Andrii Sedniev - The Achievement Factory: How to Fulfill Your Dreams and Make Life an Adventure

I have met many people who were satisfied with their lives, but nobody as happy as Jason. In his 48 years, he has built a company that made him a multimillionaire, lived happily for 25 years with his wife, traveled around the world for 365 days, climbed Mt. Everest, won a national dancing competition and if I continue this list we will have enough material for several adventure novels. But what impressed me the most about Jason was the happiness that he radiates. When he speaks he is always smiling, he is passionate about life and genuinely interested in the person he talks to, and this energy of happiness is contagious. Once I asked, Jason, what is the secret of your happiness? and Jason replied:

When you ask What is happiness? the majority of people give a quite vague definition and as a result dont have a clear understanding of what, specifically, they can do today in order to increase the amount of happiness in their life. The secret of my happiness lies in a clear understanding of what happiness is. Happiness is the emotion of progress towards a desirable goal. Numerous psychologists agree that working on your own goals and achieving small successes daily is what makes your life happy.

Somebody wants to become a millionaire, somebody wants to travel around the world, somebody wants to get married, somebody wants to raise children, somebody wants to get a promotion at work, somebody wants to learn a foreign language and somebody wants to make a cozy interior in the house. For happiness the nature of your goal doesnt matter, what matters is that you really want to achieve it and that you regularly make progress.

Sometimes you can hear from people who dont understand what happiness is: Be happy with what you already have. This basically means: Dont ever be happy. A human always wants more, this is our nature, and making progress towards desirable goals is a prerequisite for happiness. My rule of thumb, Jasons rule says: If you want to be happy, set a goal, give yourself what you want as quickly as possible and then set a new goal. Never suppress your dreams and desires.

Those people who never experience small victories fall into the opposite state of happiness called depression. Psychologists from the University of Liverpool have found that people with depression either dont have goals or their goals are so general that it is impossible to make regular progress towards achieving them. Of course there are unnatural sources of happiness such as drugs, alcohol, chocolate, extreme sports or smoking, however they give a very short-term feeling of happiness and for a cost of severely affecting health and long-term happiness.

When young children play computer games they regularly make progress by getting from one level to another, by winning battles or gaining points. These accomplishments allow children to regularly experience a sense of satisfaction, accomplishment and victory. This concentrated emotion of progress leads to a release of endorphins in the brain and feeling of happiness. Computer games are a simulation of the happy life in the real world, and thats why they are so popular among kids. If you use the concept of regular achievements from computer games, you will become both a screenwriter and a hero of your life and will experience happy moments more often. I perceive my life as a computer game and the reason for my happiness is the progress I make daily on the way to the goals I really want to achieve.

Many people think they will become happy only after certain event in their life. They say: I will become happy once I win a million dollars in a lottery, I will become happy once I win an Olympic gold medal, I will become happy once I graduate from Harvard University or I will be happy once I get married. Unfortunately for them when this particular event happens the happiness doesnt last long, they quickly get used to what they already have and begin to want more. And its normal, because everyone wants to be happy and the recipe for happiness is always getting more of what you want and dont have.

Remember that you are happy not because of what you already have achieved but from the progress you make towards a desirable goal. Not your marital status, bank account or the size of a house give the feeling of happiness but PROGRESS. For example, a person who earns $1,000 per month is equally happy while making progress towards the goal of earning $2,000 per month as a person who earns $1M while making progress towards the goal of earning $2M. The fact that progress equals happiness can be explained by our brains reward system which releases dopamine after we make measurable progress towards a goal in order to encourage our effort towards accumulating desirable achievements in our life.

Its also critical to remember that happiness isnt just about making progress, but its about making progress towards the desirable goal. If you are pursuing a goal that doesnt inspire you and isnt the one you truly want to achieve, then you will experience no joy from progress and accomplishment.

Andrii, the greatest need of the human is a sense of purpose in life and making regular progress towards desirable goals gives you a sense of purpose. The reason I am happy is because I experience progress and celebrate success daily. Just like children are addicted to computer games I am addicted to life, because I am happy and it feels great.