Defining success by getting what you want
The definition of success is not the same for everyone. In order to be successful, you need to understand what it means for you. But if your success is exclusively defined by getting what you want, then instead of setting yourself up for success, you’ll be setting yourself up for disappointment. “Our happiness is sabotaged when we believe we can only be happy if we get what we want,” explain Alex Lickerman, MD, and Ash ElDifrawi, PsyD, authors of The Ten Worlds: The New Psychology of Happiness.
When you fail to obtain what you want, which can occur more often than not, you get stuck in a state of sadness and unhappiness. Getting what you want will not bring you long-term happiness either because when you lose it, which in most cases is sure to happen, you lose your only source of happiness and end up, yet again, feeling sad and miserable.