"Working for myself was the goal. I did it. I made it. I work for myself. But it hasn't fixed my life. I'm free to pursue anything I want. But achieving goals doesn't and won't make me complete. There's a term for it: the arrival fallacy. It's the reason we sometimes still feel "empty" even when we achieve what we want. Achieving a goal rarely feels like arrival. Because it's not the end we imagined."
"Philosophers and psychologists have been saying it for years. But we forget because we want instant gratification. You want to experience what it feels like when you finally tell yourself you made it. "The brain is in pursuit of happiness, and because the brain is much more concerned about the future than the present, it conceives happiness as the guarantee of an indefinitely long future of pleasures," wrote philosopher Alan Watts."
Achieving a desired goal often fails to produce lasting fulfillment because human beings adapt to new circumstances and quickly shift focus to future aims. The arrival fallacy describes the feeling of emptiness that follows accomplishment when the anticipated sense of completion does not appear. Goals function as guides that reveal growth and capability but are not final destinations. Happiness tends to be a by-product of engaging in work and the pursuit itself rather than possession of outcomes. The brain emphasizes future rewards and constantly recalibrates desires, creating a hedonic treadmill where satisfaction is temporary.
Read at Fast Company
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