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Motivation:
Pain vs Pleasure? (27 August 2007)
John McGrath, CEO of McGrath Estate Agents - Australia's fastest
growing real estate company, once said "Remember, there's always going
to be some pain in life. I choose the pain of discipline, to
create a balanced life that I love living". Donald Trump is
another successful entrepreneur who links so much pain to the prospect
of being second-best that the thought alone motivates him to be as
successful as he is - it's not the pleasure of success that drives him.
Everything
we do is either to avoid pain or to gain pleasure,
and these choices are what ultimately shape our lives. More
interestingly, we will generally do more to avoid pain than to find
pleasure. Take smoking for example - people who smoke
typically
link a lot of pleasure to lighting a cigarette and smoking
it.
They also associate a lot of pain with giving up smoking, and as
they'll do more to avoid pain than to find pleasure, they continue with
their bad habit. That is until the pain of smoking far
outweighs
the pleasure. Being diagnosed with lung cancer and going
through
chemotherapy would, for most, outweigh the pleasure of smoking. For
some the pain needs to be more intense whereas others may find that
financial implications, or bronchitis for example, are 'enough' to
satisfy their desire to avoid pain.
Obesity is the same - the pleasure of over-eating is more enjoyable to
many than the prospect of feeling hungry or the exertion of
exercise. That is until obesity starts to effect their life
to
such a extent that what used to be pleasurable becomes painful, and
when the scales tip and the pain outweighs the pleasure, then and only
then, will their behaviour change.
The critical point here is that often people think that our intellect
drives our behaviour. That's clearly not the case as even
though
we know the cigarette or double cheeseburger is bad for us we still
reach out for it, because we're driven by what we've learned to link to
pain and pleasure, and not by what we know is right or wrong.
So how can you change what you link to pain and pleasure?
Firstly, just by having an understanding of how Pain vs Pleasure
determines your behaviour put you back in the driving seat of your
life. Focus on long-term pleasure and realise the need to
break
through short-term pain to achieve your ultimate goal. Pick
an
area of your life that you want to change and ask yourself these simple
questions:-
* What pain have I linked to making that change?
* What pleasure have I gained from NOT making the change?
* What will it cost me if I don't make the change now?
* What pleasure will I get out of making the change now?
Take some time out to answer these questions fully and really turn up
your emotions behind the answers. Only when you have a strong
enough neuron-association with the pain and pleasure linked to an
action will you make that all-important change.
Book
your complimentary 'Find
Your Focus' coaching session to find out more.
Written by Faye
Hollands
© 2007 Outshine Consulting Pty Ltd, all rights reserved.
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