Personal Essay Sample: Three Happiness Goals

Life for me is characterized by a constant state of anxiety. My mind is regularly wandering in the past and/or future. I am unable to fully engage in the present moment. With this in mind, I deliberately selected three happiness goals that would enable me to be happier by concentrating on the present moment. As part of my goals, I selected journaling three times a day, averaging 6,000 steps per week, and taking walks twice a week. It was only after brainstorming and writing my findings that I realized how much these goals had improved my happiness. 

First I selected journaling every day, even if it was just one sentence, to try to cope with stress, anxiety, and negativity. In the beginning, I was successful, but then it started feeling like a chore. As opposed to journaling because it would be helpful to me, I journaled because I had to. Then I decided to change the rule to journaling three times a week instead of daily. By lowering the expectations, it started to feel more manageable. Lowering the expectations made me feel like I could write more if I wanted to, rather than being forced to. As a result, I wrote more than I would have otherwise. Journaling forced me to set time aside to let my feelings pour out. In most cases, I journal at the end of the day, just before going to bed. At other times, I journal when I was feeling strong negative emotions, such as being mad or upset or experiencing social comparison. Regardless, journaling gave me space and time to explore my feelings and why I was feeling those ways. Writing encouraged me to focus on the occurrence of the present rather than the past or the future. 

As a consequence, I started to worry less and less about the past or the future. Less anxiety over this led me to take on academic goals that I had set aside. One of these goals was to work on research. I went from nothing to taking on two research assistant positions and I hope to continue with them for the rest of the school year. The other is to apply to graduate school. Previously, I used to ponder on all the "what ifs" but journaling has helped me change my outlook. I tell myself, "I will attempt the goals I have in mind and if it does not work out, I will be perfectly fine". I also noticed that I was able to fall asleep faster and have a restful night. Before, I was unable to get a good night's sleep because my mind was constantly analyzing and thinking. Now I could spend a few minutes journaling all my feelings out and leave them there, then I could lay in bed feeling at peace. 

The second goal I set for myself was to go on walks twice a week as part of committing to goals happiness area. With this, I wanted to give myself a break, ground myself, and enjoy the surroundings more. As opposed to journaling, I did not want to spend this time thinking about personal matters. To be honest, I just wanted to walk and enjoy the surroundings without thinking about life. This was a bit challenging because as I have previously mentioned, my brain has a difficult time being quiet. To address this, I focused on the 5 senses grounding activity. While looking around I would answer the following questions: what am I seeing, what am I touching, what am I hearing, what am I smelling and what am I tasting. After doing this, I would feel calmer and at peace because my mind was not thinking of all the bad things going on. These walks allowed me to take a break from life to focus on the beauty of nature. Due to this, I deliberately did not select a specific time or day when I was going to walk. I wanted to give myself the flexibility to go on walks when I needed to clear my mind or when I needed to ground myself. 

Similar to the journaling goal, this goal helped me feel at peace, which led to me being more productive. Ultimately, this has helped me progress on my happiness journey. When my mind is racing at 100 miles per hour, it's hard to concentrate on anything. Sometimes, overthinking and overanalyzing the past and the future makes it hard to do the simplest things such as getting out of bed and getting ready for the day. Following a walk, I felt re-energized and ready to face the world. As a result, I felt more in control of my life since I feel grounded and full of good energy.