It’s human nature, not to mention a core American ideal, to pull yourself up by your bootstraps and create your own success.

I’d bet you can recall several moments where you’ve aspired to have something you didn’t currently possess. Īs I approach my very own Bartlett x Fury moment - the sale of my company - I’ve started to put our addiction to life’s great sprint under the microscope.Ĭan you recall a time in your life when you desperately wanted something? A new car, job promotion or a stellar vacation, for example. In short: my world is filled with people running ‘fast’ on the hedonic treadmill, chasing their next big achievement. I’ve also graduated from a top-tier university best known for sending its students into the ‘prestigious’ (read: high-paying) world of banking, consulting and big tech. For the last four years, I’ve worked in an industry – the creator economy – that VC firms are pumping billions into. I’ve become fascinated with the treadmill because I’ve been running on it for longer than I’d care to admit. It is “the observed tendency of humans to quickly return to a relatively stable level of happiness despite major positive or negative events or life changes.” Psychologists refer to this phenomenon as the hedonic treadmill. Lately, I’ve found myself asking one question: why? Stories like these are infinite across all stages of professional success. Fury becoming heavyweight boxing champion of the world led to him having “everything in life” but “still feeling like sh*t on a daily basis.” The reality couldn’t have been further from the truth.īartlett listing his company on the European Stock Exchange at the age of 27 for a valuation of $300M was one of the worst days of his life.

Steven Bartlett and Tyson Fury believed the achievement of success and wealth would finally make them ‘feel’ happy.

Hedonic treadmill