Do you have big dreams, goals, and plans for your life? How do those dreams make you feel? Business leaders, psychologists, and researchers have found that to live your dreams, you need an emotional connection to them.

Emotions are powerful. They can motivate you to make changes, strive for something better, and reach your goals. Your success depends on the vital connection of your dreams with these emotions:

• Gratitude
• Compassion
• Pride
• Eagerness and Excitement

Gratitude

Gratitude is being content with what you have. It involves recognizing when something good is happening in your life and being happy because of it. Gratitude improves two critical skills needed to achieve your dreams: self-control and teamwork.

Psychologists have demonstrated how gratitude improves self-control by applying the marshmallow test. In these studies, one group was encouraged to think of something they were grateful for and the other group was not asked to do anything. Each group was then offered one marshmallow now or two if they would wait until tomorrow. The group that focused on gratitude was more willing to wait to get more marshmallows.

Researchers believe that in causing a person to be happy and content, gratitude helps increase self-control because they don’t feel they need everything right now. In other experiments, the gratitude group was also more willing to help others. Teamwork, through mentors and support networks, is also critical to success.

Empathy

In a study published in The Journal of Marketing Research, one group was shown computer-generated pictures of what they would look like when they were older. The other group was not shown aged pictures of themselves. When asked to make a retirement plan, the first group, which had seen the pictures, budgeted more money for their future retirement than the second group.

Researchers believe that seeing pictures of their future selves created empathy and compassion in the first group, helping them make difficult choices about spending less now and saving more for later.

Empathy also allows you to understand and work with others. Again, teamwork is critical to success. Empathy helps you connect with the support networks you need to achieve your dreams.

Pride

Psychologists specify authentic pride when discussing how important pride is to achieving your dreams. Too often, pride is seen as boastful and at the expense of others. Authentic pride is the emotion of knowing you accomplished something and being recognized for it. Authentic pride builds self-esteem and motivates you to be committed to your dreams.

A study published in the Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science showed that authentic pride in an accomplishment produced the same type of future planning as gratitude. Pride in doing a good job helped the participants understand that dreams require hard work and made them more willing to put in the effort needed and build toward success. Even when faced with challenges, gratitude and pride help you commit to your dreams.

Because of challenges, mistakes, and failures, you need pride to reach your goals. Otherwise, setbacks will stop you from learning, growing, and trying again. The self-esteem built from authentic pride allows you to accept your limitations and learn from them.

Eagerness and Excitement

Studies conducted by the University of Miami and Carnegie Mellon University have explored approach motivation or the emotions that cause people to work towards a goal. These studies show that eagerness and excitement are also vital emotions for success. Approach motivation also relates to intrinsic motivation or wanting to do something because of what you believe and how it makes you feel.

You are more likely to commit to your dreams, work hard, and achieve success when you are eager and excited about the outcome. A positive mindset is necessary for eagerness and excitement, especially when you face challenges to your dreams.

Success requires strong emotional connections to your dreams. Choose your dreams and goals wisely. The more your emotions are connected to them, the greater your opportunity for success.

This article originally appeared in the Summer 2021 issue of CHOICES Magazine