Be Proactive in your Happiness Journey

Now that we all know that the ultimate goal in life is happiness, the question is how do we achieve it?

The good news is that it IS achievable, very much achievable! The not so good news is that it will not and does not happen by accident or by chance. If you really want to have happiness you must work at it, every day and in every way. This may not be what you wanted to hear, but everything worth getting in life is worth the work you have to put into it. Right! A hard day of work makes a relaxing evening even more enjoyable. This is the same for happiness. By working hard to get to your view of happiness, it will truly be the best feeling ever.

Let’s think about the steps it takes to get there. It is no different than any other goal. You have to set goals and objectives. You have to be proactive and positive. You have to want it and it has to relate to your personal values. Whew, a lot of work, but again the rewards can be amazing.

Be proactive in this journey. Do not wait for happiness to come, rather make a plan. First ask yourself; what does happiness look like? What is your ideal state of happiness? By answering these questions you can begin to see what goals you will need to make for yourself. Of course you need to write all of this down. Write it down and make it real.

Next, take your happiness view and compare it to your values. Do they match? Can you see the connections between them? If not, you need to go back to either your values or be more honest about what happiness really looks like to you. If they do match up you are on the right path in your happiness journey.

Let’s say for the sake of moving forward that your ideal state of happiness and values match up and you can see the connections, now what?

The process is really a three step process. The first part of the process is to take responsibility for your life, for your goals, for your journey to happiness. Taking responsibility for your life means no blaming of events, circumstances, thoughts, feelings, or decisions on anyone or anything other than you. That’s right you are responsible for it all. If you don’t like something that is happening it is yours to change and not someone else’s to fix. Yep, you must change yourself as others will not and should not change for you. It won’t work.

The second part of the process is to explore further your view of happiness as well as your values. It involves asking hard questions of yourself. What areas can you improve? What am I willing to put into my journey? How much energy, time, and commitment do I have in each goal? What are the positive and negative consequences of my actions? Remember there may be negative consequences to the change, so be honest.

The three step of the process is to start planning out the activities that will make your goals come to life. These activities must be specific, measurable, attainable, realistic, and timely. SMART! One of your goals should be to revisit this process every two weeks or so to make sure you are on track!

This is not going to be easy, but it will be rewarding, I guarantee it! Happiness is an ultimate goal and one that we can all attain with a little hard work and dedication. Take control and be proactive in your happiness journey!