Here is a slightly deeper look into the two different mindsets from our "Happiness Peaks" email.

This is the secret that makes hard-work stop feeling like work. This is not magic, this is a science-based theory, and it's strongly related to how our body chemistry works.

Look closely at this chart. It's a visual representation of the evolution of happiness over time when you allow instant gratification to take control of your life.

The Instant Gratification Junkie

How does it work?

Imagine you play video games for 3 hours. You will obtain  peak of happiness while you are playing—no problem with that. But then... The peak  happiness disappears, and you begin to fall below your base level of happiness. Dopamine exhausted. 

After feeling that bad, you decide to eat some ice-cream to reclaim the previous happiness peak and bam, you get another boost happiness (dopamine), but immediately after eating the ice cream, your happiness falls again. This time is even lower than before. This spiral can endlessly continue if you don't decide to stop chasing it.

The solution:

Take a look at this other chart. It represents how happiness evolves when you start pursuing long term goals, when you start working on yourself and when you start building the life you deserve.

The Long Term Player

How it works?

Imagine you want to be more fit, so you start working out. At the beginning of y of the chart, you will be putting in more energy that you are getting out.  The first half of this chart is worse than the first half of the previous chart... That is why people usually give up...You are working and trying, but you are still in the happiness valley. But if you stick to it, long enough to have a few break throughs, no matter if you are exhausted, you will be happy. Happier than before. Your baseline happiness will be a little bit higher.

The same thing will happen to you when reading books or working on your project.

But it gets better than that:

One day, something magical happens. Your brain will adapt. Those hard things won't be hard anymore. Even better than that. Your brain is not a fool, and when it realizes that doing these things is increasing your overall happiness, you will start to crave the good stuff, and your brain will give you a happiness peak when you do those hard things.This is the transformation point. You may have already experimented this in other areas of your life. Once you enter this beneficial spiral (we love to call "The Success Spiral") you will be unstoppable.

Now you have the tools to manage your happiness and take it to the next level. Just put the work in on it and persevere in building healthy habits until you enter The Success Spiral. Trust me, the success spiral exists; you only have to be patient and work hard.