Are you trading in the currency of happiness? by Psychologies.
As the second week of school and the first month of the year come to a close, many people lose sight of goals they’ve set for themselves. I don’t blame them; even after a long winter break it is easy to slip back into bad habits (for me, it’s playing Super Smash Brothers with my friends until 3 a.m.).
Last week I came clean about how I see my own life and mentioned how positivity is about taking control of the situations you can control. The best way to get that sense of control is through dreaming, believing, doing and achieving. This week, I’m here to remind everyone, including me, that your goals cannot be blurred by the comfort of habit or instantaneous pleasure.
I know the struggle of being an overly-friendly person who feeds off the energy of being around people, but it can get in the way of my personal life or work flow. I prefer being with people and sometimes it costs me critical alone time needed for work or self-care (and by self-care I mostly mean sleep). As I mentioned last week, I am not where I want to be right now; I wish I was doing better. My biggest goal right now is to make this semester serve as a personal comeback. If anyone else is on the same boat as me, here is how we are going to do this.
First thing about setting a goal: It needs to be a good goal. For example, my goal “to make this semester serve as a personal comeback” has good intentions but isn’t a good goal. It isn’t specific or measurable at all. To feel like you achieved something, you need to be able to quantify success. Things like grades are a great way to set specific goals; you can put in the work and effort and get an exact calculation of your success. I already took the time to think about my own specific goals and I urge you to take time to do that as well. I also try to reflect on them at the end of each day, reminding myself of the goals I set for myself to stay on track.
I’m sure a lot of you already know about SMART goals (specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and time-bound), which explain themselves. Having good goals is only part of taking positive control of your life. Your attitude about your goals and your commitment to your goals are some of the biggest players in the game of success.
I’m a huge believer in speaking things into existence. A positive attitude isn’t going to make you reach your goal, but being optimistic and believing in your ability to achieve will keep you going, no matter what obstacles try to get in the way.
This is not a new idea. The attitude that your positivity can bring you what you want is called the Law of Attraction. Essentially, the Law of Attraction encompasses the way positive focus has the ability to attract what you want. This philosophy is fairly new in the scheme of world history; it was initially preached and spread by Buddha. It is centralized around the idea that when you want something and genuinely work for it, the universe will make sure it happens.
Implementing the Law of Attraction and good goal-setting is simple, though the journey may be difficult. Like I mentioned before, it is important to reflect on your goals and ambitions habitually. Part of speaking your dreams into existence is being aware of them and taking the time to reflect on it each day. Personally, I feel comfort and positive pressure (the same kind you get during a healthy challenge) when I think about life as an unfinished painting: What you’ve painted is done, but there is plenty of space left on the canvas to end up with a beautiful painting. You hold the paintbrush that controls the picture you want to paint for your life.
I hope that you keep up the good work fulfilling New Year resolutions and semester goals! Don’t stop reminding yourself that you can do it, because no matter how much others believe in you, nothing will change until you and your attitude believe it too.
Best of luck, and keep smiling!
Armana Islam is a campus correspondent for The Daily Campus and can be reached via email at armana.islam@uconn.edu.
