It is drummed into us that we should have goals. Big goals. Achieve your big goals and you will be happy. Or will you?
Do you have goals?
Can I challenge you a little bit on the concept of “goals”? I find it fascinating that so many of us are so focused, so obsessed up on the idea of having and setting goals.
The question is, why do you hang your happiness on something that you may or may not achieve? Is there another way?
Recently I have come to believe that there is. I am not saying there is anything wrong with setting goals. What I am getting at is that its not the only way to be happy.
Consider this: what if instead of setting a goal you were to examine your values and choose to live in accordance with your chosen values. So rather than setting a goal of losing five kilos you might find that the value of living a healthful life is important to you, and then you can start doing the things that would be in alignment with the value of living a healthful life – exercising, practicing self-care, eating a healthier diet, paying attention to how much rest you get. Incidentally, the weight might even drop off.
Or, if you are thinking you want a family holiday to Disneyland, upon deeper reflection you might find that the value driving that goal is to bring your family closer together, to spend quality time and create beautiful memories. How can you do this now in small ways, without needing to spend the money and get on a plane.
This way, we can find alignment and joy from the small daily actions and we don’t need to move mountains to be happy.