A practice of Stoicism meant to diminish the power of the Hedonic treadmill. In short: take something joyful in your life and imagine that you didn’t have that experience—or even that it was suddenly taken from you. Try to visualize that loss quite acutely. How would it feel? Keep it up for just a few seconds, then switch back to the present, and reflect on how you feel about that element of your life, knowing that it is present (for now).
This exercise helps you appreciate the things you have, but it also diminishes the power of the Hedonic treadmill by making you {want what you already have instead of the next shiny object on some imagined ladder}.
I find that this exercise is a reliable way to replenish Gumption and appreciation for my work, my friends, and other key elements of my life.
This kind of exercise seems like a good candidate for Embedded prompt templates may actively scaffold prompt-writing for mnemonic medium readers.
Q. Perform a negative visualization exercise on your current work situation.
A. (none)
William Irvine, via Waking Up, “Negative visualization”