"If we want to live a happy life, tie it to a goal, not to people or objects. " albert einstein

mutlu bir hayatiz istiyoruz

incin hedefe

degil insanlara vey nesnele

Mutlu bir hayat yaşamak istiyorsak, onu bir kişi yada nesne yerine bir hedefe bağlamalıyız.  


What a bullshit quote is this

does not seem correct yet anybody else want to try?

odaklanmalıyin I think is better for focus thank you for your attempt

mutlu bir hayatiz istiyoruz

odaklanmalıyin icin hedefe

degil insanlara vey nesnele

If you want us to translate word by word it has to be used, I mean "bağlamak".
but if you are looking for the most meaningful sentence in turkish "odaklanmak, " is more suitable.

And what do you mean by saying does not seem correct? If you know the translation why dont you write it?

did not like the use of destination instead of goal

you mean "hedef"?

it also mean "goal" in turkish and very commonly used.

amaç=gaye=hedef you can use any of it

 bağlamalıyız. - we need to connect
odaklanmalıyiz - we need to focus

I also like okdaklanmaliıyız the best

"Odaklamalıyız" most proper one I agree
or "yönlendirmeliyiz"  to divert , can be used

the purpose is not to divert but to focus 

thank you for your help

"tie"

seems like has different meaning there not exactly focus I assume.
it is like "to connect, link to, to associate with "

All  semantics. Yes tie is different than focus but perhaps attach to a goal would be a better way to translate it .

Which would make

My second try would be like this;

Mutlu olmak istiyorsan, bir amaca bağlan, insanlara ya da eşyalara değil.

bravo 

Mutlu olmak istiyorsan, bir amaca bağlan, insanlara  ya da eşyalara değil.

can veya be used  also

thank you

"ya da" is correct way to write it not yada

You can use veya and it sound pretty normal, but if you use "ya da" it gives kinda small amount of negativity (which is necessary on this sentence)
Both are pretty fine in my opinion