How enticing is it to get wrapped up in “The Future”?
When we actually start to visualize and imagine how things can become, bursts of excitement and motivation start to bubble up into our conscious mind. There is so much value in having a vision for where we want to be. It gives us an aim to strive towards and a dim light that helps guide our path.
The concerning thing that can sometimes occur is that along this journey we begin to postpone our happiness. We say things like “I’ll be happy when ______ happens”.
This decision to only be happy once something bigger is accomplished makes a lot of sense. Most of us do not want to be complacent. Not to mention we are wired to seek out novelty and accomplish tasks. In fact, we get little hits of dopamine which literally activates a pleasure pathway within the brain every time we achieve something.
The struggle comes when we expect our big achievements to provide lasting happiness/satisfaction.
But, if you have ever accomplished a goal or satisfied some great concern, you can look back now from an objective lens and notice that the happiness was only short-lived. It’s possible that you may even devalue that achievement and find ways to minify its significance.
It is helpful to have desires and an ideal vision of your future. But when you have too many it can limit your happiness in the moment.
If you can’t find a way to be happy with your current circumstances, chances are you won’t be in the future, regardless of the positive experiences you encounter. We all have a rough idea of what makes us happy, we just have to be willing to find it every single day.
By harnessing our long-term vision and allowing it to guide daily action, we can shift towards small incremental goals.
If you want to start doing this today write out 3 things you want to accomplish, and check them off when you achieve them. By doing so you will be accomplishing two important things:
- Satisfying a desire for achievement.
- Moving incrementally towards a bigger goal.
Happiness and satisfaction are not as elusive as we think. They are available every day if we are willing to focus on the things we can control.
