How to live a happier life? Notice what was there the whole time

As 2024 comes to a close, people are looking back to evaluate their lives and think about what they can do in 2025 to achieve a more fulfilling life. When you do this, you may notice a dilemma: Why do you have some wonderful things in your life—perhaps a fulfilling career, a loving family, or a comfortable home—but these things seem to have only a limited impact on your daily happiness?

At the same time, there may be not-so-great things around us—such as rifts in relationships, rudeness online, or incompetence in the workplace—and we often seem accustomed to these maladies, so we’re less likely to try to change them.

In other words, we stop noticing what has always been there. Here’s how you can change that.

Recognizing habit

Habituation is a fundamental feature of our brain, which is the tendency to respond less and less to constant or repetitive things.

Imagine you are walking into a café. At first the smell of fresh coffee is prominent, but after about 20 minutes, you can’t smell it. Your olfactory neurons stop responding, and they get used to it. Just as you become accustomed to the smell of coffee, you may also become accustomed to more complex aspects of your life.

The challenge, then, is to regain sensitivity to the great things in life, so that we can feel the joy, and the terrible things that we stopped noticing and that we could change if we tried. So how do we do that? Discome back?

Deconstructing the good

The answer lies in this wonderful quote by economist Tibor Cytowski: “Pleasure results from the incomplete and intermittent satisfaction of desires.”

Think about a song you like. Would you enjoy it more if you listened to it continuously from beginning to end, or with short breaks? Ninety-nine percent of people say “no” to breaks. but, research It shows that people enjoy the song more when they listen to it with breaks. Why? If you constantly listen to a song, the joy it initially evokes diminishes over time. However, breaks lead to loss of habituation, so every time the song is played, the joy level rises again.

To combat habituation and maximize enjoyment, we need to consume the good things in life a little at a time. Whether it’s a Netflix show, chocolate cake, or a new romance, savor rather than binge.

Swallow the whole bad

On the other hand, if you need to complete an unpleasant task — such as chores or administrative work — complete it in one go. research It is shown that people suffer less if they have to listen to annoying noises (such as the sound of a hovercraft) continuously than if they have to take breaks. If you experience noise constantly, the “pain” it initially causes diminishes over time. However, breaks lead to loss of habituation, so every time the noise returns, the level of suffering rises again.

Experiences in life

What about the aspects of your life that you suspect might be causing stress and anxiety, but you can’t tell how they’re affecting you because they’re always there, so you don’t try to change them? It looms in the background like the constant noise of an air conditioner – you don’t realize how negative the noise is until someone turns it off and suddenly you feel a lot better.

Think about social media: Is it affecting you negatively? In one He studiesThe researchers paid half of the participants $100 each to leave the social media platform for a month, while the other half continued with life as usual. At the end of the experiment, the “quit smoking” group was happier and less stressed. Most importantly, they were surprised. They did not realize the negative impact of the platform on them.

In 2025, an experience in living. Remove some items from your daily routine for a while, one by one, and add some other new items. Measure and evaluate the impact on your life, so you can maintain those features that stimulate happiness and purpose, and eliminate those that don’t.