What happens after resolutions get resolved?
Lasting happiness is not found after the “achievement” of your dreams/goals. Rather, happiness is realized while enjoying the pursuit of your purpose.
Or to put it another way, as Hugh Downs said, “A happy person is not a person in a certain set of circumstances, but rather a person with a certain set of attitudes.”
Whoa, that’s pretty deep stuff Scott. Please elaborate … (and quit referring to yourself in third person, its becoming a trend in your posts).
Okay, let’s start small and use the example from my previous post. Last week, I re-posted an old article that I wrote years ago about goal setting and shared that I had a goal to drop from 10% to 6% body fat for a photo shoot. Interestingly enough, after successfully achieving that goal, I remember having a solid three days of feeling satisfaction which soon turned to boredom and even a little depression.
As it turns out, being at 6% body fat is not really what makes me happy. What made me happy was living out the previous four weeks with purpose, to accomplish something challenging. To be healthier. To cook new foods. To make plans and follow through on them. To study and learn about the process. To take time out of my day to acknowledge that I was in control. I had the power to change my body and I was REALLY DOING THIS.
To some this may be a trivial example in the grand scheme of finding purpose in life, but I see many people (myself included) always saying to themselves (If only I had _______, then I would be happy).
In 2017, when reflecting on how you measure your life, make sure that you continue to set goals and seek a purpose. But don’t wait until you achieve that next milestone to realize your happiness. Because you will have already passed it by.
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