic things, even—but we need to hear them again. When I find nuggets, I want to share them with you.
One book that helped me through a difficult period years ago is The Guide to the Good Life. It’s based on Stoic philosophy, and there’s a chapter in here that I keep coming back to. It’s about hedonic adaptation—this very human tendency to be insatiable.
The Satisfaction Treadmill
Here’s what the author says:
“We humans are unhappy in large part because we are insatiable.”
You know this treadmill. We achieve something we’ve worked hard for, and almost immediately, we want more. There’s nothing wrong with being successful or wanting to grow. But it’s when that pursuit starts controlling our lives and making us unhappy that we need to pause.
The author explains it this way:
“We are unhappy when we detect an unfulfilled desire in ourselves. We work hard to fulfill this desire in the belief that on fulfilling it, we will gain happiness. The problem, though, is that once we fulfill a desire for something, we adapt to its presence in our life, and as a result, we stop desiring it—or at any rate, we don’t find it as desirable as we once did. We end up just as dissatisfied as they were before fulfilling the desire.”
Your job. Your relationship. Your home. The things we once dreamed of having, we now take for granted.
The Solution
So what’s the answer?
The author writes:
“One key to happiness is to forestall this adaptation process. We need to take steps to prevent ourselves from taking for granted, once we get them, the things we worked so hard to get.”
And here’s the nugget—I have this highlighted because it’s so true:
“The easiest way for us to gain happiness is to learn to want the things we already have.”
This advice is easy to state. The trick is putting it into practice. How do we convince ourselves to want the things we already have?
Your Assignment Today
I talk to a lot of people who are bitching and complaining about things that, frankly, are irrelevant. I think if we really embrace this idea of loving the things we already have, we’ll not only be happier—we’ll probably be less stressed as we go throughout our days.
So here’s my challenge:
Take a pause and think about all the amazing things you have in your life. Your health. Your family. Your friends. Really embrace those and love them.
And ask yourself: Is there something you’re pursuing that’s driving you astray because you feel unsatisfied? Because you’re insatiable for that thing?
This was the nugget I reminded myself of today. I’m hoping this short reflection can give you a dose of happiness, too.
What’s one thing you already have that you could appreciate more today? Hit reply—I’d love to hear from you.
