Is Happiness the same as achieving your goals? Let's take a look and change your perspective to achieve both.
Many people in life are looking for happiness. But, what they don't realize, is that happiness is not something you "find", rather, it is created as a byproduct of achieving other goals.
So, take the focus off of happiness and switch it over to attainable, fun, realistic goals. These goals should be tangible, such as putting enough time and/or money aside for a hobby you want to take up (guitar, mountain biking, learning how to code).
Goals can also be monetary, but not goals by luck (wishing for a lottery win, for example). Monetary goals can be achieved such as investing to grow your wealth, asking for a raise, starting a side hustle to earn extra money, or updating your skills in your career (which may require returning to school for some courses).
Other goals which are attainable might be non-monetary. These include getting in shape, achieving a certain weight, or competing in a triathlon. They might even be as simple as eating under 25200 calories a day (there are lots of calorie trackers available, I use the site myfitnesspal.com).
Still other goals could be non-monetary and non-physical. These could include reading one book per week, eating 5 portions of any combination of fruits and vegetables each day, or learning how to cook 4 new healthy dishes each month.
Goal Achievement Leads to Happiness
“You should not chase happiness and set it as your goal. Rather, you should set goals, chase them, and you will achieve happiness!" - Barstool Millionaire
If we think about how we felt when we achieved a goal as a kid (and everybody has done it), we know that feeling. It could have been scoring a goal in a sports game, getting an A+ on a school test, or even getting taller and stronger. All those things made us feel good inside and brought us joy and happiness. Now you can remember that "happiness" was not our goal as an elementary school kid, but our small achievements (and large ones too) is what brought us that happiness. We all proved it as kids.
Write Down Your Goals
So, how do we achieve these goals? It starts by writing them down, yes, on an old fashioned piece of paper. Make sure you write down more goals than you can achieve, and then focus on certain ones at the start. In other words, don't make your only goal "learn how to write computer code" or "learn the piano" because you may run into things that prevent you from achieving them. These include your interest in the subject (maybe after you begin learning how to code, you will find it too boring to continue) and expenses (maybe a piano cost or the lessons themselves are out of reach). If you have many goals written down, you can juggle a few of them at once, then zero in on a goal that you are engaged with enough to accomplish it.
Accomplishing 4 goals out of 10 is better than you think
“If a baseball player hit every 4 out of 10 pitches thrown at them, they be in the hall of fame”
Now that you read the quote above, you get the idea. A baseball player who batts .400 (hitting every 4 out iof 10 pitches) is unheard of and would be in the hall of fame for sure. In fact, in any sport, succeeding on 40% of your chances is almost impossible. So, don't be hard on yourself, shoot for attaining 40% of your goals, and you will be very accomplished. And guess what, you will be happy too!
Break Down Your Goals Into Categories
The best way to see success in your goals is to break them down into categories. I like to use 2 main categories to start, "Long Term Goals" and "Short Term Goals".
Then, make sub-categories of those, such as "Financial Goals" and "Physical Goals". Then break those up further, such as under Financial Goals, you may have "Earnings", "Investing" and "Fun Money". Under Physical Goals, you may have "Weight", "Workout Frequency", and "Healthy Eating".
The only requirement is that you make your goals as specific as possible. For example, I want to earn $20,000 more in 2 years, I want to be 180 lbs in 6 months, I want to workout 3 times a week for 1 hour each time consistently, etc.
Making this type of goal list is the most important part of setting your goals. Without something tangible to look at, it will be unlikely that your goals will be reached (or that you will even remember your goals). Avoid being vague, like "I want to start becoming more active" or "I want to eat better" as that carries no specific meaning and is not easily measured.
To wrap up, as you start achieving your goals, you will find yourself setting new, higher goals, and then, miraculously, your "original goal" of happiness will have been achieved!!
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