Steps To Success: Find Pain in What Brings You Pleasure
- Aubrey Rose
- Jan 7, 2018
- 3 min read
A couple of months ago, I listened to an audio book that has truly shaped my perspective on achievement. In Tony Robbins' book, Awaken The Giant Within, he talks about his idea of using pain and pleasure to manipulate your minds' eye into seeing what is really "good" and/or "bad" for your life. This is an idea that I absolutely love and wanted to share and talk about with you guys because I have found such immense value in using these ideals in my life.
First, it's important to distinguish the difference between true pleasure and false pleasure.
"True" Pleasure (Soul Touching Happiness): True pleasure comes from doing something that makes you genuinely happy- that is, partaking in a hobby that you are passionate about that you do not feel guilty doing. Whether it be writing, knitting, drawing, running, lifting weights, playing a sport, doing science, working on cars, challenging yourself- this activity connects you with the sensations and principles of who you really are inside.
Fake Pleasure (Passing Time in Comfort): "Fake" pleasure comes from something that you have convinced yourself makes you happy, but really just keeps you from doing what you are truly meant to do. Unless you are pursuing a career in such things, or simultaneously developing your own ideas relating to the subject, these are activities such as playing video games, watching TV, texting or scrolling on social media. Anything is alright in moderation, but too much mental distraction and you'll have a hard time getting your head in the (not the video game, the game of life) game when need be.
Okay, so Tony essentially said that in order to get yourself motivated to take on the life that you want and deserve, you have to reassign the things that bring you pleasure and pain. If you are afraid of moving forward in life, the idea of improvement is bringing you pain- and if you are spending the time that you could be improving yourself on watching television, the TV is being assigned with pleasure. It sounds funny when you put it that way, doesn't it? We as people get so wrapped up in our opposition and fear that we just let ourselves get comfortable in our shitty situations. In fact, we get so comfortable that we never improve- regardless, in this way or that, we're always wishing that we could magically do better.
How to Fix This: Reassign Roles
This may take a while to settle into your reality, but after a while of living in a cycle, you'll start to recognize that which really brings you pleasure and pain. Once you've realized what is actually going on, that is when the reassignment occurs. From that point on, you won't be able to ignore the labels; your hours of television will start to feel more and more painful- and rather than resigning your responsibilities, you're going to realize how important they really are to you. If you want to write a book, but instead spend hours and hours playing video games, you're soon going to consciously recognize that time as having been wasted. The more time you spend working on what really makes you happy, the more fulfilled and happy you will become.
That's the precise process that I went through when I read Tony's book. I thought that his ideas were brilliant and incredibly relevant to my approach in life- but for a while, I persisted in being lazy. However, the more and more I recognized my unsightly patterns, the more I craved change in my life- appropriately labeling the relevant pleasures and pains, I now cannot settle for too long without getting something done, or it begins to mentally pain me. Ever since, I have been more productive, more active and happier with who I am.
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Don't let hours of fake pleasure get in the way of making your dreams a reality.
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