3026: Another Reason Experiences are Better Than Things: The Joy of Anticipation by Jay & Heather Harrington on Positive Psychology

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[00:00:20] Just go to urlaubsguru.de slash podcast summer and book a vacation as you love it. For you, for you, for the whole family. This is Optimal Living Daily, Episode 3026. Another Reason Experiences are Better Than Things The Joy of Anticipation by Jay and Heather Harrington of lifeandwim.com.

[00:00:42] The Re-Narrator Justin Malik, the guy that reads blogs or articles to you every single day of the year including weekends and holidays. And with that, let's get right to our next post as we optimize your life. Another Reason Experiences are Better Than Things

[00:01:01] The Joy of Anticipation by Jay and Heather Harrington of lifeandwim.com. The fact that the calendar flipped to March shocked us out of our winter hibernation this week. The approach of spring and summer is exciting. While we love winter and the skiing, sledding, and snowballs it affords,

[00:01:22] we're ready for the longer and warmer days ahead. Summer fun is around the corner, which made us realize that we need to kick our summer planning into gear. Our twins are turning five this spring, so we've turned the corner on toddlerhood.

[00:01:35] This opens up a whole new world of opportunities in terms of fun and adventurous activities. There are no more naps and those little legs are steadily getting longer and sturdier. So this summer, we plan on pushing boundaries a bit more than we have in the past few years.

[00:01:50] We're really excited about all of the new experiences that lie ahead. Experiences Over Things You've probably heard that experiences bring people more happiness than things. For example, a day at the beach leaves a more lasting positive impact than buying a new bathing suit.

[00:02:08] The field of positive psychology has been studying this issue for years, and the conclusion is unanimous, which is that experiences matter more than material things when it comes to happiness. Psychologists used the acronym CAMPER to describe the research-proven factors that contribute to happiness, which are competence,

[00:02:27] autonomy, meaning, pleasure, engagement, and relationships. Research shows that these happy CAMPER factors are more likely to be realized from doing experiences rather than having things. Joyful Anticipation As a family that has shifted from material consumerism to more experiential consumerism over the last several years,

[00:02:51] we can attest to the positive impact it has had on our well-being. We're all in on new experiences. Over the weekend, we mapped out many of the things we want to do over the summer and started blocking off our calendars and making reservations.

[00:03:06] We found that by planning far in advance, we're much more likely to carry through on what we set out to do. Otherwise, time slips by, the summer gets busy, and the plans we conjured up in our heads don't come to fruition. Some of those plans include camping trips

[00:03:21] to places we've never visited, exploration of new beaches, fun life and whim social gatherings in the Trevor City region, and a part business part pleasure trip to New York City this spring. It's fun and exciting to do this planning. We focused on activities that would constitute

[00:03:38] first moments for our family. We've come to realize through this planning process that the anticipation of events and activities brings nearly as much joy as engaging in the events and activities themselves. We get to dream and brainstorm about things we'll do, see, and learn.

[00:03:55] We know, based on past experience that more often than not, we meet interesting new people while trying interesting new things and that these chance encounters frequently lead to meaningful new relationships. We read and research with our kids to learn about new places we'll visit

[00:04:09] and allow the kids to help set the agenda for what we'll do. I'm sure you've done similar things while planning activities with friends and family. Hopefully you've experienced these simple joys as well. It turns out that we're not alone. Planning for new experiences brings pleasure.

[00:04:24] Far more than planning to buy new things. This finding comes from doctoral student Matthew A. Killingsworth of the University of California, Berkeley and UC San Francisco, and doctoral student Amit Kumar and psychology researcher Thomas Gilovich, both of Cornell University. In a paper published in 2014,

[00:04:42] they found that people, quote, think about future experiences in more abstract ways that can make them seem more significant and more gratifying end, quote. In other words, our anticipation of an experience may be idealized, but it creates happiness nonetheless. These conclusions are consistent with those from a 2010 study

[00:05:03] which found that vacationers experienced a significant boost in happiness during the planning stages of a trip because they anticipated the fun to come. The studies lead author Jerome Nguyen told The New York Times, quote, the practical lesson for an individual is that you derive most of your happiness

[00:05:21] from anticipating the holiday trip, end, quote. All of this is not to say that the best part of an experience is not the experience itself. There's nothing like being immersed in the moment of an exciting first moment.

[00:05:33] But there's a great deal to be said and studies to back it up for being more intentional in planning first moments. You may enjoy the uncertainty of spontaneity, but if you leave summer's fun to chance, you'll be missing out on months worth of happiness

[00:05:48] from the joys of anticipation. You just listened to the post titled, Another Reason Experiences Are Better Than Things, The Joy of Anticipation by J. and Heather Harrington of lifeandwim.com Think it a J. and Heather? It's an interesting point from them on the actual planning.

[00:06:10] Personally, I don't plan most things on more of the spontaneous type when it comes to what I'm doing on pretty much any given day and even how I work as a whole. But I think the argument makes a lot of sense.

[00:06:22] The times when I have planned something a bit more than usual, it definitely adds a layer to the experience and probably even the memory of the whole thing. I feel like that experience seems to last that much longer.

[00:06:35] So something to think about today on New Year's Eve actually. Wishing you a happy new year. Thank you for being here on the journey with me for another year. Have a great one and I'll catch you tomorrow on New Year's Day. Where your optimal life awaits.