Happiness is not a mystery, even if we treat it as one. It’s long been known that happiness comes through perceived progress on a worthwhile goal, but very few people act in concert with this understanding.
The secret to unlocking greater happiness is to realize you can’t choose happiness directly—you choose it by choosing what causes it. You can tell yourself to be happy all you want, but that’s like telling yourself not to be hungry when you haven't eaten.
In order to be happy, you need to want something and you need to live according to a plausible plan for obtaining it.
Feed your joy through making a life plan and living out the tasks you determine will lead you toward accomplishing your audacious goals. When you are completing tasks that consist of what is rationally required to achieve a goal, you will experience a flow of confidence in eventual completion of the goal and a preview of the contentment you will feel when you accomplish the goal.