Beware of "If-Then"

Many of us are guilty of “if-then” thinking: the trap that keeps us in a hamster wheel of future behavior. Here are a few examples:
 
“If I make X amount of $, then I’ll be content.”
 
“If I get that house, then I’ll be content.”
 
“If I get promoted, then I’ll be content.”
 
What if we didn’t attach our contentment to a destination and instead attached it to the present, the here and now? Remove the "if" and focus on the "then.”
 
If we did that, it would simply sound like, “I am content." We can connect our contentment to our effort. We can get fulfillment from knowing we did our best with what we have.
 
From there, the "if's" are often more likely to happen anyway.