The 1 Thing Almost Everyone Gets Wrong About Happiness

According to the 2024 World Happiness Survey , the United States is no longer one of the 20 happiest countries. It’s pretty glum news, but not necessarily surprising.

While some of our stressors and sources of grief are out of our control, or might constitute a “ permacrisis ,” there’s also a common misunderstanding about happiness that’s plaguing us. This belief often stands in the way of us truly experiencing regular, daily joy.

The misunderstanding in question: that happiness is an end goal, or something we can’t have right now.

In reality, we can cultivate happiness every day and before our goals are met. So why do we think otherwise? Why do we see happiness as an end goal? Here are a few reasons, according to therapists.

The ‘American dream’ ideology.

This viewpoint is partially rooted in cultural and societal norms, according to Hayli Evans , a therapist who specializes in trauma. In the U.S., many of us see productivity and hard work as top-tier. It leads us to constantly chase after the elusive “American Dream” ― the idea that if we’re productive all the time, we’ll be successful, happy and financially stable.

“People are taught that work and play are to be kept separate, and often, we do not prioritize rest at all,” Evans said. “We commonly ‘live for the weekend,’ perpetuating the idea that happiness is something to be chased, or something reserved for later.”

Thanks to this mindset (and thanks to capitalism), there’s always something we feel we should “fix” before we’re “allowed” to be happy, whether it’s our bodies, our relationship status or our job titles.

Then, when we get to that point, we may confront the arrival fallacy, the illusion that meeting a goal brings lasting happiness. Or we might