When Success & Satisfaction Get Mixed Up

 

Is SUCCESS better than SATISFACTION?  OR is it the other way around?  Verily true, everyone of us, even WHEN we're still attending university, the word that rings the loudest is spelled S-U-C-C-E-S-S.  NOT a surprise because that was one of the first words I came to like even WHEN I was struggling with the rudiments of spelling.  BUT over time, it's been shown 99% of the time that many of those SUCCESSFUL ones struggle to enjoy their own SUCCESSES and accompishments.  WHY???

WHILE this has been the subject of multiple studies, the results point to one too many possible factors to explain WHY regardless of our SUCCESSES. very rarely it leads to lasting satisfaction.  And the most common culprits are psychological factors briefly explained as follows:

• THAT 'Arrival Fallacy' - THAT mistaken belief that reaching a goal will bring sustained happiness [BUT that's not true] 
• THAT Dopamine's short-term effect - The pleasure from achieving goals is temporary as our brain's reward system is designed to seek new challenges again & again

• THAT cognitive bias - WHEN our brain focuses more on the difficulties rather than savoring positive experiences 
• THAT 'high achiever' pressure - Successful folks may feel a constant need to maintain achevements to feel worthy and that can lead to burnout
• THAT changing desire - Our goals & values can change over time.  WHAT brought satisfaction earier might NOT be meaningful later

So, the bigger question then is WHAT leads to SATISFACTION?  There is NO SIZE THAT FITS ALL here as an answer but simply put, it all boils down to meaningful pursuits.  Finding satisfaction comes from pursuing activities and paths that are personally meaningful and desired, rather than just the effects of achieving them😡😡😡

Our takeaway:  Allow me to take a leaf from my own life journey WHEREIN I have to admit, contrary to WHAT's happening almost in any narrative, I cherished and relished every WIN I achieved, even if those were the smalles WINs I can ever achieve.  How I managed to kind of 'rest on my laurels' for each milestone achievement, I always reassessed my situation and once I achieve even the smallest of the small WINs, I always looked at it from a positive perspective, thankful enough to achieve it.  On the other hand, much as I am as ambitious as I can be, I always ensured that both my feet are very much 'ON THE GROUND'.  That way, I DON'T succumb to the insatiable desires WHERE many folks fall prey quite numerous times.  And as this poster goes, 'OUR SATISFACTION IS MEASURED BY OUR SOULD, MIND and HEART'.  Well said😃😃😃