The Arrival Fallacy

I recently read about this in Tal Ben Shahars book Happier. It really struck a chord with me since I feel that we all feel this way in one form or another. Recently an entrepreneur that was sharing her journey told me that if she only had 10 customers per month she’d be happy. Now I’m sure that many of us feel that if only we have X that we would feel Y, yet unfortunately that’s just not true. In her case  I’m sure that she hasn’t even considered what it’s going to be like to support and service those 10 customers on a daily basis. The issues that she’ll face on the accounts receivable, the customer service calls etc.

Another example that I’ve come across quite often and is very popular is hearing someone say when I weigh x pounds I’ll be happy. I can tell you from my  own experience of weighing ~260 to now weighing ~175 that there is almost more pressure to maintain this weight.  The reason being is that I think about weighing 260 every day and how I never want to ever get back there. So every day I take actions to prevent that from happening. My point being is that although I’m at a weight where I feel comfortable, I’m still on the journey of now maintaining the weight.

Every destination or goal will come with its own set of problems or challenges. So as cliched as it sounds to say ‘enjoy the journey’ I can tell you from my own experience that it is the best attitude to have.