”Happiness is a direction, not a place.” – Sydney J Harris
This means that you can choose that direction any time. In doing so it is important to continuously move forward and to sustain happiness by intentionally creating new positive experiences.
When last did you take stock and look closely at the direction that you’re currently taking? In the cluttered and overwhelming expectations of life we often find ourselves going in a direction that we have intentionally chosen for ourselves. Our happiness is firmly rooted to this intentionality.
Marketer and success analyst, Richard St. John reminds us that success is not a one-way street, but a constant journey. He uses the story of his business’ rise and fall to illustrate a valuable lesson – when we stop trying, we fail.
He reached success doing what he loved, but despite being outwardly successful, he was inwardly depressed. He became distracted by all the money that came pouring in and although he could buy anything, was very unhappy. He says, when we get there: “We figure we’ve made it, we sit back in our comfort zone, and we actually stop doing everything that made us successful. And it doesn’t take long to go downhill.”
In reaching success a second time (not a quick fix) he overcame his depression and found happiness again. The eight principles he came up with and advocates following to not only achieve success, but to sustain it are: (1) Passion, (2) Work, (3) Focus, (4) Push, (5) Ideas, (6) Improve, (7) Serve, (8) Persist.
You may not even need to reach your goal to be successful. By striving towards it with purpose and heading in the right direction, new habits will be formed and you will learn and grow. Sometimes achieving goals is merely a by-product of the journey towards personal fulfillment and happiness. For example, in losing weight perhaps it is more important in the end that you develop healthy habits and the confidence of knowing that you have what it takes to succeed in making a change.
Any journey begins with the first step. When we focus less on the future or where we will end up, and more on the present and the overall journey, that first single step seems a lot more manageable. There’s no need to wait, let us help to get you going in the right direction – to start planning for any eventuality today. With the peace of mind of knowing that even if things don’t go the way you hope, you will be financially prepared for life’s uncertainties.
Let us help you find the happiness to thrive!