why the anticipation of success is more satisfying than the outcome

A rhythmic buzz jolts me awake in my dark bedroom. I sit up in the faint glow of the 4:00 staring at me from the phone on the nightstand. Gravity pulls at the heavy bags underneath my eyes. I have to be on set in two hours. A day like any other working in the film industry. A few years ago I would have committed crimes worthy of capital punishment to have the life I have now. Yet, the living out of my dreams has an unmissable trivial quality to it. Making movies and being on set feels like any other job. Not that I would ever choose to work in a different field, but it has inevitably become ordinary, quotidian, something fun to complain to your friends at the pub about. And, creative writing intro aside, there is significant neurological and sociological research into why oftentimes the chase feels more fulfilling than the reward.

Dopamine is a neurotransmitter part of the brain’s reward system. From an evolutionary standpoint, human brains are hard-wired to seek out dopamine-releasing activities, because - on a primal level - the hormone’s function is to reward behavior essential to survival, like eating and drinking (Cleveland Clinic, 2022). Dopamine can be linked to the feeling of pleasure and satisfaction, which is why in clinical trials the monitoring of this neurotransmitter allows researchers to draw conclusions on what brings more or less gratification. In a 2019 meta-analysis by Mark E. Walton and Sebastien Bouret it was established that the activity of midbrain dopamine neurons and mesolimbic dopamine levels are modulated by anticipated future reward more strongly and consistently. This essentially means that the anticipation of a future outcome satisfies the brain more than the outcome itself. Wanting is neurologically more powerful than having. (Walton and Bouret, 2019)

On a small scale, this provides theoretical reasoning as to why waiting for an online order of clothes to arrive is more exciting than wearing those same clothes out a few days later, or why getting ready for a function is more enjoyable than the party itself. An additional argument can be made on the link between excitement and novelty, whereby the anticipation is more satisfying because of an inherent sense of possibility and mystery, whereas the outcome is certain and fixed. Phillip Brickman and Donald Campbell presented the Hedonic Treadmill in 1971. The main thesis states that there is a genetically determined baseline level of happiness. So, whether an individual wins the lottery or suffers a paralyzing accident, their happiness levels will eventually drift back to their baseline. The lack of evidence for a correlation between objective circumstances and self-reported well-being has given rise to the concept of a hedonic treadmill, on which happiness remains stationary despite efforts to advance it (Brickman and Campbell, 1971). Assuming that an extreme high or low cannot be sustained, what initially feels like. absolute euphoria or total misery, ultimately becomes the new normal.

This could explain why, even at the hight of one’s success, people can lack satisfaction or recognition for their achievements. In an HBO special, while in the dressing room at Madison Square Garden, Lady Gaga sat crying feeling like (in her own words) a loser. Similarly, unable to sleep due to the roar of thousands of fans outside of his hotel room, Michael Jackson confessed through tears to his body guard that he just wants to be successful. The desensitization to material markers of success, like selling out one of the most prestigious venues, or having your name chanted on streets across the world, can leave even the most objectively accomplished individuals feeling neutral. This reinstates that often the pursuit of a goal brings more meaning, satisfaction and psychological engagement than the attainment of the goal. (Volek, 2025).

Based on Greek mythology, The Myth of Sisyphus by Albert Camus details the eponymous character’s curse of pushing a boulder up a hill, only for it to perpetually roll back down. The story presents the idea that the struggle itself is what gives life meaning, even if the goal is ultimately unattainable or fleeting. Furthermore, In Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi’s book Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience, he describes how athletes and creatives report flow state during the pursuit, but often not in the aftermath of success. (Csikszentmihalyi, 1990) So, if it is the anticipation of the reward that provides more satisfaction, as opposed to the reward itself, does that mean that in order to achieve a sustained level of satisfaction, and as a result - happiness, one has to constantly pursue a goal?

I align with Napoleon Hill’s perspective on the matter, whereby he states that real happiness is found in fulfillment, which can only result from the pursuit of meaning as opposed to success. Success is a centered outlook of what an individual can get out of a pursuit, where meaning is about what the individual can give back as a result of the pursuit (Hill, 1937). Therefore, sustained happiness isn’t rooted in the direct reward, but finding purpose and importance in one’s work. So, in my own creative practice, I aim to shift my motivation in pursuing goals from achieving the goal itself, to instead surrendering to the process and seeing the pursuit as part of a greater purpose.

Brickman, P. and Campbell, D. (1971). Hedonic Relativism and Planning the Good Society. [online] Available at: https://cdn2.psychologytoday.com/assets/hedonictreadmill.pdf.

Cleveland Clinic (2022). Dopamine. [online] Cleveland Clinic. Available at: https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/articles/22581-dopamine.

Csikszentmihalyi, M. (1990). Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience. Design Issues, [online] 8(1), p.80. doi:https://doi.org/10.2307/1511458.

Hill, N. (1937). Think and Grow Rich. The Ralston Society.

Volek, D. (2025). The Pursuit Paradox: Why the chase feels better than the catch. [online] Linkedin.com. Available at: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/pursuit-paradox-why-chase-feels-better-than-catch-dominic-volek-fiytc/ [Accessed 26 Jun. 2026].

Walton, M.E. and Bouret, S. (2019). What Is the Relationship between Dopamine and Effort? Trends in Neurosciences, [online] 42(2), pp.79–91. doi:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tins.2018.10.001.