The Arrival Fallacy

There is a persistent belief that happiness lives on the other side of some achievement. Graduate, and you will be happy. Get the job, the house, the relationship — then happiness begins. Psychologists call this the arrival fallacy, and it is one of the most reliable disappointments in human experience.

Studies show that people overestimate how happy achievements will make them and how long that happiness lasts. Lottery winners return to baseline within months. The destination model of happiness is broken because there is always another destination after the one you reach.