To Enjoy Life More, Embrace Anticipation

“Imagining good things ahead of us makes us feel better in the current moment,” said Simon A. Rego, the chief psychologist at Montefiore Medical Center and Albert Einstein College of Medicine, who has written extensively on the effect of anticipation on mood. “It can increase motivation, optimism and patience and decrease irritability.”

The accumulation of these mini-thrills means you’ll still reap the benefits of looking forward to something, even if it’s not a big-ticket reward, said Christian E. Waugh, a psychology professor at Wake Forest University who studies anticipation.

Get excited about a lot of little things. Anticipating a smattering of small, delightful experiences can be as enjoyable as looking forward to one big event, said Carrie L. Wyland, a social psychologist at Tulane University in New Orleans.

“Plus, with the nearer stuff, there’s more of a sense it’s going to happen for sure,” he said. “You’ve got more control over a small gathering this evening than a vacation in six months.”