Look Again: The Power of Noticing What Was Always There

by Tali Sharot

The economist Tibor Scitovsky, for example, said that pleasure results from incomplete and intermittent satisfaction of desires. This claim is worth repeating—pleasure results from incomplete and intermittent satisfaction of desires.

If you're always satisfied and have the perfect day, day in and day out, there is no perfect day, there's just a day. imperfection and satisfying your desires and wants leads to that pleasure.

Habituation to the good drives you to move forward and progress. If you did not experience habituation, you would be satisfied with less. For example, you might end up being happy with an entry-level position many years after getting the job. Now, being satisfied with less may seem desirable, but it also means that you would have reduced motivation to learn, to develop, and to change. Without emotional habituation, our species may not have had the technological innovation and great works of art we do, because people might not have had the motivation to create them.

This spoke to me greatly, especially with the direct career example.