Quit chasing more choose flow, experiences, and better conditions

You’ve upgraded your gear and still feel flat. The thrill fades quickly, then your expectations rise, and the treadmill starts again. It’s not a character flaw, it’s adaptation. Brains notice changes, then normalize. Some changes fade faster than others, though, and that’s where you can win.

Swap a purchase for an experience with a person. Cook together, learn a small skill, or take a short hike. People and stories resist adaptation more than objects. Then engineer one block of flow each day. Pick something that sits right between hard and doable—playing piano, writing code, repairing a bike. Shut the door, set a start cue, and give yourself a small end reward. Flow feels like time well used, and it builds skill that compounds.

Finally, fix one happiness drag condition you won’t adapt to much: constant noise, long ugly commutes, or low control. Even small shifts matter: noise‑canceling headphones, one remote day, or renegotiating a tiny piece of autonomy. And when you face big choices, satisfice. Decide your “good enough” before browsing, then stop at the first match. Maximizing looks smart and feels lousy. Satisficers enjoy more of what they choose because they stop comparison spirals.

A friend replaced a shopping spree with a cheap cooking class with her sister, scheduled 45 minutes for drawing each weekday, and asked for one remote day to cut commute stress. Three months later she didn’t remember what she almost bought, but she did remember laughing while burning the first crepes. The science is simple: experiences, flow, and some conditions matter; most objects don’t. Design for what sticks.

This week, trade one purchase for a shared experience, protect a 45–90 minute flow block on a right‑sized challenge with a clear start cue and end reward, and take one concrete step to improve a chronic drag like noise, commute, or low control. For upcoming decisions, set ‘good enough’ criteria before you browse and stop at the first match to avoid regret spirals. These small designs resist the treadmill. Put one on your calendar right now.