Success: Application of Pain-Pleasure Principle
Tuesday, May 29, 2007
In this article, we will briefly examine ourselves; explore what the term ‘Success’ means, and how the Pain-Pleasure Principle governs it. In general, success means to achieve something attempted or in other words experiencing a favourable outcome. We can say success means reaching our goals and desires. When we achieve our goals or desires, we experience a pleasurable state of mind, and that makes us feel good, and we feel satisfied. On the other hand, when we fail to achieve our goals and desires, we experience pain and dissatisfaction, which affects our mental state and therefore our quality of life.
It is a natural instinct in living beings to avoid pain and sufferings, and seek pleasurable states. This idea is governed by a powerful natural law called the Pain-Pleasure Principle. The Pain-Pleasure Principle is based on sensory perceptions. We use our sensory organs such as eyes, nose, tongue, ear, and skin to make meaning of the energy and information in our environment. We experience pain or pleasure depending on how we interpret or decode energy and information in our environment, and our interpretations influences our actions.
In our natural state, all of us use this principle without even realising it. We are easily attracted to anything that gives us pleasure, and any painful state is instantly rejected or avoided. Though we use this principle routinely, we must understand and examine the principle closely by bringing it to our conscious awareness. It is important because all our decisions do not lead to a pleasurable state. Let me illustrate this with an example, people smoke cigarettes to get some pleasure and avoid pain. Does it help them? Smokers may experience a momentary pleasure or relief but we know in the long run they suffer from the adverse affects of smoking. So we can say all decisions driven by momentary pleasure may not lead to a favourable outcome.
Human beings have the faculty of choice, so we can choose what we want in our life. If we become conscious on the way we use Pain-Pleasure Principle, we will make wise decisions after properly examining the outcome. So, next time you set a goal and commit yourself, think how you are going to achieve it? And what are you going to get as an outcome?
Let us do a simple exercise now:
Take a pen and a blank piece of paper, write down 10 things you rejected or avoided today to be happy. Write down what comes to your mind naturally. Once you have your list, examine them by thinking deeply, and now write down what you wanted to have instead. This simple and powerful exercise will help you to concentrate and focus on the way you make decisions. If you use it, you will feel re-energised, have better control on your life, and you will also increase your capacity to make informed decisions.
We will cover this topic in greater details soon in our ‘Vedic Coaching Programme’, and I will keep you informed through this blog. Take care and God bless!
It is a natural instinct in living beings to avoid pain and sufferings, and seek pleasurable states. This idea is governed by a powerful natural law called the Pain-Pleasure Principle. The Pain-Pleasure Principle is based on sensory perceptions. We use our sensory organs such as eyes, nose, tongue, ear, and skin to make meaning of the energy and information in our environment. We experience pain or pleasure depending on how we interpret or decode energy and information in our environment, and our interpretations influences our actions.
In our natural state, all of us use this principle without even realising it. We are easily attracted to anything that gives us pleasure, and any painful state is instantly rejected or avoided. Though we use this principle routinely, we must understand and examine the principle closely by bringing it to our conscious awareness. It is important because all our decisions do not lead to a pleasurable state. Let me illustrate this with an example, people smoke cigarettes to get some pleasure and avoid pain. Does it help them? Smokers may experience a momentary pleasure or relief but we know in the long run they suffer from the adverse affects of smoking. So we can say all decisions driven by momentary pleasure may not lead to a favourable outcome.
Human beings have the faculty of choice, so we can choose what we want in our life. If we become conscious on the way we use Pain-Pleasure Principle, we will make wise decisions after properly examining the outcome. So, next time you set a goal and commit yourself, think how you are going to achieve it? And what are you going to get as an outcome?
Let us do a simple exercise now:
Take a pen and a blank piece of paper, write down 10 things you rejected or avoided today to be happy. Write down what comes to your mind naturally. Once you have your list, examine them by thinking deeply, and now write down what you wanted to have instead. This simple and powerful exercise will help you to concentrate and focus on the way you make decisions. If you use it, you will feel re-energised, have better control on your life, and you will also increase your capacity to make informed decisions.
We will cover this topic in greater details soon in our ‘Vedic Coaching Programme’, and I will keep you informed through this blog. Take care and God bless!
posted by Debojit Chowdhury @ 1:51 PM,
4 Comments:
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At May 29, 2007,
said...
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hi bro,nice blog and keep up the good work on life coaching
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At May 31, 2007,
Debojit Chowdhury said...
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Dzul, thank you for the comment. I would be delighted to see you more on this site. Take care and God bless Deb
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At October 17, 2007,
Naomi Devlin said...
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Your blog is inspiring. I'm going to use it as part of my CPD plan. I already know about this stuff, but it's great to have a resouce that is so clearly written and full of compassion. I look forward to lightening my load on future visits.
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At October 17, 2007,
Naomi Devlin said...
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Your blog is inspiring. I'm going to use it as part of my CPD plan. I already know about this stuff, but it's great to have a resouce that is so clearly written and full of compassion. I look forward to lightening my load on future visits.
