Achieving Peak Motivation (Blog)

[Savage]

Use this thread to discuss the following entry from Steve Pavlina's blog:

Achieving Peak Motivation

[Jesse E]

Awesome post Steve. This makes polarization make much more sense and makes it seem much more applicable to anyone's life. Seeing how the darkworker and the lightworker eventually end up in the same place really ties the whole concept together. You could write a whole book about this concept .

[smartile]

Hi Steve - nice post,

Although I haven't read all your articles on dark and lightworkers, I still got something from this read. I think your article is more about finding true happiness than about movtivation, at least from my perspective.

Your post got me thinking about the natural balance of self vs others, or in your words, darkworker vs lightworker.

For many years there was a time when I was a darkworker. I focused all my time, energy and action into providng things for myself. I thought that this was the only way that I could be happy.

Later in highschool I began tutoring kids in math and realized there was another side to being happy. I realized that I could be just as happy by contributing to others WHILE satisfying my own need to teach. I think this is what your post is saying. That is, to be truly happy is a balance of contribute to others while satisfying your own needs.

Cheers,

Stephen Martile — Personal Development with NLP

[Sam988]

Ahh my favorite subject of this website. Great article, even though i had already figured most of what you've written by reading your other articles on polarity.


I'm eager to see the discussions here, and thanks for bringing the subject up again.

[pylonian]

I couldn't agree more with this article. I find that the more I focus on love, and unconditional giving - without seeing myself as the sacrificial lamb - the greater my energy level, the more effective I am in the world and the more FUN I have with everything I do.

I really love moving away from the pleasure/pain model. Brilliant. Thanks, Steve.

[Shindra]

Originally Posted by Steve Pavlina blogpost Achieving Peak Motivation

and we can do equally amazing things when acting out of fear

^ I think this might really confuse people. This makes it sound like darkworkers feel frightened and anxious all the time, when you know, and write, that they feel "unstoppably powerful", lust and greed. When the energy is high, there is the feeling one can overcome anything, therefore none of what would normally be called fear - fright and anxiety. I realize "lust and greed and related feelings" isn't as elegant as the one-word "love", but is it really good to talk about fear all the time when trying to explain this to people? Aligning with the darkworker mindset is obviously not about seeking to be afraid.


Also this:

Originally Posted by Steve Pavlina blogpost Achieving Peak Motivation

or they’ve concluded that doing whatever it takes to make themselves happy is their top priority (darkworker).

anyone who experiences a strong flow of energy is by default feeling good - 'happy' already. And the good feelings come not from doing, rather the doing comes from the good feelings. An expression of positive feelings of lust, thirst for power and intense self-worth, same way lightworking is an expression of love.

[Sam988]

Originally Posted by Shindra

^ I think this might really confuse people. This makes it sound like darkworkers feel frightened and anxious all the time, when you know, and write, that they feel "unstoppably powerful", lust and greed. When the energy is high, there is the feeling one can overcome anything, therefore none of what would normally be called fear - fright and anxiety. I realize "lust and greed and related feelings" isn't as elegant as the one-word "love", but is it really good to talk about fear all the time when trying to explain this to people? Aligning with the darkworker mindset is obviously not about seeking to be afraid.

The word "fear" isnt very elegant indeed. I prefer "self-love", that reasonates better with the DW mindset in my opinion.

[Shindra]

Originally Posted by Steve Pavlina blogpost Achieving Peak Motivation

Can you reach this peak motivational state without polarizing? Yes

how is this possible?

-

does this contradict what you said before (quoted below), and if so, what changed your mind?

Originally Posted by Steve Pavlina blogpost Polarization

At their fullest intensities, both polarities are extremely powerful. But until you polarize, you don’t have access to the full range on either side. On a scale of -10 to 10, you maybe get to operate in the -3 to +3 range before you polarize, and that’s a logarithmic scale. After you polarize you gradually get access to the rest of the range… but only on one side or the other.

