How to stop the hustle and set more meaningful goals
Get ready to control your own destiny
Do you know someone who’s training for a marathon?
I sure do. A growing number of friends and colleagues seem eager to cross “run 26.2 consecutive miles” off their bucket lists.
If you’re chasing that goal, you have my best wishes. But I also want to share an important term: post-marathon syndrome.
This is a well-documented state of sadness, worthlessness and letdown that often follows the big day. It’s a natural human reaction.
Psychologists refer to this sense of emptiness as “the arrival fallacy.” According to author Tal Ben-Shahar, goal-hunting activates the brain’s reward centers and delivers a daily sense of accomplishment. In essence, you feel like you’ve already run the marathon while you’re training. Once you cross the finish line, it’s often less satisfying than expected. That’s when the crash occurs.
Yet, mainstream culture is constantly telling us to reach higher.
We make grim New Year’s resolutions (even though 92% of people don’t keep them). We eat nothing but kale for 30 days. We sign up for bootcamps, undertake grueling home renovations, and set dizzying sales targets.
