Life’s 4 Seasons - A Mindset Guide to Happiness and Reaching Your Goals

Written By Paul Banasiak

A successful mindset and the ability to hold on to happiness in spite of struggle relies on the ability to flow, whether the momentum is in your favor or not. Those who have a difficult time reaching a second peak after completion often are fueled by momentum and growth only. This growth often generates a sense of satisfaction, whether it is personal growth, financial growth, or athletic improvement.

Training provides us with an outlet to challenge ourselves, it becomes an investment in not only our health but our happiness. Overcoming each obstacle and reaching our goal is both liberating and motivational. Motivational as we now have the momentum on our side. Valleys come, but more often than not, plateaus tend to become our worst enemy.

So how do we deal with the times when the momentum is not on our side? Where frustration and a lack of progress set in, where we begin to lose sight of why we started, where we hit a plateau [which often makes us feel like we are moving backward].

The answer is rather simple, but it has to be explained through more complex ideas. For those who have been through this process multiple times, you will begin to see that it is a cycle, just as summer becomes Fall, Fall turns to Winter before the warmth comes again in the Spring and life begins to blossom again.

Life is divided up into four seasons, understanding this basic principle and idea will eradicate frustration, and create a plan of action & reaction; all based on the cycle of modern-day life.

THE SEASON OF INVESTMENT AND SEASON OF LEARNING

These two seasons blend into one another, much like different regions of the world may have a monsoon period before the summer comes. The rainfall aids in growth and is an investment in the season that follows.

To be less metaphorical, making an investment is a choice that instantly begins the learning process. The decision itself may last a full season, but often times we spend a little too much time thinking, and very little time doing.

JUST JUMP.

This is where the journey to success begins. You have chosen that you will become a top-level athlete, entrepreneur, or a better version of yourself. To get from Point A to Point B, we need a map, the mapping is outlined during our Season of Learning.

During the Season of Learning, it is important to remember that it is okay if you do not see growth yet, in your body, in your company, or in your mindset. Think of it as a time of preparation; enabling you to reach more peaks than valleys, and when a plateau presents itself, you will be educated on how to react.

Communicate with those who have already been through the process, don’t only question them about their success, but ask about their failures and obstacles. It is of the utmost importance to educate yourself on how to avoid or overcome these mistakes, failures, and obstacles.

As this season comes to a close, excitement sets in.

THE SEASON OF WORK

You can call this the time of action, of holding yourself accountable and executing the things that you learned. You will often meet people with a higher level of education, more knowledge, but who are stuck in the season of learning, producing lackluster results.

If you want to reap the benefits of your investment and work, you have to act. You have to work. 

WORK

wərk 

noun 1. an activity involving mental or physical effort done in order to achieve a purpose or result.

Effort. . . effort in the wrong direction will lead to disappointment, but with the succession of the Season of Learning, we know our purpose and direction. Mapped out previously, we have to begin to enjoy the process.

The process is where you begin to see growth, you see results that will create the momentum and motivation we have spoken about before, but once again, you have to view this as a season. You have to remember that you may not be consciously learning in this process, that you may not be seeing tangible results. You continue to work until this season is over until you reach a plateau or mental exhaustion [this is perfect, it is a part of the process].

This isn’t only a part of the process, this is the beginning of the harvest [reaping the benefits of work] and review [planning where to invest next] 

THE SEASON OF HARVEST & REVIEW

This is what some might consider “coming full circle”. You have invested, this investment provided you with the education required to efficiently work towards your personal goal, you have done this to your full potential and now you hit a plateau or mental exhaustion.

You have to always view your emotion and results in the facet that they are temporary and that you can use them to your advantage [regardless of whether they are positive or negative emotions]. When the plateaus and mental exhaustion hit, you don’t force yourself to do more work, it becomes inefficient. You view this as a season of review.

Celebrate what you have learned, celebrate any minuscule or significant goals that you have met, and look at the year in review. Know that you have another attempt at this, but this time. . . this time you are a stronger, more educated self. Your investments will come from a more educated place, and you will have experience on your side. 

CONCLUDING THOUGHTS

With experience you come into the New Year as a different person, the same seasons will come and go, the only mindset that will keep you happy and working towards your goals is one of the seasons.

It may happen on a daily, weekly, monthly, or yearly basis, if you don’t see financial growth remember that you are in the season of learning, if you are stuck in a plateau physically, your numbers aren’t going up and the scale isn’t coming down, remember that you are in the season of review, celebrate the small wins, and educate yourself at a higher level, this begins the process all over again.

This creates action that is dependent on emotion and the events that are unfolding, keeping you moving forward. With this, sometimes you learn and sometimes you earn.

Keep all of this in mind through each obstacle, failure, and standstill and I guarantee you will sense a higher degree of happiness and understanding throughout the process.