20th March 2025
The Nova Effect is a term coined by psychologists Richard Wiseman & Daniel Gilbert to describe the psychological phenomenon of a decline in happiness following good fortune.
It is sometimes referred to as the ‘Tragedy of Good Luck.’
The concept is rooted in the idea that people become accustomed to the good fortune & thereby experience a notable decline in happiness after the lucky event, as they struggle to return to their normal baseline life.
Imagine you win a beach vacation. You get a burst of happiness from the experience, but as the trip winds down, you start to feel the post-vacation blues setting in, as you contemplate the return to your normal life.
This is the Nova Effect in action.
It’s a similar experience to the lifestyle creep that often accompanies promotions & financial success, as the person continues to inflate their baseline needs to meet their ever-rising expectations.
The Nova Effect is a trap, but while it is grounded in human psychology, it is not inevitable.
You can escape the Nova Effect by focusing on the experience, not the outcome.
Real, durable satisfaction, happiness & contentment are found in the anticipation of the achievement, not the achievement itself. It’s the quest, It’s the hunt, It’s the process, It’s the journey.
The most significant lie you tell yourself: “When I get …., then I’ll be happy.”
Over and over again, we recite some version of this lie. And every single time we do, we make your own happiness conditional on some external event, achievement, or timeline.
One of my favorite quotes comes from the movie Cool Runnings:
“A gold medal is a wonderful thing, but if you’re not enough without it, you’ll never be enough with it.”
If we convince ourself that our satisfaction is contingent upon the next achievement or milestone, we’ll never find it.
Real happiness is an inside job: Find it on the journey—or you won’t find it at all.
Stay blessed forever.
The happiness is not in the having, but in the becoming.
Stay blessed forever.