Originally Posted by Steve Pavlina blogpost Polarity and Your Career

In truth a lightworker who fails to receive is using fear energy by mistake. The inability to take time for themselves is rooted in a fear of being perceived as selfish. So without knowing it, they’re actually calling upon fear energy, which slowly corrupts the flow of their love energy. Consequently, lightworker syndrome isn’t caused by excessive love. It’s caused by the hidden application of fear energy.

[...]

A darkworker who fails to embrace “selfish giving” is using love energy by mistake. The darkworker who commits too many evil yet unproductive acts secretly wants to self-destruct, so that s/he can finally begin making amends to relieve a guilty conscience. Guilt has no place in a darkworker’s soul, and its presence is the sign of the hidden application of love energy.

[helga]

Hi all
I've been reading the forums for quite some time. This is the first time I've decided to jump in and post.

The way I see it serving yourself and serving others and sides of the same circle.

If you wish abundance for yourself because you have a healthy love for yourself you will create that abundance by serving and helping others well.

If you wish abundance for yourself because of fear (of poverty, abandonment, etc.) you will create that abundance through control and manipulation of others.

If you are serving the greater good from a place of love you will take care of yourself as well as other people.

If you are serving the greater good from a place of fear you will neglect yourself and may not be giving real value to others.

I fail to see how fear is a good motivator. It may motivate someone to make money or build walls, but will they enjoy any of their accomplishments? Will they end up like Conrad Black?

Serving the greater good from a place of fear also seems to end up in self-destruction. We see this in environmentalists who suffer from depression and suicide.

Perhaps the highest motivation is unique to each individual and that is why it is so important to really know ourselves and make conscious choices.

[openeyes]

I wonder if Harry Browne (How I Found Freedom in an Unfree World) would be considered a successful darkworker. His basic premise was to take direct rather than indirect actions: rather than trying to free the world one frees oneself, and the only person you really know how to make happy is yourself, so why try making others happy? A real world example for me would be: rather than try to convince anyone to legalize raw milk for everyone, I simply get my own goat and solve the problem for myself.

[Shindra]

Originally Posted by helga

If you wish abundance for yourself because of fear (of poverty, abandonment, etc.) you will create that abundance through control and manipulation of others.

If you are serving the greater good from a place of love you will take care of yourself as well as other people.

If you are serving the greater good from a place of fear you will neglect yourself and may not be giving real value to others.

I fail to see how fear is a good motivator. It may motivate someone to make money or build walls, but will they enjoy any of their accomplishments? Will they end up like Conrad Black?

Serving the greater good from a place of fear also seems to end up in self-destruction. We see this in environmentalists who suffer from depression and suicide.

And here we have an example of one who has misunderstood because of the label of fear... drat, Steve.

--
Allow me to be bold here:
Fear is to Dark what Guilt is to Light.

Helga, a darkworker works with a feeling of intense self-worth. They are always very happy about being who they are. They don't aquire things out of a negative compulsion, fearing that they will be hurt if they don't have them. They feel powerful, unstoppable and invincible (at high levels of energy). They know they have the power to overcome anything - being a darkworker is about realizing your own power. They aquire things in a positive feeling of lust, a desire for all good things in life, that focuses on the positive. It is an expression of their self-worth, which they'll have no matter what happens to them and what their circumstances are. They see how they can gain something from any situation, thus life is very enjoyable to one who is "fear-polarized".
Someone who has a strong flow of darkworker energy cannot be moved by fear of poverty or abandonment, because there is also in the darkworker the idea that one is able to withstand anything. This is not self-delusion - a darkworker might for example realize their body is not physically strong, but they have the power to make it strong. If they find weakness within themselves, they feel a positive urge to overcome it, feeling confident, thinking of all the greatness they can achieve. ("wow! yeah!")
For darkworkers, the focus is primarily inward so they see greatness in themselves first. Lightworkers focus outward and see greatness in others first.

You're right, Helga. Fear, fright, anxiety, is a horrible motivator. But fear can be seen as the first little urge to serve yourself, just as the possibly very negative feeling of guilt can be seen as the first little urge to serve others. I think that should be made more clear in the blogposts.