Shawn Achor, author of the Happiness Advantage, explains the result of 1000’s of scientific studies in the field of positive psychology on happiness.  He explains that setting goals out in the future and working towards them doesn’t work.

“If success causes happiness, then every employee who gets a promotion, every student who receives an acceptance letter, everyone who has ever accomplished a goal of any kind should be happy. But with each victory, our goalposts of success keep getting pushed further and further out, so that happiness gets pushed over the horizon.”

In fact, the research shows that happiness is not achieved because you reached a goal, but that a grateful, resilient, positive outlook is what allows people to reach the goals.