Shortcuts to Happiness?

According to various studies performed by psychologists, human brains produce happy brain chemicals while experiencing 'flow' or while being 'in the zone' while and after achieving goals of moderate and above difficulty. Humans seem to thrive on overcoming obstacles, but I wonder if there are shortcuts to happiness that don't require having to continuous overcome obstacles? Is it absolutely necessary to continually overcome obstacles to be happy? It just seems so convoluted and bizarre that humans have to engage in certain pointless activities such as climbing Mt Everest or running marathons to experience happiness. I suppose there's no way around the fact that I have to continually overcome obstacles just to remain happy. Being naturally lazy myself conflicts with having to do stuff in order to be happy. Also, my brain often rationalizes certain pointless goals all for the sake of achieving certain pointless goals as being absurd (see my post about the Effi0-Absurdity Paradox). I suppose I must tell my brain that for the sake of my well-being, I have to yield to my human need to achieve in order to be happy. I suppose one shortcut is to pursue things that pique my interest without over-analyzing the meaning behind it and without thinking if it's absurd. I already know eating well and exercising promotes happiness, so I should continue my pursuit of obtaining optimal health through eating well and exercising. Perhaps taking legal happy pills is another viable shortcut to happiness that I should investigate? Transcendental meditation and eastern philosophy may provide some answers?

Why is overcoming certain obstacles more noble than others? Why is the brain buzz a gamer experiences considered lesser than the buzz an avid reader of literature experiences? I don't know, and I shouldn't care. We all draw happiness from doing different things for different reasons; from one person's perspective, the things we derive happiness from may seem totally absurd while from another person's perspective it may seem like a no-brainer. However, we shouldn't have to justify the 'lesser' activities that provide us with happiness. Society attaches all sorts of stigmas and ennoblements to everything, but we should ultimately ask ourselves if deep down we truly enjoy the things we engage in.