Did you know that pleasure motivates us better than pain does? Understanding this simple principle can help us a lot. When we have a good source of motivation, we can accomplish more. And there are so many ways we can find to use pleasure as a motivator instead of pain. Check it out.Here’s a super-basic example of using pleasure versus pain as a motivator. What gets you out of bed in the morning? Maybe you start thinking about how you will have problems if you stay in bed too long. You will run into traffic and be late for work and get into trouble with the boss. In contrast, you could think instead about the wonderful hot shower you are about to enjoy or the freshly brewed cup of coffee you can sip with breakfast. Focusing on what will bring you pleasure will end up being a better motivator in the long run.
Consider another example. What motivates you to pay the bills. You could focus on the late fees that will come if you procrastinate. Or, you could focus on how great it will be knowing how much money you have to spend on that special vacation next month.
I read about a study in the book “Mindfulness: An Eight Week Plan for Finding Peace in a Hectic World” that explained the benefits of seeking pleasure versus avoiding pain. In the study, participants solved a maze puzzle that got a cartoon drawing of a mouse to its hole. Half of the people had a drawing of a piece of cheese by the mouses hole. The other half of the people had a drawing of an owl about to swoop down and get the mouse. Both groups took about the same amount of time to solve the maze and consequently get the mouse to its hole. However, researchers found that the people who were motivated to avoid pain (escape the owl’s grasp) did only half as good as the people who were motivated by pleasure (getting the cheese) in next solving another problem that required creative thinking.
It appears that using pain as a motivator diminishes our capacity for creative problem-solving. And don’t many of life’s problems require creativity? So if you are wanting better results in your own life, I encourage you to focus on using pleasure as your primary motivator. Consider what will be good about eating something healthy, cleaning that bathroom, walking the dog, and going to bed early. All the decisions we make can have positive benefits. We will do better focusing on those things that bring us pleasure than focusing on the negative things we will avoid instead.
