Durability Bias
Have you ever had a goal that you're working incredibly hard to achieve?
Because you just know, once you achieve it, it's gonna change your life, you're going to be way happier forevermore. And then you achieve that goal. And it's okay. It's nice.
But that happiness doesn't last anywhere, as long as you think it's going to last.
Or on the other side, you fear failing at something, and that failure comes to pass, and you feared it, because you thought it was just going to ruin your life for forever, or at least for a long time. And then the bad thing happens, and a few days later you're okay.
I know that's happened to me.
I know when I was struggling to build my business many years ago, and just figuring out how to pay the bills, finally, getting to the point, that we can not only pay the bills, but went out and bought my first luxury car and thought, Man, that's gonna make me happy. And, of course, it didn't.
The happiness lasted a little while, but then things just went back to normal.
The reason that happens is something called Durability Bias.
Durability Bias is a bias, most of us have to overestimate how long that great feeling will last when something good happens, and how long that horrible feeling is going to last when something bad happens.
That's Durability Bias.
It causes us to think that someday we're going to be happy when we reach some goal and also causes us to think my God, if I fail, things are going to be screwed up forevermore.
But if you understand Durability Bias, understand that we overestimate the length of time, we're going to feel either really good or really bad. It teaches us a couple of valuable lessons.
It teaches us to take more risks. If you realize if you risk something and fail, it is not going to ruin your life forevermore. Maybe you'll feel bad for a little bit, and then you'll snap back a lot faster than you ever thought you would. So number one, learning from Durability Bias is, take more risks, take a shot, see what you can make it happen and if you fail, you'll get through it.
Instead of waiting until you reach some goal out in the future, and saying I'll be happy when I'll be happy when my business hit some number. I'll be happy when I have a nice house. I'll be happy when I get married. I'll be happy when I have kids. I'll be happy when the kids leave the house. Stop saying I'll be happy when, and figure out ways to be happy now. Because Durability Bias says when you get those things, it's not going to change your life half as much as you think it is. So find ways to be happy now.
So Durability Bias lessons. Number one, take more risks. Now. Number two, be happy. Now.