The Hedonic Treadmill

Lottery winners tend to drift back to their old level of happiness within a year or so. The brain has a built-in thermostat for satisfaction. That new-car smell fades. The thrill of the bigger house wears off. You adapt to every upgrade, then crave the next one. Psychologists call this hedonic adaptation, and it's the engine behind lifestyle inflation. The only way to beat it is to stop chasing the next purchase and redirect that energy into assets that grow while you sleep.