Assigning values

What I'm going to describe is a very simple mechanism, but it is responsible for a lot of mental discomfort in this world.

Many people want to have a well-paid job, their own house, they want to get married and have kids, etc. They set a goal. They try to get a good job or to find a life partner. They believe that when they finally reach that goal, they will be satisfied and happy.
But what they are actually doing is they are assigning values. When they set a goal to have money, family, and all of that, they assign a neutral value to it. Mentally they define it as zero. Not good, not bad, just how it's supposed to be. Because the state after reaching the goal is defined as zero, it is only logical that the state before reaching that goal must have a negative value assigned to it.
And that's what people do. They define the present moment, the present situation as negative. They assign a value below zero to how things are.
Because they define what's now as negative, it creates a lot of tension, a lot of resistance, desperation, other negative emotions, and all other dramas.
Not to mention that when they finally reach their goals, they can't enjoy it because they defined it as zero.
It doesn't work like that only for big life goals. It works also for most of the small everyday goals.

For example, let's take a person, who would like to lose some weight. He sets a goal for himself to eat healthily, exercise, and to lose 5 kg. In his mind, he assigns a value 0 to the state where he has lost 5 kg. Because of that, he assigns a value -5 to the present state. Then he tries to maintain his diet and he signs up for the gym. But he's a bit lazy and he likes to eat, so half a year has passed and he has lost only 2 kg. He still needs to lose 3 kg to reach his goal. Now he assigns a value -3 to the present situation. He is unhappy about himself. He thinks he is useless and weak.

What he could have done is he could have assigned a value 0 to his weight at that time. He could have accepted his body as it is. Then after losing 2 kg, he would have been at +2 value. He would have been happy about making a positive change in his life.

What value you assign has no direct effect on reality. But it has a huge impact on how you feel and how you see things. If you're not in some kind of immediate danger, then why would you define the present moment as negative? Why assign a negative value to it?
Because I can see the code in my mind, I find myself doing it all the time.
Why not define the present moment as zero or even positive? Why not be happy with what you have and celebrate every improvement?
Things are what they are, but it is you who assign values to them. Why make yourself suffer by assigning negative values to what simply is?