Pain as a Motivator

[Lioness]

Pain and pleasure are our prime motivators. It is a well-known fact that we will do more to avoid pain than to aquire pleasure. Tony Robbins advocates using this to associate great pain with non-achievement of our goals. However, this mental trick does not work, in my experience.

There must be real pain. Mental pain can force one into action. But it is very difficult to bring ourselves to an intense enough state of pain. Sure we feel bad about not accomplishing our goals. We feel guilty. But excruciating pain? No. We're like the howling dog laying on a nail. Just doesn't quite hurt bad enough to get up and move.

Physical pain is extremely motivating. Recently I had a toothache. I abhor going to the dentist, but after trying a number of home remedies, the pain became intolerable. It forced me into the dentist's chair. I've had stomach pains bad enough to make me just wish for death so it could be over. I would have done anything to kill that pain. Pain works.

This may seem like an unnecessarily masochistic way of motivating oneself. We are squeamish about inflicting physical pain for any reason. But I am ready to do whatever works. Why not use the greatest motivator known to man? I have found a technique of inflicting increasing pain when I find myself unable to break out of procrastination. This may seem a little sick to some people but I'm having some success with it. Has anyone out there tried this?

[Clint Cora]

It sounds like that you can't visualize emotional pain or pain that can come in the future in some way as a result of your action today, unless it's immediate physical pain. What Tony Robbins is referring to is not only physical, but also emotional as well as long term pain.

For example, inactivity which leads to being out of shape doesn't really result in pain until later on. But for some who do realize the pain that can result later on in life (with health problems, etc.), they do change as a result of visualizing this longer term pain.

If this is not working for you, maybe you can't completely visualize long term pain unless you are exposed to it via other ways - maybe through other people already experiencing that pain. An example of this would be cancer patients who smoked all their lives trying to convey to others that they should not smoke. This might work for some people and not for others.

[Medusa locked]

Lioness, I know exactly what you mean. Personal power II was what got me into personal development, but to this day I struggle to use pain as leverage on myself.

In my experience, the pain has to come from something real in my circumstances or at least in the stories I have in my head about them. Maybe thats the critical key to making it work, it has to be 'REAL' enough.

The other thought I have is that of personal values. If the pain threatens something high on your values list, your gonna protect that and do what it takes. If on the other hand, you don't have a genuine value in what is being threatened, despite the pain, you won't invest in the effort. Its like me with finding work.

[lampion]

What Clint Cora says sounds very right to me. I would explain it the same way.

Indeed the most efficient way to motivate yourself is with your own brain. All i can add to this thread is :

-Realize what happens if you don't work.
-Realize what will happen if you work.
-Realize that your life is short, and you will die soon. Maybe do something of your life.
-Realize your specific capacities and use them for that work.
-Realize that extremely long term inactivity leads to depression and health problems.

And to add a last thing : listen to music, it sometimes is motivating for me

[Clint Cora]

Music is a fantastic motivator. It helps get me through some of my workouts and sometimes it helps prep me up just before I do some of my talks. Of course, it has to be quite high energy music rather than something soft. The quieter music is for afterwards.