Meaning as an antidote to the hedonic treadmill
While it is widely believed that happiness is one of the objectives to achieve in life, I would infer that having a meaning is a much more profound and worthwhile goal to encounter in life. I am using the word 'encounter' because meaning is to be found within us rather than be sought after compulsively.
It feels quite normal, that happiness roller coaster. You feel happy one day, or moment, for some reason or event happened to you, and one moment later you feel again that emptiness and dissatisfaction for your life, as if you were the only one living on earth and suffering. Well, that sounds a bit catastrophic and depression-like. But I have come to notice in life that happiness is this kind of temporary experience taking place inside of us because we feel valued in some way, or our work is appreciated at a certain moment in time.
As Giacomo Leopardi argued, during the course of our life we experience 'many happiness events'. Which implies that there is no such thing as one happiness that we should spend our life seeking. That seems a very appealing theory to me.
If we take a look at the scientific definitions of happiness and meaning, there is a key difference that can be noticed right away. While happiness seems to depend on an attention to the present moment and is usually associated more with takers than givers, meaning derives from an harmonic cohesion of past, present and future and usually has an internal locus of control* associated with it.
Although they can sometimes overlap and coexist, meaning and happiness are two different concepts, and no one is better than the other per sé. They are just different.
When thinking about happiness, a parallelism comes to my mind. Between happiness and goal-setting. We are usually instructed that setting goals and working to achieve them is probably the best way to tackle life and improve as a person or in a career. When I say goals I mean objectives set to be achieved over the medium to long run such as 'losing 30lb' or 'earning 10000$ a month'. While there's nothing wrong with neither of those targets as for the aim and substance, they have two definite characteristics worth pointing out: they are externally-oriented and finite. Externally-oriented because they are based on an arbitrary, quantitative measure that has nothing to do with the person setting the goal; finite due to the fact that once achieved their lifespan is finished (and then what?).
And these characteristics, one could argue, are somehow related to happiness. Here's why: when you work hard and manage to accomplish those 'external' targets, a spark of happiness will likely arise in you. But it will also fade away after little time. And then, what? Well, there are probably 2 paths to follow once an external goal is achieved: either set another goal and keep running that hedonic treadmill* or just feel a sense of achievement and quit. Which is why 'falling in love with the process' and focusing on building habits that last may be a more fulfilling choice when it comes to goal-setting. But a mindset switch is necessary. From a goal-oriented finite mindset to an infinite mindset of continuous improvement and meaningfulness. Mindset which can be built through practice, habits and an internalization of the belief that we, as individuals, have a lot of potential to become better at the game of life.