Mochon’s team have tested the idea that whereas rare, massive events have no lasting effect on happiness, the cumulative effect of lots of little boosts may well have the power to influence happiness over the longer-term.

They surveyed people as they left the gym and found that the more times people had attended the gym in the last month the happier they reported being.

Professor Mochon had this to say:

“Our findings imply that, in contrast to the notion of an inescapable hedonic treadmill, it is not pointless for people to seek to improve their well-being,” the researchers said. “However, improvement may not come from major events such as winning the lottery, despite the seemingly life-changing nature of such examples. Rather it seems like the key for long lasting changes to well-being is to engage in activities that provide small and frequent boosts, which in the long run will lead to improved well-being, one small step at a time.”

So if you’re looking to make people happy it seems that the best bet is to make many small steps rather than grand gestures.