If the state of happiness was tracked down to its source, every time satisfaction will appear at the centre of it. Now the causes for satisfaction could be many. Activities ranging from accomplishment over something difficult to indulgence in short term impulsive pleasures. Or reaching that big goal set for life to reaching out for the sugary sweet; there’s that satisfaction leading to either short term or long-term happiness.
If you have been reading the blog for some time now, you would have guessed by now that instant gratification isn’t encouraged at Cogent Motivation. Not just here, but by everyone who has ever put up a serious long term life goal and has pursued it to its fruition. So leaving the instant gratifying sugary sources of happiness out of the discussion, I invite you to the 30 days, one activity for the day challenge.
THE CHALLENGE
- Whenever you encounter the first activity/situation/condition that makes you uncomfortable, nervous, tests your patience for the day; acknowledge it.
- Note down the activity.
- Prepare for the event, if possible (Possible if you have to prepare for a presentation, not if you encounter patience-testing slow traffic.)
- Conceptualize what would be the best solution/action against it.
- Give the best you can, thinking that this is the most important activity you are going to do or you are going to endure this moment in the best manner you can.
- Repeat for 30 days
Now, it is only obvious to answer two questions before starting the challenge.
Why? And for what?
WHY?
If the intro hasn’t given you a good idea, this section will. When was the last time you were the happiest and over the top? And you definitively remember it?
Was it the graduation day, when you made it through all the difficulties? Or was it the day when your parent said that they were proud to have you as their child? Maybe it was the day when you asked the person you love/loved and they said yes to you? It could also be the day you received your first salary.
If you try to spot the similarities in the answers to the questions above, you’ll discover one common phenomenon.
They were all those scenarios or moments, where you faced uncertainty, suffered a few setbacks or were patient beyond your normal levels of patience.
Pick any one scenario or relate to all of them. To help you get started, let’s take the scenario of the day you got your first salary. You joined an organization going through a phase of uncertainty competing with many others. Thereafter you suddenly encountered a situation or two where you doubted your selection for the job or struggled to cope up with the pace of work. Patiently bore it to finally reach that point of happiness when the salary arrived in your bank account.
Go ahead, scan through your moments and join back the table of similar realizations!
FOR WHAT? AND HOW IS IT CONNECTED TO THE CHALLENGE?
The questions that we encountered before, dealt with the core of the activities that in turn bring us happiness. But what does it have to do with the challenge? How is it related?
We face new challenges every single day. No exaggerations here. If you are a student, that one assignment or that one lecture of the day, that unsettles you. It is either too boring or way too difficult to go through the exercises involved.
That one task at your job where you swim on the pressure tides either due to time constraints or test of your competency. That meet or that presentation sends a shiver down your spine. Or it could simply be that sluggish traffic on the way to your work/university that tests your patience.
To sum it up, whenever you encounter all those activities that make you overwhelmed, uncertain or test your patience; your challenge for the day begins.
You immediately acknowledge it and then do exactly that one activity in the best possible manner you can conceptualize and then do it. The very reason it unsettles you is clear evidence of the potential happiness it brings along with it.
If you conquer the presented challenge, happiness is guaranteed. But even if you don’t actually conquer the challenge entirely but still give your best shot at it, the regret of not doing enough abandons you. This ensures that your resentment levels go down. Meaning that even if it doesn’t make the situation disappear, it builds up your satisfaction levels. A good breeding ground for happiness.
And if you do it every single day for the next 30 days, who knows where it would take you? Your satisfaction levels are bound to rise, which in turn could create a spiral leading to happiness. That very well resonates with the growth of character.
Fun fact: You’d be facing these situations anyways. New challenges will rise every day, in any case, what do you have to lose?
I invite you to take up this challenge, record your results and see for yourself what changes you observe in your life!
