I decided to try making happiness for self and others my top goal in life. Dr. Abraham Maslow's description of self-actualization later served as a role model. The biggest single factor controlling people's happiness and self-actualization is their choice of what the great philosopher Paul Tillich called our ultimate concern.
Many people think that making human happiness a top goal is selfish or naive.
But great philosophers such as the Buddha, Aristotle, Kant, and Bertrand Russell all said happiness should be number one for many reasons. Jesus also implied that happiness for self and others was of highest importance. A powerful benefit of making your ultimate concern mental values like happiness, love, truth, beauty, and growth is that they automatically bring peace of mind. For example, the instant you make success a top goal, you will feel bolts of anxiety whenever anything threatens your success. Our emotions measure the condition of higher brain states.