What Drives You?
There's only two motivations which drive human behavior:
One is the Pursuit of Pleasure
The other is the Avoidance of Pain.
The Pursuit of Pleasure is going after the things which you like, want and make you feel good. It's what triggers the pleasure centers of your brain, and they occur on all levels and in varying degrees.
It could be food; it could be exercise.
It could be hugs; it could be sex.
It could be number of likes or followers on social media; it could be winning a debate or competition.
It could be partying, spending money or gambling; it could be closing a deal, playing sports or putting yourself in line for a promotion.
The Avoidance of Pain can be seen in things like:
Procrastinating, giving excuses, ignoring or pretending the issue isn't there
"Bending the truth" or not coming clean
Walking on eggshells to avoid conflict
Putting on a front to keep people from seeing the real you...it's largely fueled by ego and not wanting to look stupid in front of others.
These two show up in every area of your life-be it health and fitness, your finances, your relationships, your career, and even in leisure time.
Which One Drives You And Why Should You Care?
Being that this is our fitness site, let's drill down and take a look, shall we?
When it comes to change-which is what fitness (or any other goal) requires; both will cause change. BUT ONLY ONE WILL PUSH YOU AND DRIVE YOU TO THE HIGHEST LEVEL.
That is the pursuit of pleasure.
This is why I am so emphatic about your having GOALS WHICH ARE VERY CLEARLY DEFINED AND POINTED TOWARDS WHAT YOU WANT-SHORT AND LONG TERM. As you grow, take on new skills, acquire new habits-you're gonna kinda suck at first. (#sorrynotsorry) You're gonna be putting yourself out there and expose yourself to criticism, ridicule or "just kidding" comments from your friends, family and coworkers. And don't even get me started on the Negative Committee which meets inside your head...
FOCUSING ON WHAT YOU WANT KEEPS YOU IN THE GAME, AND CAUSES YOU TO DEVELOP A LASER-LIKE FOCUS AND IMPENETRABLE WILL TO PUSH FORWARD AND BLOW THROUGH ANY OBSTACLE OR PERIODS OF DISCONTENT.
For my advanced peeps, having this level of understanding is a GAME-CHANGER. When you're looking to go to the next level, and are not producing the results you want; this becomes a powerful self-triage tool.
In short, it's called becoming aware of your own $#!+ ...particularly your patterns and why you do what you do.
You learn REAL QUICK why you're getting the results you're getting.
Patterns of inconsistency, lack of discipline; or going 100% all-in with an obsessive can't-stop-won't-stop attitude.
Any excuse that you would normally have given...poof! Gone in an instant.
Any veering off course comes to a screeching halt with IMMEDIATE correction.
Suddenly you're able to see-with 100% clarity the cycles which repeat themselves to the positive and to the negative; and discern very early on when you're getting sucked up into one.
In short, it gives you a roadmap of accountability.
A roadmap largely about yourself.
HERE'S THE TAKEAWAY: You are 100% in the Driver's Seat and are in full command of where you drive the vehicle of your life. As the Driver, you always have choices on what roads to take and how fast you go.
Do not confuse not having a choice with not liking the consequences of a particular choice.
So again, you're always in the Driver's Seat and you always have choices. You are also the only thing which stands in your way between this level and the next. Always start out operating in the area of your strength, but at some point, you're going to have to expose and build your weaknesses into a strength (or outsource them) if you want to grow.
To tie in today's post about what drives you-straight up-If you perceive something as painful, you're not going to do it. None of us like to have our $#!+ exposed. Get over it. At the end of the day, you can either have what you want-or the reasons why you don't. Become a hard master to yourself and bust through the BS of your current plateau.
