Everyone’s goal in life is to be happy and successful. Who doesn’t want to be happy and successful? You would be a fool if you didn’t want those things. What if I told you that true happiness and success cannot be achieved? It sounds crazy, but very logical when you take a look at it. Let’s start off with happiness.
Happiness
Happiness is a feeling that we have when things are going well. No stress, no work, just pure relaxation. This feeling is amazing to have.
How many people actually experience this? Well, everyone at some point in their life. Every second of it feels good. Note that I said “every second”. I say that because that’s how long it feels for us.
Happiness Is Temporary
Happiness doesn’t last forever. It is a temporary feeling, just like all types of feelings. Some may last longer than others, but they never become permanent feelings.
So, why are we chasing this temporary feeling? We chase this feeling our whole lives just to be disappointed and jealous by others that are experiencing it when we don’t. We try to lift others that feel bad only for the feeling to go away the next day.
I have another question for you to answer. What is happiness? I don’t think there is an exact definition of happiness because everyone experiences it differently. It makes the word “happiness” quite arbitrary.
That means that we shouldn’t have the goal to find true happiness. Our goal should be to create as many memories that made us happy. That’s something that can actually be measured instead of having true happiness.
The same exact thing can be said about the goal of being successful.
Success
You want to become really successful. Maybe you want to leave your job and be financially free? Maybe you want to have your own company and brand all for yourself?
These are all good points that I’m making, but how do we actually measure success? Being successful, again, is arbitrary. We might believe that we’re successful while others think we are not even close to success.
You are chasing something that never ends. You have goals about becoming successful and someday you achieve those goals. Then what? You’re successful and nothing’s going on. There are no more goals to achieve which means you don’t improve.
The Problem With Goal-Setting
What do you do? You set even more goals for yourself and try to accomplish those. You want to be more successful. Instead of making six figures, you want to make seven. Instead of having a small business, you want a large business. The cycle of goal setting never ends. So why do we set goals in the first place?
The problem isn’t having goals. The problem is the goals that we make for ourselves. If the goals you have are general and broad, then you will have less fulfillment when you complete them.
SMART Goals (Happiness & Success)
Your goals for happiness and success needs to be SMART goals. Smart stands for Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, and Timely. When you set goals, they have to pass this checklist.
For example, let’s say that I have this goal for myself: I want to have my own private practice by the age of 30.
That goal is specific and straight to the point. Since I put the age I want to accomplish this goal, it is achievable and timely. The only thing unclear about it is how I would measure it. I would measure it by seeing how long it takes for me to get through school and how long does it take for me to get my supervision hours.
Those would be my small goals inside of the big goal. This is also a way to check if your goal is realistic. SMART goals will help to improve your mental health as it gives you a specific direction that you need to follow. You can have checkpoints (small goals) inside of your SMART goals, so you know that you’re doing things the right way and feel good about yourself.
With this in mind, I want you to create your own goal using this checklist. Just remember that happiness and success cannot be apart of your goals. If you do, then your goal is never going to end because you can’t measure it.
Also, keep in mind that you’re going to set goals for yourself throughout your life, so make sure that they are good ones.
Good SMART Goals (Happiness & Sadness)
Some examples of SMART goals for happiness:
- I want to have at least 5 good memories with my friends over the summer. (Good memories: enjoying myself and having a good time)
- I want to end this year having more good memories than bad memories. (Happier instead of depressed/More positive outlook on life than a negative outlook)
- I want to smile more times than I frown this week. (Track down smiles and frowns every day)
Some examples of SMART goals for success:
- I want to get an average of a 3.5 GPA this semester.
- I want to have a small business with at least 3,000 potential buyers by the end of this year. (Track how many potential buyers you have each month)
- I want to increase sales by 45% in November. (Track sales you have in November and compare it to where you started.)
- I want to have $300,000 dollars saved up at the end of the year to start a business. (Track how much money is made each month.)
Bad SMART Goals (Happiness & Success)
Some bad examples of goals for happiness:
- I want to be happy for my whole life. (Not achievable, specific, or timely)
- I want to find that special someone that will make me happy. (How can that be measured?)
- I want to smile every day and love my life. (Not Realistic at all)
Some bad examples of goals for success:
- I want to become really successful when I’m older. (No specific timeframe or clear definition of success)
- I want to have my own business when I get out of school. (Timely, achievable, and kind of realistic but is not measurable or specific)
- I want to quit my job and become financially free. (What’s financial freedom? Not measurable, timely, realistic, or specific)
Conclusion
Here is a few things that you should take away from this article:
- True Happiness and Success cannot be achieved. If you don’t believe me, check out this article!
- Your goals are too general and broad to the point where it’s either not timely or measurable.
- You need to create SMART goals for yourself. (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, Timely). If you need help making SMART goals, this article is for you! Your mental health will improve if you do this!
- Happiness is temporary, so make goals about create the most memories of that feeling.
- Goals are never-ending, meaning that you will create them for the rest of your life.
