According to Friedrich Nietzsche, happiness is progress towards a goal.
In Twilight of the Idols, he wrote, "Formula of my happiness: a Yes, a No, a straight line, a goal…" A goal is what we say yes to, and by giving one thing a resounding 'yes', we say no to something else.
Saying yes to being fit means saying no to being lazy.
And if we can move in a straight line towards our goal, according to Nietzsche, that's happiness.
In The Antichrist, he wrote, "What is happiness? — The feeling that power increases — that a resistance is overcome." Every goal comes with obstacles, and obstacles represent resistances, and according to Nietzsche, overcoming resistance is what makes us happy.
But the masses believe that happiness lies in pleasure, comfort, and acquiring things from the world — or in other words, avoiding resistance.
They believe happiness lies in money, status, wealth, vacations, romantic partners, fine dining, luxury goods, and so on.
For the masses, happiness depends on how much you can avoid suffering and discomfort.
But Nietzsche believed that happiness came from overcoming suffering and discomfort — from increasing our strength.
Happiness comes from overcoming ourselves, from overcoming who we were yesterday.
