Much of our lives are run on automatic pilot. We go through the world only noticing what calls out to us. Often in a mindset of routine and getting through the day. We are very much creature’s of our environments. As much as we may like to see ourselves as independent actors, our broader system have huge impacts upon us.

The individual is more and more having to go against forces designed to manipulate. Large organizations can craft things that are so addictive, so enticing, that the average person just can’t help but over indulge.

It happens in every part of our lives. At the grocery store, marvelously designed packaging pulls us towards treats so devilishly tasty that more than a third of US adults are obese. The average teenager spends almost 5 hours a day on social media and even more time on screens.

In many ways, the struggle for happiness is one against addiction. Addiction is a vortex that pulls you in by creating such extraordinarily fleeting pleasure that you are left off worse then you started. By definition addiction creates a hole in ones life and one that can only be filled with addiction.

Almost everyone has had the experience of eating most of a bag of chips in one sitting or going through an entire 1000 calorie pint of ice cream. We have watched a few more hours of Television then we wanted to or we’ve been online way past our normal bedtime.

These compulsive habits are not coincidence, nor are they really the fault of individuals, they are instead by design. Companies and other organizations win when we over consume.

Phones are turned into virtual gambling machines that offer random reward each time we reach for them. Foods are made so hyper-palatable that almost no quantity makes us completely full.

This might be a narrative that you are familiar with. As individuals, we have it pretty hard. We have to face addiction in every direction. Overconsumption and addiction leads to most of the death and disease in wealthy nations. Between cardiovascular disease from the food we eat, lung cancer for the cigarettes we smoke, and liver disease from the alcohol we drink, we are dying because we are addicted.

What should we do about this:

1. Advertisements change us. People should not be forced to consume ads, and brainwash themselves. Consider using an ad-blocker and limiting your consumption of ads in TV.

2. We are all very strongly influenced by who we spend time with. When you can, choose people who embody values that you have, it goes a long way to shaping yourself into the person you want to be.

3. Consider the distant future. People have a strong tendency to discount the future. In general, it is so easy to get caught up in the day to day and not look into the distance. Force yourself to consider what it will be like when you are 80 or 90. You at an old age deserve good health and happiness just as much as you do now. Foster empathy for your future self.

4. Realize that people are simply exploited. We have brains that are massively complex and able to do amazing things, but generally we use simple heuristics to do most of our thinking. Rarely do we even turn our logical think to consider something rationally. Our environments extort this immensely. To fight against this is hard.

5. What we have to do is craft an environment that works for us. Here are some concrete suggestions. Consider turning off YouTube autoplay. Consider deleting addictive apps such a social media from your phone. Consider adding screen time indicators. You can’t make these changes in a vacuum.

6. As you take things away that you think are bad, replace them with things you enjoy. Going on walks is great way to center yourself and reset. Walking is free, makes you feel better instantly, and is good for your longterm health.

7. See your friends and other people face-to-face as much as possible.

8. As you start to distance yourself from addiction. And it is hard. You will become happier.