This blog (and vlog below) is dedicated to your long term happiness. What an awesome topic right?! 😀
We live in a world where we tend to go for things that make us happy in the moment, which is great! Sometimes. More often than not the things that make us happy for in the moment aren’t exactly what will make us happy long term. Think ice cream every day on the way to your fitness goals.. probably not your best long term happiness choice!
In the video I talk about a big short term happiness decision I made in college. I ran track and cross country and one summer I decided I was going to take it easy and not be too strict about summer training. I ended up with barely any training in a three month span. It was great to sleep in all summer! It was horrible when I got back and realized the damage I had done by being lazy. I had a really hard time mentally, emotionally and of course physically getting back into that season. I didn’t stop to think about what the short term happiness I was choosing daily would mean for my long term (un)happiness when I got back to school and my season was off to a horrible start.
When going for a goal, fitness or otherwise, it’s important to make sure that you’re making decisions that serve you long term most of the time. It can be a tough thing. Waking up to get in a workout when you want to sleep in, snacking on fruit when others are having ice cream but it’s those little decisions that add up to your goal in the long run.
Every day we are faced with a million little choices. Each one is an opportunity to take a step closer to our goals and create the life we want!
There’s two things that will really help you to make the decision that will serve you in the long run rather than the one that will make you happy for the next two minutes.
- Stop and think.
- Have a goal that is meaningful to you and look at it.
When faced with a tough decision, it’s key is to remember to stop and think. Which choice will help create lasting happiness rather than temporary pleasure? Which will you still be glad about later today? Later this week? Most of the time when I’ve made a choice that I regret a few minutes later it was because I dove in without thinking.
Example, alarm goes off in the morning: I’m tired I don’t wanna do this workout- immediately resets alarm for 45 minutes later – misses workout that day. This used to happen to me quite a bit! Now when my alarm goes off, I sit up and drink water immediately. That way when the though “I’m tired I don’t wanna workout” crosses my mind, I have time to sit and think if I really want to skip it because I’m sitting up and slightly more awake.
Set a goal that matters to you! Just because it matters your sister or the world thinks it’s a worthy goal, doesn’t mean it’s going to motivate you, matter to you, or get you excited. You want a goal that really means something to you. Something that really gets you excited to achieve it! Once you have it, write it down, repeat it each morning, keep it in your mind so that when small decisions come up, you’ll have a much easier time making the one that keeps you on track.
Making decisions that are in line with your long term happiness most of the time is going to be important for you goals! That doesn’t mean that you can never make the short term happiness choice! Life is going to be a balance of the two and that balance is going to be different for everyone!
For me, a sugar lover trying to stick with nourishing food choices most of the time, I like to have a treat or two throughout the week. Generally these are short term happiness things like making a desert one night or having some chocolate. These help me to stick with my long term happiness decisions the rest of the week! The key is to create a balance that you can maintain while working towards your goals. Sure, maybe I could be slightly leaner if I was crazy strict with my diet but I wouldn’t be happy and eventually I’d crack and go through all the sugary treats in a day.
I hope this was helpful for you! Let me know what you’d like to see next! 🙂
Sweat, Smile, Repeat!
Niki
