“Fairly early in life, we develop our theory of happiness, that is, a belief about what will make us happy. This theory is usually unconscious but very deep and drives all our actions. One common theory of happiness is called ‘the missing tile theory’. We focus all our attention on what is missing and believe if only we had ‘this’ we would be happy. The ‘this’ can be good grades, getting to a good college, finding a good job, meeting the right partner, getting a promotion or living a certain lifestyle. The problem is that this tile is a moving goalpost; as soon as you get what you’re missing, you quickly focus on the next missing tile. Happiness is forever postponed.”
Know Thyself 