Most people I know are too concerned about short-term pleasure versus long-term happiness. One of the reasons I believe they do this is because they don’t understand the difference.

Short-Term pleasure is doing what feels good at the moment regardless of worrying about the future consequences of it. If it feels good, do it. If it doesn’t don’t do it. It is heavily based on instant gratification. However, the future value of it is almost none. It does not do anything to make your future better. In most cases, it hurts you more than it helps you.

Long-Term happiness is doing something everyday for making our future better. It doesn’t have to be too easy or extremely enjoyable. But doing it consistently provides us a sense of gratification and accomplishment. It gives us the pleasure and knowledge that we are making the right choices for our future.

They are both ways of life. ”Short term pleasure” lifestyle eventually leads to a dis-satisfactory life whereas “long term happiness” lifestyle leads to a satisfactory life. So, what can you do to transform your lifestyle so it is geared more towards achieving long term happiness?

• Simplify your life – You don’t need all the things you think you need to live a pleasant lifestyle. If you take an inventory of everything you own, you will find out that you actually haven’t even used half the things you own in the last 6 months. Don’t believe me, try it. You won’t believe the results.
• Build security – Build financial security for your future. Get rid of all your debt, if you have any. Build a emergency fund. Put money away towards retirement.
• Develop discipline – This is a biggie when it comes to transforming your lifestyle. Doing little things on a daily basis develops disicipline. Identify the things you need to do in order to transform your life. Now, work on one or more of the things that you have identified.
• Invest into building positive relationships – Which relationships do you value the most in your life? Are they getting better as time passes by or are they getting worse? Take some time out to nurture them.
• Increase your frequency of making good choices – This actually should have been the first on this list. But, make conscious choices that will help you in the long-term. Every time you are about to buy something or spend large amount of time on some task, ask yourself, “Will I gain long-term value from this?”

Hope this helps you develop a new outlook on life.

Wishing you succes always,
Mayur Gudka