Could there possibly be a formula to happiness? Some sort of secrete 100% fool proof “How –to” guide book that everyone should read early on in life in order to guarantee success. If so, we would love to read it and ask the author, how could one person determine the proper outcome for millions of different people with different callings? Yet despite how silly a book like this could seem to the contemplative eye, it seems like this imaginary book has become apart of the right of passage for people transitioning into adulthood.

By the time most people enter college they are already describing their 5 step plan to success: degree, career, significant other, home, and creating a legacy. The question is how could people from all different walks of life all believe they all know the proper ingredients to obtain success or ultimately happiness? Could it possibly be that from the time we are born we soak in all the ideologies of our surroundings and become robots hoping to be something like the “Huxtables”? Or could it be that somewhere along the line everyone read a five step plan for people in the 20’s and early 30’s to live by in order to guarantee them a little piece of happiness. How could something as complicated as trying to calculate and measure happiness and success be broken down into steps? Yet, there seems to be a formula.

The 5 core steps everyone “should supposedly” take in order to be successful:

Step one: Get A Degree/Certification (Bachelors, Associate, Masters, PH.D, Hair License, Technician .etc)
Step two: Find a Career/Profession (Make an income)
Step three: Find a Spouse (Get Married/ Lifetime Partner)
Step four: Buy a Home (House, Apartment, Studio, Condo, Loft etc)
Step five: Create a Legacy (Build your Empire: aka have kids and/or obtain wealth)

Now supposedly if one follows all these steps to success and completes them before their mid thirties they will be happy for the rest of their lives. (Now isn’t that a bunch of bull). Supposedly, these are all the core things to check off on the way to finding happiness. All of these steps are supposedly insurance to not have a midlife crisis by the age of 40 or 50, if followed properly. However, this is all a fallacy. Even with this seemingly fool proof formula there is still a high probability of never finding happiness .

Now were not saying that wanting to have all of these things are bad. We just think that there is something wrong with the formula. How could there possibly be a formula to happiness, as if finding happiness is a simple as putting together recipe and cooking it. Just maybe this so called 5 step plan is built on the fragile foundation of years of broken ideologies of what it should mean to be happy. Or better yet, what it means to be a successful individual.

Unfortunately, we have gotten to the point that by our early 20’s people have this imaginary 5 steps to happiness used as a measuring guide to help us properly get through life. Some sort of checklist. But how could this be if  no two people have the same purpose or journey?

Our journey and purpose is what makes us individuals. We must try not go through life like robots rushing to finish the race first. There is more to this world than getting a ring, having kids, and buying that ‘perfect’ house. Yes, having a degree is a powerful things but not because that’s what you’re suppose to do to get a good job. Having a degree is a powerful because the mind deserves to be fed and filled up to the brim. So college should be viewed as a place of exploration & self-growth.A degree is a privilege not a stepping stone.

Frankly, no two people will every impact the world in the same strength or manner. So rather than rushing through life,why not take your time and find your purpose. Everyone in this world has a legacy to leave, all you have to do is figure what that legacy is. So put down that checklist and LIVE !

  Thoughts?