Don’t wait till you achieve your goals: Be happy at present

Freedom was my goal, just like everyone here.
It still is.

But there is one thing that changed.

That is my approach towards my goals.

I used to think that if I have X amount of money only then I can be financially free and find happiness.

See the problem here?

I was waiting for something to happen in order to be happy.

We all set goals, but at the end of the day, all we want is happiness after achieving them.

Let’s say you achieve your goals. How long do you think that happiness lasts?

Maybe a couple of days or even months at max.
The bigger the goal, the longer it lasts.

If it’s really temporary, then why wait so long for it?

I’m not against the goals. But why sacrifice your happiness for your goals, from which you again want to derive happiness?

Because anyways after relishing that short-lived happiness you again set another goal and start grinding.

See how messed up it is.

You’re spending 80% of your life on your journey towards a goal.

Why not make it meaningful?
Why not kill the waiting period and fill it with happiness?

Here is how I did it and you can too:

Be aware of your desires

Every day when you interact with people and see new things, you might cultivate new desires. If you see someone all jacked, you might desire that physique. If you meet someone with a lavish lifestyle, you might desire that for yourself.

Or let’s say you currently can’t meditate for long. You see someone on Twitter preaching meditation, showing how he can meditate for hours together and feel calm within. You might desire that state of mind.

Now don’t immediately think that the above desires are wrong.
First, be aware of them.
Write them down on a piece of paper or while journaling.

Question your desires

Your desires are what you turn into your goals. And you only have limited time with this body to achieve your goals.
So make sure that you filter your desires by asking the right questions before taking them as your goals.

For example, if you desire financial freedom, ask yourself -
1. Why do I need it?
2. Does it lead to growth or material pleasure?
3. Will I really be happy after achieving it?
4. How long will that happiness last?

Here you don’t try to find a perfect “why”. Otherwise, you will lie to yourself.

Just write down why that desire came to your mind. It can be as simple as you seeing a celeb owning a supercar and looking cool.

Then you can filter it by seeing if that desire is just for material pleasure or if it can lead to growth.

Now don’t neglect if it’s just for material pleasure. It’s okay to enjoy them as long as it doesn’t affect your financially or mentally.

Turn them into goals

Once you are convinced with your answers, you need a plan to achieve your desires.

In the case of financial freedom, your goal can be to have X amount of money in your savings or investment. For which you will have to earn let’s say 10k/ month.

Now you don’t feel happy when you’re looking at a big goal far ahead of you.
You feel happy when you’re making progress.

So you can break that 10k into step-wise milestones, like 1k -> 3k -> 5k then 10k.

Reward yourself after each milestone. It can even be a simple treat to your family or friends. You feel happy when others around you are happy.

This will make you feel like you’re actually progressing and avoid any self-doubts.

You are basically setting SMART goals here (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-Bound) which are small enough that you can start taking action.

Prioritize your goals

You might have multiple goals. Like - getting into shape, earning more money or learning a new skill.

And all of them might seem like they are important to you.

But the problem is you only have limited time in a day.

You feel bad when you have multiple to-dos unchecked at the end of the day.

So it’s better that you prioritise your goals for the day. And make sure that you finish that particular goal first. You won’t regret not finishing the others.

And you can shift your priorities as per your need. This way you can balance all aspects of life.

Set the right expectations

Now, this is where happiness really comes into the picture.

We all set goals, but we rarely set our expectations along with them.

If you have set the right goals, they will be obviously achievable.
But what are your expectations regarding the time it will take?
What if you don’t achieve it within that time?
What are your expectations regarding the progress?

Except that it won’t be linear. Be ready to see some lows as well. It’s okay to not make progress on some days.

Make the journey fun

You just need a slight mindset shift to make the journey fun.

Just look at each of your goals as a mini-game:-

You have a big goal of finishing the game.
You have milestones to achieve in the game.
You have to finish several missions to unlock a milestone.
Even if you fail in a mission, you retry.
With each milestone, you level up and gain rewards.

All your goals combined become the game of life.

This way every moment of your journey is filled with fun and happiness.
You don’t have to wait till you achieve your goals.

Yes, you face obstacles throughout the game in the form of anger or frustration.

But there is no fun when there is no challenge right?

So grateful for the challenges you face.

That’s it.

Since we touched on temporary happiness here, you might be curious if there is something called permanent happiness at all.

We will be brainstorming on that together next week.

Until then enjoy playing this game of life 🙂

— Ragav

PS: If you have any questions or want to chat with me then you can DM me on Twitter or hop on a call with me (It’s 100% free and there will be no selling at the end of it)