The Arrival Fallacy

You'll never get there, so you should rethink the journey.

Photo by Ben Jared/PGA TOUR via Getty Images

Scottie Scheffler, currently the top-ranked golfer in the world, recently gave a remarkable answer to a simple question at a press conference.

Scheffler was asked to recount the longest that he had ever spent celebrating a victory. Here is the (slightly trimmed) heart of his response:

“It feels like you work your whole life to celebrate winning a tournament for, like, a few minutes. It only lasts a few minutes. That kind of euphoric feeling…You win it, you celebrate, get to hug my family, my sister’s there. It's such an amazing moment. And then it's like, okay, now what are we going to eat for dinner?

Is it great to be able to win tournaments and to accomplish the things I have in the game of golf? I mean, it brings tears to my eyes just to think about because I’ve literally worked my entire life to become good at this sport, and to have that kind of sense of accomplishment is a pretty cool feeling. To get to live out your dreams is very special. But at the end of the day I'm not out here to inspire the next generation of golfers because what's the point? This is not a fulfilling life.

It's fulfilling from the sense of accomplishment, but it's not fulfilling from a sense of, like, the deepest places of your heart. There are a lot of people that make it to what they thought was going to fulfill them in life, and then you get there and all of a sudden you get to number one in the world, and they're like, what's the point? That's something that I wrestle with on a daily basis.

Why do I want to win this golf tournament so badly? I don't know. Because if I win it's going to be awesome for about two minutes…I love putting in the work. I love being able to practice. I love getting to live out my dreams. But at the end of the day, sometimes I just don't understand the point. I don't know if I'm making any sense or not…

I love being able to play this game for a living. But does it fill the deepest wants and desires of my heart? Absolutely not. I love being a father. I love being able to take care of my son. I love being able to provide for my family out here playing golf. And every day when I wake up early to go put in the work my wife thanks me for going out and working so hard. And when I get home, I try and thank her every day for taking care of our son. That’s why I talk about family being my priority because it really is…This is not the be-all and end-all; this is not the most important thing in my life.”

Scheffler’s answer captures what psychologists call the arrival fallacy. The arrival fallacy refers to the mistaken belief that finally “arriving” at a long‑sought goal will deliver lasting happiness. In fact, “arrivals” sometimes recalibrate the happiness bar and send us chasing the next ever-greater milestone, a cycle researchers call hedonic adaptation.

Does that take away from our greatest professional achievements? I don’t think so—no more than it takes away from Scheffler’s victories. But perhaps we simply expect too much of our own victories.

The arrival fallacy always reminds me of the middle-aged guy who decided to climb Mt. Everest with the idea that standing atop the world will inaugurate a new life. Perhaps—but that guy is still himself when he gets down.

You may never summit a Himalayan peak or win a Major, but getting a promotion or launching an app or a book, or running your first marathon might trigger the same mental script.

So what are we to do? Allow me a few entirely unoriginal thoughts: Make sure to appreciate aspects of the journey, not just the destination; lower your expectations for the arrival itself; and diversify your identity.

The most popular post in the several-year history of this newsletter was ostensibly about hobbies, but really it was about the power of diversifying one’s identity. The post argued that diversifying identity isn’t a distraction—it’s fuel, even for world-class ambition. I suspect Scottie Scheffler would agree.

Thank you for reading. If you’re new, you can subscribe here:

If you enjoyed this post, please share it.

Until next time…

David