Happiness goals

Happiness of the 4 pillars is the one most likely to be neglected in terms of goal setting by most individuals and this is due to:

1. The “pain” that can be associated with the goal-setting process versus the pleasure associated with the Happiness pillar

2. Lack of motivation to perform a “boring” process (i.e. creating and monitoring task and milestones) to achieve “simple” Happiness.

As with all things in life - setting goals and making plans are the key to achieving what we want.

As with the other Pillars we will start by examining WHY we need Happiness goals and as mentioned above - for this Pillar the WHY question is even more crucial.

Why do we need Happiness goals?

We need Happiness goals in order so we can achieve Happiness i.e. “be happy”.

Feeling happy can be a tricky concept but if one wishes to experience more joy and feel it stronger: one needs to explore what brings Happiness.

When we are young it’s usually quite easy to experience Happiness by simply “doing what makes us happy” as we grow older we learn that things are not so simple, for a number of main reasons:

1. We can’t always do what we like in the short term

2. One has contradicting objectives (and from different Pillars) and without a clear priority system and a “plan” we fail to choose the best course of action in terms of one’s personal benefit function.

3. Long-term Happiness requires achieving long-term goals and if one didn’t set those goals, and consequently didn’t conceive a plan to achieve them (and of course set time and priority for it) than this will not come to be

What our Happiness goals should be?

First, we need to realize what are NOT Happiness goals:

They are not achieving our goals from the other Pillars, although it’s sometimes confusing but achieving all your fulfillment goals is not what “makes you happy” - it’s what makes you fulfilled (and the same goes for the other pillars).

Happiness is it’s own Pillar and this we must remember to make sure that we set our goals appropriately

Happiness is very internal and so we need to make sure that the goals are internal and not dependent on external factors and outcomes.

The range for happiness goals is most likely the greatest of all the Pillars and still, I will try to give a general outline and examples:

• Family: goals can be set for one’s place and surrounding family or one’s efforts towards supporting the family

• Social: we are social creatures, social circles, and friends are a source of great joy

• Interest: we experience joy when we are “interested”, actively seeking and incorporating areas of interest into our lives is a good practice to increase satisfaction.

• Spiritual: spiritual activities (prayer, meditation, volunteering) and communities are great for increasing happiness and helping deal with and minimize negative emotions.

How to set our Happiness goals?

The Happiness Pillar is unique in the sense that short-term goals and outcomes can be very dominant along with more frequent changes in personal preferences so apart from the general guidelines found in the goal settings article one needs to constantly reflect and reevaluate “what makes you happy and brings you joy”

When to set our Happiness goals?

All the time - as mentioned above a “low hanging fruit” can bring us lots of joy so along with setting time for our BIG happiness goals (marriage, kids, house on the beach, sports car, social status or Louis Vuitton bag) we need to make sure we prioritize our happiness every day asking ourself “what can I do today to make me happy” off course along with keeping up with all the other Pillar’s goals and milestones: balance is key