Dr. Arthur Brooks argues that happiness comes from making progress toward goals, not from reaching them. He uses a sailing metaphor: a sailor stays engaged by constantly adjusting course, while a cruise ship passenger just waits to arrive. The real satisfaction is in the intentional work along the way.
Now we think once I get to my goal then I'm going to just it's going to be the best thing ever. But it's not true. The point is progress. Humans are wired for progress. Have a goal because you have to have an intention. You have to have intentionality. It's like a sailing trip. You got to know where you're going even though you're going to be blown off course because if you don't you're going to go in circles like a cruise ship, which is depressing. Don't have your life be a cruise ship. Have your life be a navigation toward a particular point and then make progress. Every day the ambition is for the progress and when we start to understand our lives like this we get much happier and we can actually have a a life full of goals that make sense for us and we don't get so tied to them that we wind up wiping ourselves out.
