There is a sense of helplessness that hits you instantly, but what follows is a moment of clarity.

We always think that the current pain is because "it's not enough"—not enough money, not enough status, not enough house. We firmly believe that as long as we reach that dangling "carrot" (the next goal) in front of us, life will completely switch to happiness mode.

But the "pleasure treadmill" tells us a cruel truth: the endpoint you think you’ve reached is actually just the starting point for the next stage.