Humans were designed to forage and hunt for food. We have an innate instinct to conquer and accumulate. It’s in our nature, and we always look for the next mountain to climb. Laura Gassner Otting spoke about this feeling on our LinkedIn Live session and the Success Paradox podcast, often called the “hedonic treadmill” in psychology. NFL superstars play one too many seasons, sitcoms go way past their sell-by-date, stocks peak, yet we hold on for more, and leaders overstay until death instead of a peaceful transition of power.
But this is modern-day America. Today, we have DoorDash, and most of the Western world has everything we could need at our fingertips, so why are we out there acting like our last meal depends on spending 18-hour days in the office? Old Gary would invent things to hunt and conquer. When I had successfully hunted it down, I would plan my next acquisition adventure because that is what a hunter does. However, I don’t “have to.” Our societies have evolved.
A remedy that I had to be taught to quiet the hunter in me was to replace this ‘endless drive for more’ with gratitude. And it worked.
Once we have enough, we don’t have to store up our treasures. We can learn to appreciate them. The paradox I experienced (as you will read in my book) is that when we appreciate the things we already have, we begin attracting what we need into our lives – and don’t need to hunt for them anymore. They naturally come to us instead.
Gratitude helped me understand that I could stop climbing mountains and just surrender. This led me to something different and even more fulfilling: helping others. If we begin helping others realize their dreams and what they need for a fulfilling life, we will be rewarded in ways that will blow our minds. Instead of a steady hunting and gathering diet for ourselves, we can broaden our palates by helping others and lead a much more rewarding life than trying to exchange one mountain top for another.
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