Stop the Chase!

 

Does chasing goals, achievements and things in our life actually make us happy?

There is an obsession right now with productivity, with achieving more and buying more and making more money. Chasing doesn’t work. Why? Because we will always want more. We’re like a mouse in a maze — constantly wanting the next thing.

Instead of chasing goals, achievements and things, we should instead focus on chasing values — the things that we value deep within ourselves. Happiness is fleeting. It doesn’t last. It’s not consistent. When we focus on getting things and having things, we have that moment of joy when we get it but then we get bored after we have that thing for a while. Our happiness will wear off once we get used to the thing.

On the other hand, if we don’t get it, we get sad, angry and resentful because we didn’t get it. That’s not living according to our values.

Outcomes are out of our control. We can take action every day and we can feel fulfillment by taking action, especially if it’s something that gives us joy and we have a lot of fun doing. But the outcome is out of our hands. It’s up to us to surrender it to the Universe and allow it to take us where we’re meant to be.

The fact of the matter is that we are always living in uncertainty. We never know what’s going to happen next. That’s the problem with chasing outcomes — we never know what’s going to come of it.

When we’re chasing outcomes, goals, milestones, it’s really difficult to stay present and grateful because we are focused on the next big thing. We are always aware of the distance from where we are now to where that achievement is. We’re missing out on the joy of being where we are.

There is always more to chase, always more to do. It’s an endless cycle.

When we start living according to our values every day and stop chasing things that are out of our control, we have more peace and more abundance.

What if something happens to us in our life that prevents us from taking action? What if we have an accident or some life-altering illness? We would have to live according to our values all the time.

The only thing that we want in life is to feel joy, happiness, peace. If we’re getting that all the time because we’re living according to our values, who cares what you have in your closet or your bank account or …whatever?

There are so many joyful simplicities all around us and we are missing them because we are focused on getting the next thing. You don’t have to chase success to be happy. You don’t have to chase achievements to feel like you have purpose. You can be fulfilled with just living life according to your own core values.

Peel back the layers and go deep. Ask yourself “why do I want this thing? Why am I chasing after this achievement? What is so important about this achievement that will make me feel worthy of myself?

Maybe just sitting, or thinking or not doing anything in particular at all can be a very productive use of our time. We may be surprised by what we find.