Happiness, success, freedom, contentment. Call it what you will, but ultimately what people are searching for is a sense of satisfaction within their lives. We want to wake up each day feeling optimistic and go to sleep feeling grateful. Unfortunately however, this is not such an easy thing to achieve and as much as we strive for happiness, it is common to find ourselves feeling disappointed, stressed… or just a bit blah.
The trouble is that when people feel dissatisfied with their life they tend to look for a single culprit. Relationship. Career. Weight. Money. And they invest their time, energy and hope into fixing this one area of their life with the belief that when it is achieved then voila they will feel happy.
Of course, if everything else was fabulous and this represented the final piece of the puzzle the feeling of contentment would last. But for most people that “thing” that they focused on was either symbolic of a bigger problem or had in fact created other issues.
A perfect example of this is work. Many people focus on their careers as a source of meaning, purpose and success. They set themselves goals around position and salary with the belief that when they reach them they will feel happy. What actually happens is that in focusing all their energy into one area of their life other parts inevitably suffer. They drink too much, neglect friendships, miss going to the gym, get home late and by the time they reach their goal they realise things are actually worse.
Bottom line – when striving for satisfaction there are no magic bullets. To be happy in a meaningful way it is essential to invest in your wellbeing as a whole. This is the premise behind THRIVE, a simple model outlining the 6 things that contribute to lasting happiness. If you are feeling dissatisfied step back and consider how you are investing in each part of your life. You will soon see where you have opportunity to boost your wellbeing.
Click here to learn the six steps you need to take to THRIVE
Interested in how coaching could help you achieve greater satisfaction with your life? Why not book in for a free discovery session today?
