Why We Do What We Do

There are two fundamental principles that drive pretty much every action we take.  One is the need to avoid pain, and the other is the desire to gain pleasure.  While both are important, if you had to guess which one is the stronger motivator, which would you choose?  Watch this clip and guess why I'm not a pole-vaulter.

As cool as it would be to be able to launch myself over tall stuff with a stick, the potential drawbacks outweigh the positives for me.  This is generally true for most of us - our desire to avoid pain is the strongest motivator that dictates our behaviour.  

Are you having trouble making progress in an area of your life?  Perhaps it's losing weight.  Perhaps it's changing a job or a relationship.  If you're feeling stuck it's because you probably associate more pain with taking action than you do from doing nothing. 

In order to facilitate change, we need to link pleasure with taking action, and pain with not taking action.  Why not try the following?  Pick an action that you've been meaning to do but have been putting off.  List the pain that you associate with doing it that has kept you stagnant, and list the pleasure you've gotten by not not doing it.  Then think of what it will cost you (emotionally, financially, relationally.. etc) if you don't follow through, and write down what you will gain by taking action and doing it right now.   Get emotional about it - it's not what we know that pushes us, but how we feel.

More soon,

B