Make This One Change to Guarantee Greater Happiness in 2018

Posted on December 06, 2017 by Andrea Scharlatt, One of Thousands of Life Coaches on Noomii.

Here we are again, on the cusp of a new year. And as 2018 approaches, you are probably seeing a lot of people putting out guides for New Years goal setting. Personally, I love goal setting. There is nothing like the promise of a new year and a fresh planner to make me feel like I can accomplish anything!

Planning for success is one of the best ways to make your dreams happen. Typically entrepreneurs spend A LOT of time planning out their personal and business goals– which is great! But too often, that driven focus can take a toll on health and well-being, which can lead to stress, anxiety, depression, and burnout.

So, in this year’s planning session, I encourage you to think a bit differently. Instead of focusing on the typical achievement-type goals that most people THINK will make them happier–try to focus on adding more of the things you already KNOW make you happy. Why? Because a happy and balanced mind is also a more focused and productive mind (when it needs to be). So focusing on creating greater happiness in your personal life, sets you up to create more success in your business life!​ And besides, isn’t happiness the point in the first place?

Think about it this way–what is the purpose of setting goals for the new year? You want to achieve stuff, right? Why do you want to achieve that stuff? Because you think achieving your goals will make you HAPPIER.

It really all comes down to that one word. Happiness. Pretty much everything we do can be boiled down to the foundational pursuit of happiness. Even altruistic acts have been shown to activate the reward centers of the brain. In other words, we do things because they makes us feel good.
And there is nothing wrong with that! But, instead of focusing on achieving a list of elusive goals as a way to make you feel happy, what if you tried focusing on happiness as the goal in the first place?
Maybe I lost you there for a second, but stay with me. The fact is, being richer, thinner, or more “successful” is no guarantee of greater happiness. We all know successful workaholics, beach body babes, and incredibly rich folks who are miserable inside and out. That’s because the achievement of goals does not equate to happiness. That is precisely why so many goal setting protocols don’t work! They guide people down a path of “achievement” that doesn’t necessarily lead to fulfillment. And that is the most surefire way to loose motivation–resulting in feelings of failure and unhappiness.
So this year I challenge you to try your goal setting a bit differently. Instead of starting with a list of elusive goals that you think will make you happy, why not start by adding in more of things that you know make you happy.

For example, if you know that Friday date nights with your love make you glow, then do more of that. Love taking your kids to the park on Saturday mornings? Schedule it in. Start with the proven winners–the things you know make you happy and that are easily within your reach. Then make the commitment to start doing these things. Write them into your calendar and set the wheels in motion to do them regularly.

And what about all of those other achievement and milestone goals that have been on your mind? Go ahead and add a few of those in as well! But don’t wait for the attainment of some elusive goal to add happiness into your year when you have the ability to add it right now!

I guarantee that this way of planning for the new year will not only lead you to greater happiness in the new year, but it will also set the foundation for you to achieve many of your other goals. Because a happy mind is a motivated mind. So do yourself a favor, and start with happiness!

Want to go a bit deeper? Contact me to find out how you can learn to realign your goals with your true life purpose and vision.