If you spent as much time as I have, as a fly on the wall of the rich and the poor, you’d come to understand, as I do, what makes them tick.
You’d learn that pursuing something you are passionate about geometrically increases your chances of becoming rich and successful.
You’d learn that persistence separates those who succeed from those who fail.
You’d also learn a lot about why the rich are happier than the poor.
When you boil it down, happiness and unhappiness come down to two things:
- Expectations and
- Control
When your expectations are met, you are happy. When your expectations are not met, you are unhappy.
When you feel like you are in control of your life, you are happy. When you feel like you are not in control of your life, you are unhappy.
Most of the rich in my study were happy because they pursued their dreams and goals with a relentlessness that bordered on fanaticism and eventually realized their dreams and goals.
But, along their march towards realizing their dreams and goals, they often struggled. They struggled in achieving goals and overcoming obstacles.
Failing to meet a goal or overcome an obstacle, caused them emotional anguish and made them unhappy.
So, through trial and error they learned the importance of pivoting. They adjusted their goals and lowered their expectations in order to reflect the reality of the situation, so they could overcome those obstacles that stood in their way and realize their goals.
When they made this adjustment, the ups and downs leveled off. Their expectations began to match their results.
Lowering their expectations enabled them to meet their expectations and that made them happy.
That happiness supercharged them with more passion, which enabled them to continue their relentless march towards success.
Eventually that relentlessness paid off – they succeeded.
And that success gave them a feeling that they were in control of their life, which made them happy.
Meeting expectations and feeling you are in control of your life are the two main variables that create a happy life. Failing to meet expectations and feeling as if you are not in control of your life result in an unhappy life.
About Thomas C. Corley
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