Pleasure And Pain

So, I listened to a Tony Robins youtube video. It was called, “Pleasure And Pain.” Those are the two driving forces in life, he said.

Most of us don’t do things to avoid pain. We say, “If I do that it might produce pain.” We need to reverse that. We need to think the opposite. We need to ask, “What will be the pain if I DON’T do it?

Below I am going to write down 4 actions I need to do but keep putting off. Write down something that will cause pain when you do it, and write down the pleasure you get from not doing it.; write down the opposite, write what will happen if you don’t change.

Pain is a greater motivator than pleasure. Food gives you pleasure. But, focus on the pain you will get by eating the chocolate. Focus on the pleasure you will get by not eating that chocolate. Then behavior changes.

IF you want to change your behavior, you must change your mental focus. You must focus on how not doing something is going to be more painful than doing it. Link not taking action as more painful than just doing it.

Use pain and pleasure rather than letting pain and pleasure use you. That’s the secret to success. You do that and you are in control of your life. If you don’t do it your life controls you. So you need to make that change

Write down 4 actions that you need to do that you’ve been putting off. I’m only putting 3 here. I do have a 4th, but I don’t want to share it. Here goes.

I want to quit drinking for 2 months. 

• The pain I associate that kept me from quitting in the past is the urge to drink 
• The pleasure from not following through is the joy of good buzz; it’s relaxation
• If I don’t change I lack energy the next day; I lack the motivation to diet

I want to lose weight. More specifically, I want to lose 50 pounds.

• The pain I associate that kept me from quitting in the past is hunger
• The pleasure from not following through is the joy of eating good food
• If I don’t change I feel fat and lazy; I feel like a slug

I want to work out every day.

• The pain I associate that kept me from sticking with it in the past is taking time
• The pleasure from not following through is more time relaxing
• If I don't’ change I feel like a slug and lack energy

I'm giving myself a start date. It's September 7. I know it's Friday. I will explain why I'm starting on a Friday in a later post. But, I'm just writing this here in case anyone is interested in doing this with me.