I finally got my dream job! What should I do next? This is what many successful people always ask. Here’s why you should also ask the same.
What’s next?
That is always the question.
No one asks this aloud. But actions cannot lie. People always anticipate what’s next. Sometimes the initial response is anxiety from confusion or even boredom from stasis. This is why people seek to do other things – whether working on an urgent task or bombarding oneself with information from the World Wide Web. People are constantly and innately seeking, not settling.
And that’s a good thing.
People who never settle do so for two reasons: dissatisfaction and ambition.
The two go hand in hand to create success. It’s like balancing frustration and self-confidence. People don’t settle because they know they can do more. They know that they have not reached their limits yet. They know that they can overcome other challenges. They always hope for greener pastures.
When is enough?
In the same way that many view forever: it does not exist.
But kidding aside, forever is a concept of time that is beyond human comprehension or lifetime. People cannot fathom nor reach forever, so the only way to achieve forever status (read: best and enduring) is to do well in this lifetime. And when that is the premise, there should never be enough or I’m done.
Which can be problematic. Never settling has a caveat: never feeling satisfied or content. And no one wants that. Life is short, live happily, right?
Science may have something to say to this.
Scientists define happiness as a chemical reaction, due to any of these four hormones: endorphins, serotonin, dopamine, and even oxytocin (more commonly known as the love hormone). Some of these hormones are released due to tedious and sometimes painful experiences, like exercise and eating spicy food. That is to say that challenges can actually make us happy.
Never settling is not a never-ending cycle of dissatisfaction, action, achievement, and short-lived happiness. In fact, asking What’s next? actually drives us to greener pastures. It’s a mindset that keeps us moving and growing. And it’s, arguably, the key to success.
Reference
(n.d.). The 4 “Happy Hormones”. Joyful Days. Retrieved from http://www.joyfuldays.com/happy-hormones/.
Rennie Palada
Rennie once won a sword in a writing contest. She wants to relive that exhilarating feeling of other people appreciating what she does by trying her darndest to keep writing. She has pictures of the VSauce boys and All Might and Deku (Boku no Hero Academia) on her desk to keep her motivated.
