"I believe half the unhappiness in life comes from people being afraid to go straight at things." William Locke
It's easy to be lukewarm about our commitments.
After all, we know we can survive the day without being challenged. This is the comfortable society and environment we're accustomed to.
Dr. Marcus Elliot wrote in the book the Comfort Crisis, "You'll still have plenty of food. You'll have a comfortable home. A good job to show up to, and some people who will love you. And that seems like an OK life, right?"
In my business, I see it all the time. I want to lose weight; I want to be a great athlete; I want to be able to touch (or see) my toes again.
Then when the initial motivation wears off, we're back to enjoying our old comfortable life again.
It's currently happening everywhere right now, sixteen days into January. Maybe it's even happening to you. All that beginning-of-the-year motivation has already started cooling off.
But this is why I love the quote above. A lot of our unhappiness is driven by our fear of going after and committing to these things important to us.
It's easier and safer to live with excuses rather than actions. But, deep down, we know we're missing something.
As a psychologist at the University of Buffalo, Serry, wrote, "Confronting risk, fear or danger produces optimal stress and discomfort, which in turn promotes such as improved self-esteem, character building, and psychological resilience."
Dr. Elliot continued to write, "When you put yourself in a challenging environment where you have a good chance of failing, fear fades, and things start moving."
Happiness starts with choosing hard, then creating the internal standards, the courage, and action to pursue continually.