Joy comes from value.1 In order to maximize your joy, you must maximize your value. In order to attain maximal joy, you must discover and attain your potential. The better you become, the more joy you will have. The greater the difference between your potential and actuality, the greater dissatisfaction and misery you will cause and experience. This is a principle so universal that it has been popularized by the famous psychologist Maslow, who said:
“If you deliberately plan to be less than you are capable of being, then I warn you that you'll be deeply unhappy for the rest of your life.”
To the extent that you fail to achieve your potential, you will cause disappointment to others, lose out on greater joy for yourself, and experience misery upon realizing what could have been.
The misery caused by being less than your best is a powerful beacon toward a higher purpose. Long-term happiness is a measure of how fully we have discovered and fulfilled our potential. Your happiness can be used as a sensitive sensor to indicate how fully you are working towards your potential.
Footnotes
- 1. Those seeking an exposition of this principle are referred to the author’s books Men Are That They Might Have Joy and Joy on Purpose . ↩