How to live a happier life? Notice what has been there all along

As 2024 approaches people look back to evaluate their lives and consider what can be done in 2025 to achieve a more fulfilling existence. In doing so, you may notice a conundrum: Why do you have great things in your life—perhaps a fulfilling career, a loving family, a cozy home—but these things seem to have only a limited impact on your day-to-day happiness?

At the same time, there can be not-so-great things around us – cracks in a relationship, rudeness online, inefficiency at work – and it seems that we often get used to these ailments, so we are less likely to try to change them.

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

Recognize the habituation

Habituation is a fundamental characteristic of our brain – a tendency to respond less and less to things that are constant or frequent.

Imagine walking into a coffee shop. At first, the aroma of freshly brewed coffee is noticeable, but after about 20 minutes you can no longer feel it. Your olfactory neurons stop responding – they get used to it. And just as you get used to the aroma of coffee, you might get used to more complex aspects of your life.

The challenge then is to re-sensitize both the great things in life, so that we can feel the joy, and the terrible things that we have stopped noticing and that we could potentially change if we tried. So, how to disget used to

Break the good

The answer lies in this wonderful quote from economist Tibor Scitovsky: “Pleasure is the result of incomplete and intermittent satisfaction of desires.”

Think of a song you like – would you like it better if you listened to it continuously from beginning to end or with short breaks? Ninety-nine percent of people say no to vacations. however research shows that people enjoy a song more when they listen to it with breaks. why If you listen to a song continuously, the joy it causes at the beginning diminishes with time. However, the interruptions cause withdrawal, so that every time the song is played again, the joy level goes back up.

To combat addiction and increase pleasure, we need to consume the good things in life little by little. Whether it’s a Netflix show, chocolate cake, or a new romance, enjoy instead of bingeing.

Swallow the bad whole

On the other hand, if you have to do an unpleasant task – housework, administrative work – do them all at once. Research shows that people suffer less if they have to constantly listen to an unpleasant noise (such as the sound of dust) than if they take breaks. If you experience the noise continuously, the “pain” it causes at first diminishes over time. However, breaks induce withdrawal, so that each time the noise occurs again, the level of distress goes back up.

Experiments in life

What about the aspects of your life that you suspect may be causing you stress and anxiety, but you can’t really tell how much they’re affecting you because they’re always there, so you don’t try to change them? They loom 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.

Consider Social Media: Is It Affecting You Negatively? In one studyresearchers paid half of the participants $100 each to leave a social media platform for a month, while the other half continued to live as usual. At the end of the experiment, the “dropout” cohort was happier and less stressed. Most importantly, they were surprised. They didn’t realize how negatively the platform had affected them.

In 2025 experiment in life. Remove some items from your daily life for a while, one at a time, and add other new ones. Measure and evaluate the impact on your life so you can keep those characteristics that spark happiness and purpose and eliminate those that don’t.