The third theory is called the Mountain Biking Theory of Happiness. It’s similar to The Iceberg Theory, where the exposed tip is small in relation to the whole thing, and therefore a small change in the total size of the iceberg appears to be a large change to the smaller, exposed portion.
Imagine riding a bike on a mountain… it doesn’t matter if you’re biking 100 or 2000 feet above sea level, the amount of work you’re doing is just based on whether you’re going uphill or downhill at the time.
Similarly, your gauge for happiness generally isn’t relative to zero, it’s relative to what you’ve become accustomed. So your mood and general happiness at any given moment is more reflective of recent events than your life as a whole.
The Mountain Biking Theory of Happiness is that happiness isn’t based on your overall standing in life – it’s based more on recent changes.
For example, consider a guy worth $300k. If he just won the lottery and only had $10 in his bank account before he bought the ticket, he’s on top of the world. But now imagine another guy who had his whole net worth of $600k in a stock that just dropped 50%. He’s miserable. Kind of obvious, right?
Up Guy and Down Guy
The key goes back to the standard of living idea. People get used to a lifestyle and that’s their baseline – changes upward result in happiness and changes downward result in sadness.
Both the guys from the example are worth the exact same amount, but one is very happy and one is very sad. They’re extreme examples, but the lesson, especially in our short-attention-span, instant gratification society, is that sometimes you need to take a larger perspective on everything.
And this doesn’t only apply to money. The guy who’s used to staying in Motel 6’s who gets to stay in a Westin is very comfortable, but the guy who’s used to staying at the Ritz is not… The guy who has always had perfect health who gets a paper cut thinks he’s in severe pain, while there are plenty of people out there dealing with severe and life-threatening diseases.
So, happiness is relative to what we’re accustomed – it’s not usually ‘felt’ on an absolute basis.
When you feel down after a minor setback, take a look at the bigger picture and realize that you probably have plenty of reasons to feel grateful for your life.
-DD
Also be sure to check out Theory 1 – The Iceberg Theory of Income
and Theory 2 – The Need for Speed theory of Spending
