a lot of people look forward to New
Year's Eve but many end up disappointed
and there are some interesting
legitimate reasons why this happens
number one is expectations in a study of
people asked about their New Year's Eve
83% indicated they felt let down not
because of their actual plans but
because they ended up having less fun
than they expected high expectations can
contribute to unhappiness though it's
what sets us apart from other animals
are highly developed prefrontal cortex
allows us to imagine the future which
evolutionarily helped with survival for
instance imagining bringing home
delicious food for the family may have
served as a driver for our ancestors to
get out there and try harder number two
is trying too hard in a study where
people were instructed to listen to
music and feel as happy as possible
while listening people actually felt
less happy than those who were simply
told to listen but not how to feel when
you're trying really hard to have an
amazing night on New Year's Eve it may
actually reduce your ability to enjoy it
number three is the optimism bias our
brains are hard-wired to overestimate
the likelihood of positive outcomes
compared to negative ones it's why
almost all newlyweds believe they will
not divorce in the future despite
knowing that almost one-half of
marriages break up
we mostly envision a fun-filled epic New
Year's Eve leading to the letdown
number four is reflection when people
approach a new decade in age like 29 or
39 or 49 research shows an
over-representation in first-time
marathon runners these ages are also
seventeen point eight eight percent more
prevalent on websites seeking
extramarital affairs a similar thing can
happen with the new year approaching
reflection can cause existential crisis
and reflecting on negative events has
also been shown to increase stress
number five is your good old friend
alcohol it permeates the blood-brain
barrier and first settles on the
cerebral cortex an area of the brain
responsible for sensory emotions and
thoughts but as you continue to drink
your limbic system becomes affected this
part of the brain usually keeps our
feelings in check but since the alcohol
interrupts the electrical signals
between synapses were more prone to mood
swings and potentially amplified
feelings of sadness at number six the
cost of New Year's Eve doesn't help
either
restaurants and bars dramatically raise
their prices but interestingly the
actual amount you spend may not matter
as much as the number itself the head of
economic research at uber found that
when search prices rise from one point
nine to two point zero there's a six
times larger drop than that from one
point eight to one point nine people are
also more likely to order a ride at two
point one time surge than two point zero
it turns out we're more annoyed by whole
numbers and finally number seven at the
kiss if you've got someone particular on
this already angst with an evening a
midnight kiss may not be so bad but
finding a stranger might not be worth
the 80 million bacteria that are swapped
in a 10 second kiss just remember that
New Year's Eve is only zero point two
seven three nine seven two six zero
three percent of your year and is not a
reflection of your entire life do
something you enjoy on December 31st and
just try to lower your expectations
because it will probably suck but
probably not any more than 2016 Happy
New Year special thanks to audible for
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ASAP this week we wanted to recommend
the book peek secrets from the new
science of expertise which lays out a
powerful and interesting way to approach
mastering any skill from a language to a
sport or a musical instrument you can
get a free 30-day trial at Ottawa comm
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