Reset Your Reference Points

Posted by Beetle B. on Sun 27 January 2019

Concretely Reexperience Your Reference Points

Say you got your dream job, and then a year later it has now become your reference point, and you are no longer particularly happy. Spend time thinking about how life really was before. Better yet, take concrete steps - go visit your old crappy job to remind yourself of how bad it was.

If earning a lot, spend a few weeks living like your older self that didn’t earn much. Concretely Observe

If only I had …”. Go out and concretely observe what it is like!

Avoid Social Comparisons

The Stop Technique

When you find yourself making a social comparison (e.g. when looking at someone’s Facebook feed), actively (and even aloud), tell yourself to “Stop!”.

Gratitude

When feeling envious, go and practice gratitude.

Delete Apps/Accounts

Deactivate or delete your social media accounts. Interrupt Your Consumptions In the middle of an enjoyable experience, stop it! Take a break. Then return to it. Your enjoyment will be higher than if you hadn’t taken a break.

Apparently this works even for TV shows.

Suggestion: When buying a bunch of stuff on Amazon Prime, don’t open all the boxes at once.

The corollary: For bad things in your life, don’t try to break them up into pieces. Try to get through it all at once. You don’t want to disrupt the hedonic adaptation and feel bad again. Increasing Your Variety

Space out the good things in your life.