Wednesday, March 10, 2004

Here's an article with some good suggestions for anyone who wants to be happier.

Reaching Goals of Happiness

By Trevor Gordon


What makes you happier than anything else you do? Where does real
contentment come from? If you understand and apply the following
definition of happiness, you also open the door to unlimited success for
yourself, your family and your group.

"Happiness could be defined as the emotion of progress toward desirable
goals. There is an instant of contemplation of the last goal in which one
is content. But contentment becomes boredom immediately that new goals do
not come to view. There is no more unhappy thing than a man who has
accomplished all his ends in life." - L. Ron Hubbard

Examine how three facts, from this definition of happiness, make
happiness come and go in your life.

1. "There is an instant of contemplation of the last goal in which one
is content."

Think of goals you have reached in the past. Remember how you felt on
your wedding day or when you graduated from school or a training course?
In each case, you achieved a goal!

At every point in your life when you felt content or happy, you can
probably find you were either making progress toward a goal or had reached
a goal.

2. "But contentment becomes boredom immediately that new goals do not
come to view."

Without a new goal, you experience boredom leads to stress and misery.
Studio v.9: Offers exciting features for users.

For example, planning a vacation is exciting. But toward the end of a
vacation many people are bored to tears as they no longer have a goal.
Arguments during honeymoons
are common if the newlyweds do not set goals
for their marriage.

Planning your retirement and the first day of retirement is a thrill.
But the joy of freedom quickly turns to boredom and early death if you do
not work on new goals.

"There is no more unhappy thing than a man who has accomplished all his
ends in life."

Think of a time you were very bored. Had you completed a major goal
without starting a new one? Examine your goals, or lack of goals, at those
times.

3. "Happiness could be defined as the emotion of progress toward
desirable goals."

We can use this definition to understand unhappiness as well. When were
you last unhappy? In each case, you probably had no goal; you were trying
to reach an undesirable goal; or you were making no progress toward a
goal.

Using the definition of happiness makes happiness easy to achieve.
Simply chose desirable goals and make progress toward them! The following
steps will help you put this definition of happiness to use.

1. List goals you have not yet reached. Small goals, large goals, old
goals, failed goals and current goals. Make a very complete list.

2. Circle those goals that interest you the most. Omit goals that do not
excite you as you can't reach a goal unless it interests you.

However, if an uninteresting goal is vital for you to reach, find ways
to get excited about that goal. Examine the goal's benefits.

For example, maybe the goal to "Pay off all debts" does not thrill you
until you examine the benefits: Save $5319 in interest this year,
financial freedom, less anxiety. If you cannot find any benefits of the
goal, eliminate it.

3. Add new, desirable goals. Push your self limitations and set goals
you really, really want. What are your greatest desires? If you had
unlimited time, money and support, what would your life be like? If you
knew you could accomplish anything, what would your goals be? Add these
goals to the list.

4. Line up your goals in a logical sequence. The better your goals align
with each other, the more likely you will reach them. Say, you have a goal
to travel the world for six months this year and another goal to make more
money this year than ever before, you might have problems.

However, if you line up your goals, your odds of success are better
because your focus is constant. Example of aligned goals: "Finish my
training programme so I can double my productivity and income." "Help my
husband lower our monthly debts so we can spend more time with the kids."

5. To complete the procedure and become happier, you now need to start
making progress toward your goals.Big or small steps, any progress is
progress. Plan out next week. Plan out the next month. Plan your best year
ever.

At the start of each day, ask yourself: What can I do today to make
progress toward my goals?

The more progress you make toward your most desired goals, the happier
and more successful your new year will be!


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