By Mark Kaplan / September 19, 2021
Working Toward a Goal is Happiness. It lights up all the important centers of the brain and gets the happiness neurotransmitters firing. The main requirement is the goal is meaningful to you. It might encompass your purpose and why you are here.
Working toward the boss’s goal or the company goal in order to stay employed is not the same as recognizing what is important to your values and striving to reach your potential. Finding your passion is why you are here. All your obligations are important and you think may define you, but your purpose lies in your passion.
The Goal of Happiness
It is easy to get misdirected by the media. Advertising may make us think that certain possessions are happiness. We may grow up under the illusion that money is happiness. Those who are successful at their chosen path and their lives accept money is the reward for their dedication and contribution.
You are mostly paid for your contribution. When you can contribute to making the whole better, you will be recognized as an important part of an organization or of people’s lives. Taylor Swift makes people happy and they reward her for it. Elon Musk makes his stockholders money and he is rewarded for it. Is either working just for the money or are they trying to make big contributions?
I think we all know Tom Brady has a chip on his shoulder for being picked 78th in the draft, and he goes out every day to prove that was a mistake. Many of us see a vacuum in an area we have or want to develop expertise. This is the goal of scientific researchers; there is a need for specific knowledge or cure, or product.
What is it that would make your life meaningful? I love fitness and health and have accepted no ceilings. I love to write and hope I can improve the lives of others. I love to see others lives improve from what I can write or teach. This is my reward and money is nice, but not the motivator.
Business and sports have always known that motivated people are better performers. Money used to do it. Now people have different values. They want the organization they work for to stand for the values they hold dear. Organizations are scrambling to be more gender aware, more racially aware, more environmentally aware, more kind, and better citizens in their communities. Customers are holding organizations responsible for those same values.
We are getting close to recognizing all is one. We are connected to ourselves through our bodies and spirit. We are connected to Nature through appreciating her gifts. We are connected to others knowing how everyone’s actions can effect everyone. We then recognize that what we do can contribute to the whole. This what really turns people on.
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