Having worked with and spoken to (literally) thousands of people over many years now, I’ve identified one of the greatest causes of misery and distress and, therefore, one of the most powerful obstacles to living out best lives and a Super Life.
And I call it ‘The Tyranny of When‘.
We’ve all done it; it’s when we say, “I’ll be happy when… when I’ve lost weight, been promoted, got that job, married, made more money…when, when, when!”
The problem is, research and experience clearly indicate that we either almost never get to this end goal; or if we do, we just get used to it very quickly and so feel dissatisfied almost immediately.
In a slightly different context it’s been referred to as the “hedonic treadmill” because it’s like we’re running and running as fast as we can, but, like when we’re on a treadmill, we never actually get anywhere!
As always, however, there’s good news; and the good news is that there’s an antidote to The Tyranny of When.
The antidote is what I like to call The Primacy of Positivity – that is, rather than waiting until we’ve achieved something until we allow ourselves to be happy, we can make ourselves happy first, and then use this as motivation to inspire us to achieve!
By putting positivity first and foremost we enjoy more energy and drive, more zest and even more resilience. We are, therefore, more likely to engage in positive behaviours and we’re also more likely to persist in the face of adversity.
And there’s even more good news; this powerful and fun strategy works regardless of what your goals are. All you need to do is make time each day and each week to engage in activities you find enjoyable, pleasurable and satisfying.
Do that now – take out your diary or calendar and start scheduling happiness boosting activities on a regular basis.
By doing so, you’ll enjoy more positive emotion and turbo-charge your progress towards your very own SuperLife!