Why You Need To Change Your Perspective If You Want To Be Happy

---

---

Perseverance is a powerful way to learn and become better.

One of the biggest issues people have with achieving their personal dreams and goals is perseverance. We may start out with great plans and lots of enthusiasm, but then life intervenes with things that disrupt our plans and cause us to feel frustrated. Sometimes we become discouraged and give up. But many famous and successful people have had to deal with these issues along the road to success. Abraham Lincoln failed to get elected to offices at least nine times before becoming President of the United States. If he had given up after the first failure the U.S. might have had a very different history!

SEE ALSO: 3 Ways To Get Back To The Here And Now

What Perseverance Entails

Perseverance is about choosing behaviors that keep us moving forward even when we would normally give up. When I work with clients on this issue I ask to start by asking them to write down their goals, plan out the steps they will need to take to get where they want to go and then set some deadlines for themselves. Setting goals with deadlines helps keep you focused on the prize. Every time you meet a deadline you can enjoy a feeling of accomplishment. Eventually, those met deadlines add up to a goal met and a feeling of success.

---

---

I also remind clients that perseverance is a powerful way to learn and become better at what they need to know to accomplish their goals. Einstein failed a number of times before he got a light bulb to work, but each failure became a stepping stone that eventually led to his success. Changing your perspective to see perseverance as a positive tool for success reinforces your forward momentum and helps you to stay on track to reach your goals.

And most importantly you have to be your own cheerleader. Even if you have the support of those near you, the rest of the world doesn’t care about the achievement of your goals. They are too busy trying to meet their own. So it’s up to you to care, to applaud yourself when you are successful, and to pick yourself up, dust yourself off, and keep on keeping on when things get tough. The best news about the steps I’ve outlined here is that studies, like this one at UMASS in Boston, show that these behaviors help increase the levels of dopamine in your brain, which in turn helps you to feel happy and satisfied. And this helps keep you motivated to keep on working to achieve your goals.

---

---