The Happiness of the Pursuit

I was listening to Andrew Huberman on a podcast when he said something that instantly clicked. He was quoting Dr. Robert Sapolsky:

“Dopamine is not about the pursuit of happiness, it is about the happiness of the pursuit.”

And I thought, yes. That’s the science behind what I’ve been teaching for years.

So often, we treat happiness like a destination. Something we’ll feel when the circumstances finally line up. When we have the job, the relationship, the money, the clarity, the freedom. We see it as something to chase and catch. But that’s not how it works. And on some level, I think we all know it.

The truth is, we come alive in the pursuit. It’s the process that gives us energy, the becoming that lights us up. Dopamine, the brain chemical that fuels motivation and excitement, isn’t released when we get the thing. It’s released when we’re moving toward it.

That moment when a new idea lands and you feel your whole system come online. When you decide to show up for yourself in a new way. When you take one small action that your future self would be proud of. That’s where the magic is. That’s what makes us feel most alive.

But we’ve been taught to see the in-between as a waiting room. We make the journey mean that we’re not there yet, so something must be missing. We postpone joy. We withhold celebration. We tell ourselves we can rest or feel good when it’s all done.

And then, when we do get there, we wonder why it doesn’t feel like we thought it would.

This is why I always come back to meditation. Because it brings us into the present. It reminds us that there’s nowhere to get to. It helps us feel the energy of pursuit, the joy of becoming, the spark that’s already here. It rebalances the nervous system and quiets the part of the mind that says “you’ll be happy when.”

Meditation has taught me how to live inside the process instead of rushing through it. And it’s one of the foundational tools I share in my Becoming Lucky course.

I’ve decided to freshen up one of my most loved and shared offerings, and I’m so excited to bring it back. It’s a 30-day journey to reframe the way you experience your life, to help you reconnect with the truth that luck isn’t something you wait for. It’s something you remember.

This course is a daily practice in becoming more present, more embodied, and more magnetic to the life you’re already creating. Not someday. Now. Because the happiness we’re searching for is already here, hidden inside the pursuit.

Let’s remember that together.