Why Einstein Said, If You Want to Live a Happy Life, Tie It To A Goal

Do you have life goals? Do they excite you? Do you look forward to taking small actions every day to get closer to it?

Long-term life pursuits change our approach to life. Something to look forward to makes you come alive every morning.

Einstein once said, “If you want to live a happy life, tie it to a goal, not to people or things.”

Things are fleeting. People can fail you. A personal goal is your responsibility. It can apply to your life or career. A long-term goal that excites you is one of the most powerful sources of human happiness.

Do you remember how excited you were when you first thought of a career? Or the time when you first got admission into your college?

Both big and small life pursuits can excite us if we choose right. The moment when you started working and earning money was also pretty exciting. If you get excited about life-changing pursuits, plan small experiences and personal projects that can bring out the best in you almost every day.

If you want to live a happy life, tie it to a goal. A happy life is not just about having fun or even being satisfied with what we have in our lives. It’s about something much bigger than that.

Many people wait for something to happen to feel happiness. Or someone to love them to feel worthy. Don’t make those mistakes.

Explore your values, priorities, and the lifestyle you want and adopt habits and routines that can help you design your own happiness.

To achieve a noble goal in life is true happiness.

Happiness doesn’t have to be fleeting. It’s within your grasp if you stop looking elsewhere. “Very little is needed to make a happy life; it is all within yourself, in your way of thinking,” says Marcus Aurelius.

Research suggests that happiness is not a fixed state of being but rather an active process that you can choose to pursue every day.

If you’re willing to invest in this pursuit, you need only identify what makes you happy and then pursue it relentlessly.

For example, if pursuing your intellectual curiosities makes you happy, why not make it your life’s work? If travelling uplifts you, why not make it the cornerstone of your existence?

Or if a personal creative work outside work brings you joy, why not break all boundaries and let it consume your every waking hour outside what you do to pay the bills?

Investing in activities that make you happy has a dual effect: You are happier as a result of pursuing these goals and simultaneously grow happier by continuing to do so for the rest of your life.

There are many reasons why people think that happiness is an elusive goal. The expectations of our parents, our friends, or society, in general, can often be set too high for us to reach, and we become pessimistic about ever attaining this elusive feeling.

Living a happy life is not as difficult as it seems.

In his book “7 Principles for Living a Happy Life”, Sy Gill explains that we must have a purpose, meaning, and goals to live a happy life.

These three things are essential for us to live a happy and fulfilled life. The majority of people don’t have any clear goals or aspirations in their life, let alone living a happy one. They are not aware of personal goals’ impact on their lives.

Happiness is, first of all, a state of mind. It’s a feeling you find within, not from outside sources.

“The more a man finds his sources of pleasure in himself — the happier he will be. Therefore, it is with great truth that Aristotle says, To be happy means to be self-sufficient,” writes Schopenhauer in his essay, The Wisdom of Life.

You can’t pursue happiness, but you can invest in activities, events and experiences that make you come alive.

If you want to live a happy life, then it’s time to take action and make that happen because clinging to old habits isn’t going to cut it anymore.

For a happy life, find the strength to set realistic long-term goals you will look forward to every day.

Learn more about yourself and tie your long-term happiness to what you love to do. Notice and appreciate the little things you enjoy.

Build a relationship with yourself and find everything that makes you lose yourself and make them a lifestyle.

“The happiness we receive from ourselves is greater than that which we obtain from our surroundings,” says Metrodorus, the earliest disciple of Epicurus.

Tying our happiness to life pursuits is about achieving something that will leave a lasting positive impact on our own lives and those around us.

This article originally appeared in Medium.