How Gratitude Helps High Achievers Escape the Achievement Treadmill The pursuit of success is a strange beast. We're told to aim high, strive for excellence, and never settle for mediocrity.
However, when we finally reach our goals, something peculiar happens: the elation wears off, and we're left wondering why the thrill is gone. This phenomenon has a name – the hedonic treadmill.
First identified by psychologists Philip Brickman and Donald Campbell in the 1970s, it describes how our brains adjust to positive events by returning to a baseline level of happiness.