happiness - what's it all about?

One thing that we all have in common is the desire to be happy. Smile if you agree. Have you ever thought about what happiness means? 

Is it pleasure, satisfaction, joy? Is it the absence of suffering? Is it a destination or a journey?

I recently came across a concept of happiness that caused me to reflect on my understanding of happiness. Michael Hyatt is a leadership authority and someone I really admire.  Michael says that happiness comes from making progress towards a worthwhile goal.

Think about that. You feel happy when you are moving towards the achievement of something that is important to you, like a loving relationship, a rewarding career, or secure financial situation.

It would follow then that a lack of happiness - sadness,can result from either lack of progress towards a worthwhile goal and certainly the absence of worthwhile goals.

To me, this highlights the importance of being goal focused in our personal lives and in our businesses. Some recent research I came across blew me away.Professor Gail Matthews of the Dominican University of California found that "just writing down your goals can lead to significantly more success in reaching them - even without action plans".

It's simple. If you want to be happy, write down your goals.

Cheers

Greg