A student called me on my
phone, and said, ‘Sir, my exams
are in six weeks. I haven’t studied much. I don’t know what
happened to the year.’
I asked her: ‘Tell me what a
typical day looks like for you.’
She paused. Then slowly: ‘I
wake up late. Scroll for a while.
Attend some classes. Hang out
with friends. Watch something
at night. Sleep late. Repeat.
And when it comes to studying, I tell myself I’ll do it
tomorrow.’
‘Can I show you four burgers?’
‘Sure, sir.’
THE BURGER MODEL
Tal Ben-Shahar uses a simple food analogy to explain
four ways people live their lives. Think about the burgers you choose, and I will tell you how you’re living.
Burger One: Junk Food Burger (Hedonist)
It tastes amazing right now. You know it’s
not good for you. You eat it anyway. This
is the hedonist. All present pleasure, no thought for the
future. Party every night, skip every class, chase every
distraction. Many students live here: endless scrolling.
Binge-watching. Avoiding anything uncomfortable.
The present feels full. But the future quietly empties.
Burger Two: Tasteless Health Burger
(Rat Racer)
You eat it because you should. It’s good
for your future. But there’s zero joy in it now. This is
the rat racer. All sacrifice, no present enjoyment. Study
because you must. Work because you must. Always
chasing the next milestone, believing that happiness
is waiting at the finish line. But the finish line keeps
moving. And the rat racer never arrives. I see this everywhere in the corporate world. Professionals who
have made it on paper, but feel empty inside. They gave
up today for tomorrow—for years. And when tomorrow finally came, they didn’t know how to enjoy it.
Burger Three: Healthy & Tasty Burger
(Happy Person)
This is the burger that is good for you
AND you genuinely enjoy eating. Present pleasure. Future benefit. Both, together. This is what Ben-Shahar
calls the happy person; not someone who has everything, but someone who has found meaning in what
they do today while building toward something worthwhile tomorrow. The student who genuinely enjoys
learning, not just scoring. The professional who finds
purpose in their work, not just the paycheck.
Burger Four: The Empty Plate (Nihilist)
No present joy. No future hope. Just existing. This is the most serious quadrant. If this feels
familiar, talk to someone you trust. A friend, a mentor, a counsellor. You don’t have to stay here, and you
should not.
THE PAIN AND PLEASURE SHIFT
Most people avoid pain today for pleasure today.
That’s the junk food burger. But what if you could flip
your association?
When you go for a run and your legs hurt, that pain
feels immediate and real. The benefits namely, fitness,
energy, and longevity, feel distant. So, you skip the run.
But what if every time you felt that pain, you connected it to an image of who you are becoming? Stronger.
Healthier. More energetic at 50 than most people are at
30. Suddenly the pain becomes the price of something
you want. And then, you start choosing differently.
WHICH BURGER ARE YOU EATING?
After I explained all four burgers, she said, ‘Sir, I know
exactly which burger I’ve been eating all year. And I
don’t like it anymore.’
That shift, from unawareness to awareness, is
always where change begins. She didn’t transform
overnight. But she started studying the next morning.
Thirty minutes. Just enough to feel the small win. Because once you know which burger you’re eating, you
can choose a different one.
You don’t have to be happy every moment. But you
can start eating better.