How to Find Joy and Happiness in the Present

Mark Goblowsky is an air force veteran, career martial artist, podcaster, author, and entrepreneur. He is on a mission to help others overcome the obstacles in their life based on his own experiences.

“Most people overestimate what they can do in one year and underestimate what they can do in ten years” ~Bill Gates

1. Practice Your “Kung Fu”

The martial art kung fu literally translates into two words. Effort and time.

And the only things that are standing between you and your goals are these two factors.

If you can become a master of Kung Fu, a master at putting in the effort over time, you will succeed.

We all want to achieve great things, we all want a great life. We want the business, the relationships, and the body.

And you can have it! You can have it all.

But you must be willing to approach life through the lens of Kung Fu.

Put in the effort, be patient with the time, and you will succeed.

Because at the end of the day, time is going to pass whether you are doing what you love and pursuing your goals or not. So stop worrying about the outcome and get busy doing what you need to do to create the life that you want to live.

If you are willing to be patient, to stick through it when times are tough, and to trudge forward even in the face of adversity, at the end of the day, you will be successful.

No one who was truly committed to their craft, dream, or ambition for more than a decade fails. You will have failures along the way, yes. But at the end of the day, when it’s all said and done if you are willing to keep doing the work year in and year out especially when it’s hard, you will succeed.

2. If You Aren’t Happy on the Journey You Won’t Be Happy at the Destination

There is a pervasive myth in society that “One day” we will be happy.

We believe that when we finally have the six pack, the 7-figure company, the beautiful girlfriend, the house on the beach or the sports car then we will be happy.

But the truth is that happiness can be experienced right here and now.

And not only can it be experienced now, it must be experienced now.

Because if you are not happy on the journey, you will rarely find happiness at the destination.

If you cannot learn to be happy while you are building your business, you will not be happy when you sell it for $10 million.

If you cannot learn to be happy while you are training your body and building your physique, you will not be happy when you finally attain the look you’ve been longing for.

If you cannot allow yourself to be happy while you work to find the woman of your dreams, no relationship will ultimately satisfy you.

Happiness is a choice, and if you aren’t choosing to be happy along the journey, you will arrive at the destination and wonder “Is this it?”

3. Resistance Gives You Strength 

Most of you reading this want to become stronger. In all areas of your life.

But what most of you don’t realize is that strength doesn’t come from ease.

If you go to the gym every single day of your life from now until you die and all you do is push against the air, you will never get stronger, you will never build a strong body, and you will never force your muscles to grow.

To become stronger, you must push against resistance, you must struggle, you must sweat, and you must bleed.

And this doesn’t just apply to the gym.

If you want your relationship to be stronger, you will have to face resistance. You cannot have a thriving marriage and never face adversity together.

Because it is in times of struggle when love is truly born. It’s only when your marriage is facing resistance in some form or another that it is strengthened.

In your business, you will never achieve success if you stay in your comfort zone and never face resistance. Success in business mandates failures. It mandates struggles and resistance that force you to grow, adapt, and evolve with the times.

So embrace resistance, for it gives you strength.

4. Understand What is Truly Important 

When Mark’s son was a young boy, he and his mother were in a terrible hit and run car accident with a semi-truck.

His son suffered from a traumatic brain injury and now suffers from disabilities that will affect the rest of his life.

When he got the call that his son was in a coma, how do you think Mark responded?

Did he say “Gee, that really sucks… But I’ve got to finish up this project at work”

Or “Wow! I will be there later, but I just really need to close this client… They’re worth a lot of money.”

Hell no!

He dropped everything in his life and was by his son’s side 24/7 for four months.

Nothing, not his business, not his finances, not even his health got in between him and his child.

And it is in times of severe duress that we realize what is truly important.

Most of us spend our lives chasing external validation that is ultimately pointless instead of spending time on what really matters… The people that we love.

Yes, you should want to be successful.

Yes, you should want to be healthy, wealthy, and wise.

But what’s the point if the people you love aren’t there to share it with you.

Understand the importance of family, friends, and love and make that your focus in life.

Everything else is dust in the wind.

5. When Hope Disappears, So Does Action

You must always keep hope, no matter how grim the circumstance.

And by hope, I don’t mean positive thinking.

Hope is a powerful acronym that you must remember when life becomes hard.

Here and now.

Opportunity

Perseverance

Enthusiasm

If you wish to keep moving forward and succeeding in life, you must live in the here and the now, you must always look for opportunities in adversity, you must push through adversity, and maintain a constant enthusiasm for success.

When you lose hope, you lose the ability to take action.

And when you stop taking action… You wither away and die.

Never lose hope.