Lifetime Goals. The Secret of Happiness
Sat Aug 7 23:47:06 2010
How and why you should set great goals for yourself.
Happiness is a pursuit of happiness. Did you ever hear anyone say that? Does it mean that one can never attain happiness and any attempts are futile? Not at all. While the phrase might at first appear confusing, it has a huge amount of truth within it. It points out an interesting fact that often goes by unnoticed.
Suppose you decide that should you have a million dollars in your bank account, you'll be happy. You start working on that idea, get an extra job or invent a useful tool, and try to market it. You keep at it for a decade, and now you have $950,000 on your account. I can bet you'll be extremely excited. Perhaps, you'll recall a few people who have said that you'll never make it and you're almost there. $970,000... $980,000... $999,999.... and... and... $1000,000,000. YES! You've done it! You scream of joy, you throw parties (perhaps even spend your million right there and then), and perhaps write a blog post informing the world that you've succeeded.
Our premise was that a million would make you happy. It follows then, that as long as you maintain a 7-figure account balance, you'll always be happy – even 20 years later. Of course, this logic looks flawed. In a few months or even sooner, you'll start asking yourself: “Is this it? What's next? What do I do now?”
It seems that happiness is, in fact, a pursuit of happiness. Even though, attaining your million might have been a challenging task, each little step you took towards your goal made you realize that you're getting closer and closer to the ultimate goal – and that made you happy.
Having a grand goal in your life doesn't just put a smile on your face when you get closer to it. As you progress towards it, you increase your confidence, you attain a level of “recognition” - a feeling that your existence on this planet is useful – achieving goals allows you to differentiate one day from another. Have you ever noticed that people who often use metaphor “Same crap, different day” don't have considerable goals in their lives? No wonder they have such a bleak view on the world.
A goal that would bring intense amounts of joy should be quite grand. It's not something that you'd finish next Saturday or even next year. The best goal is the one that might take you your entire life to achieve – it would be your purpose in life. How exactly do you come up with something like that?
I believe the following method would give you marvelous ideas. Imagine that a genie all of a sudden appears before you and grants you one single wish – absolutely anything you want. However, the only wishes for which you can ask must affect only other people; there would be no real benefit to you. Your wish would be a gift you give to other people, and the more people this gift would affect the better.
What is your wish?
Write it down, maybe even in several places for you to easily see your note. Since the genie gave you only one single wish, he wants you to think hard about your decision. For the next full week, refer to your piece of paper with your wish daily and see if it is still what you want it to be; if it isn't, change it. In fact, think of your wish during different times of the day, as your frames of mind change during the day depending on your environment; what you want in the morning might even turn out to be the opposite when evening comes.
After that week passes, you'll hold in your hand the idea for the greatest gift from you to human kind. No matter how absurd or impossible it might seem at the moment, the wish you hold will now become your lifetime goal. Close your eyes. Imagine the day when the people receive your wish. See their faces, the sounds they are making, every little detail. There is now no turning back. You'll do everything in your power to achieve this goal, and will do it as often as possible. Nothing and no one has any kind of ability to stop you. Many might say that your goal is crazy or impossible, but that won't stop you from achieving it – what those people might not know is that you'll dedicate your entire life to this goal. Even while on your deathbed, should your goal still not be realized, you'll spend your last breath bridging the gap between your goal and reality.
You now know what to do; I shall leave you with it.
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