Tag Archives: Goal Setting

Towards Pleasure and Away From Pain

As I write this article, it is a time of year where many people around the globe resolve to do certain things, or stop doing certain things. While this article can help in that regard, you can easily use it to create new goals, or get rid of bad habits any time of the year.

If you’ve read my articles on goal setting, or creating a compelling future, this one will blend right in. If you haven’t had the chance yet, you might consider it so that you can receive maximum benefit.

In this article, you will learn an easy to learn and simple to implement technique to motivate yourself to put into action a plan that you’d like to begin, but for some reason, haven’t yet (until now) been able to find the motivation.

It’s based on the idea that all humans are generally motivated by two broad categories. Toward pleasure, and away from pain. And this procedure makes use of those two tendencies to supercharge your brain to naturally move you in the direction you want to go.

Step One

Think of something you’d like to do more of, or something you’d like to do less of. For example, lets say exercise more. So the thing you want to do more of is exercise more.

Step Two

Brainstorm all the great things that will happen on three different levels, if you exercise more. On three different levels, I mean three different levels of cause/effect. For example, if I exercise more, I’ll sleep better at night. If I sleep better at night, I’ll be able to do better at my job everyday. If I do better at my job everyday, the chances I’ll get promoted will increase. See how that works? Keep in mind your main goal is to start to exercise more, and the second and third things are simply the carrot to keep pulling you in that direction. Once exercising more is a firm habit (in this example,) you can move on to other things.

Step Three

Brainstorm all the negative, things, along with the three levels of cause/effect of the bad things that will happen if you don’t start your program. For example, if I don’t start to exercise, then I’ll gain weight, and if I gain weight, then I’ll have to buy more clothes, and if I buy more clothes, I won’t have as much money, and so on and so on. Remember, these are to keep you focusing on negative aspects of life, but to give you impetus to move away from the things you don’t want to happen.

Now if you picked something you wanted to stop doing, like biting your nails, the process is the same. Brainstorm all the good things that will happen if you stop, and all the bad things that will happen if you don’t.

If you spend a few minutes to do this every night, you will soon find that you almost automatically start to move in the direction you want to go. And before you know it, you will be keeping a journal filled with all your easy successes in life.

If you enjoyed this article, remember to check back often for more, as I update this site daily. And be sure to share or link this site, because when you help others, you are really helping yourself.

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Turn Wishes into Reality

If you happened across a magic lamp, complete with a genie begging to be allowed to satisfy the requisite three wishes, what would you wish for? World peace? A bazillion dollars?  A new car? A raise at work? That cute girl or guy to notice you? These are pretty common wishes, and most all people have wishes that would make them feel very happy if they came true. Unfortunately, most people don’t know how easy it is to make wishes come true. The reason is because when people have a wish, we usually think of it as something outside of us, or beyond us, and some magical force is needed to allow us to get it.   After you read this, that will change. Because you are going to learn the first step into turning wishes into something that you can easily achieve.

The first step is to turn the wish into a goal. Now for most people, a goal is simply a wish that they wish about a lot. Or maybe they might have started a few steps in the right direction, but in reality, it is still a wish. Not you. After you read this, you will be far ahead of everyone else.

You have to create what is called a well formed goal. Let’s take the wish of losing weight. Say 15 lbs. The first thing to do, is write down your goal. You can either do this as you read this, or after you understand this simple process, you can do it later. Lets start.

“I want to lose 15 lbs.”

The first step, is to state it in the positive. So instead of saying what you want to get rid of, express it in terms of what you want to be like after you’ve gotten rid of it. That changes the above goal to

“I want to weigh 160 lbs.” (If now I weight 175 lbs.) See how that works? Other examples:

“I want to quit smoking” becomes “I am smoke free.”
“I want to quit playing video games 5 hours a day” becomes “I want to spend my free time outside.”

The second step is to make sure your goal is totally in your control. If you need to depend on somebody else to make it happen, change your goal around so it only requires your action. 

The third step is to imagine all the benefits you’ll enjoy when your goal is true. I will fit into my pants better. I’ll feel healthier. I’ll be able to participate in sports more easily. You should really give yourself time on this one, because the more good reasons you think of, the easier it will become.

The fourth step, and perhaps the most difficult, is to make sure you keep the positive aspects of your current condition.  It can be sometimes hard to pin this down, because it’s difficult to understand how one can get benefit from something you don’t like all that much. The good part is, once you figure this part out, being able to achieve your goal will be a snap.  In my example above, I want to weigh 160 lbs, I have to discover the hidden reason why I’m stuck at 175 lbs.  One reason might be that I really enjoy eating ice cream every night after work. In that case, I’d have to find some other activity that I enjoy as much or more, and doesn’t give me all those calories. Another reason might be that if I lost weight I’d wouldn’t have an excuse not to be more social. In that case, I need to figure out how to work on those issues. If you have trouble figuring this part out, don’t worry. I’ll be writing plenty more articles that can help you easily resolve these issues, so make sure you check back often.

The fifth step is to make sure that your goal really is your goal. A lot of times we want to achieve things, but deep down we really want to achieve them to please other people. Parents, friends, spouses. Ask yourself this question: “If I achieved this goal, and NOBODY else knew, would I still want it?”

It might take some time, but when you work at it and run your wishes through these five steps, they will naturally turn into easily achievable results. And the more wishes you run through this simple five step process, the more you’ll be able to achieve in your life.  

And please be sure to tell others about this, so they can, like you, naturally and easily achieve dreams.

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