The industrial system (and its marketing machine) love the mindset of ‘a little bit more, please’, because it furthers their power. A slightly higher pay increase, a slightly more famous university, an incrementally better car, a bit bigger house, more shoes, more expensive clothes, it’s easy to be seduced by this safe, step-wise supposedly progress, and if marketers and bosses can make you feel dissatisfied at every step along the way, even better for them.

The more you want, the better for industrialists.

Their rules, their increments, and you are always on a treadmill, unhappy today, imagining that the answer lies just over the next hill, when you get to that hill, you realise that there is another hill you want to get to… and so on and so forth…

All the data shows us that the people on that other hill are just as frustrated as the people on your hill. It demonstrates that the people at that university are just as envious as the people at this university. The never ending cycle (no surprise) never ends.

You happiness is short lived because once you achieve it, instead of enjoying it you are off to another little more.

An alternative is:

Be happy wherever you are, with whatever you have got, but always hungry for the thrill of creating innovation, of creating art, of being significant, influential, impactful, of being missed if you are gone and most of all, doing important work, work that matters.

Don’t put your happiness in the hands of industrialists. Its yours, enjoy it, share it with others.

Stay hungry, stay foolish. Stay eager, be ready to try new things, be ready to step out of your comfort zone to move the world forward.