Pain and pleasure. Are they opposites? When I think about my life experiences, it seems like I cannot separate one from the other. Frankie Beverly and Maze may have been on to something when they sang:
Over and over you can be sure
There will be sorrow but you will endure
Where there’s a flower there’s the sun and the rain
Oh and it’s wonderful there both one in the same
Joy and pain are like sunshine and rain
Joy and pain are like sunshine and rain
When I was run over by a car, I realized that God really was a part of my life and He’d been healing and mending my life all along.
When I went to jail, I realized that I could free myself from my own internal prisons.
When I was in active addiction, I realized that I had more to offer the world than what I was doing.
When my daughter’s mother left, I realized that I could be a father and a man.
The pain of depression carried seeds of self-belief and self-confidence.
The pain of losing my fiancée at 20 years old taught me that, like most men, I can’t handle that mess. LOL. Real talk. Women are stronger than men in that area.
Here’s an interesting study I came across.
WARNING: If you have a problem with experiments that involve animals, then be forewarned.
The Skinner Box was designed by B.F. Skinner in the 1930’s. His intent was to create a conditioning chamber to learn more about behavior as it relates to pain and pleasure. The Skinner Box had a lever inside that delivered either a reinforcing stimulus or punishing stimulus when pressed. Animals placed in the cage learned how to push the lever to receive these stimuli.
Two decades later, psychologists James Olds and Peter Milner made some adjustments to the Skinner Box. They decided to insert electrodes into animals’ brains creating a direct stimulus that bypassed sensory experiences.
Their study revealed a pleasure center in the brain that was more powerful than the desire for food, water, or mating. It identifies what happens when the pleasure center is touched repeatedly. That repeated stimulation, when accompanied by readily available access to the stimulant, makes it likely that the behavior connected to the stimulation will be repeated. Some rats in the experiment pushed the lever 1,000s of times per hour!
That’s a lot of brain stimulation. And, it’s not exclusive to rats. In the 1970s, some experiments were conducted on human volunteers. Do you see a correlation between the culture of the 70s and experiments that stimulate the mind? IJS. Everybody was doing it. By ‘it’, I mean stimulating their mind… in some way…
Anyhoo, back to the human ‘guinea pigs’… I mean volunteers. In experiments with a male participant and later a female participant, the results were similar to that of the rats. Human participants were connected to a machine that delivered stimulation to the pleasure center in their brains. Participants were drawn to the machine for repeated doses of stimulation even when they were trying not to jack up their dopamine. Kinda explains why driven people will start working on their passion project and forget to eat, drink, or think about their significant others. They can get so consumed by the pleasure of working on something that’s meaningful to them that they neglect their basic necessities.
Hard-wired to feel good
What this reveals is that we have hard-wiring in our brain that seeks pleasure and that, once stimulated, continues to seek that pleasure and that, when readily available, people will do some uncanny things to feel good. So, the question is:
Why do so many people wallow in their own painful memories and resentments instead of seeking ways to feel good? Why do entrepreneurs hesitate to act on their ideas and share their products and services with the market when they enjoy the benefits of being paid and being of service?
What I’ve noticed is that people don’t know what ‘new’ will feel and look like. They settle for the known because of their uncertainty. A similar thing happens with entrepreneurs. They know they have good product or service and that it will serve the market but they don’t want to suffer the embarrassment of being rejected. They have created an idea of what that supposed rejection will look like that supersedes the idea of being met with open wallets. Their answer is to do nothing.
The answer in both cases is a belief check.
Let me explain a bit.
Working in a network marketing company, I learned the power of getting new members paid quickly. In this particular company, I was told to try to get the newbie paid within a week. The idea was that the energy of the new opportunity combined with the immediate gratification from receiving money within a week set the newbie on fire for the company. Often, that’s all that is needed to get the newbie motivated to share and share the opportunity with their list. And, more importantly, teach the newbie to do the same with their new sign ups. Get them a belief check as soon as possible.
There’s nothing like having money in your hand. It says, “They believe.” It’s one of the reasons that many business owners keep the first dollar that they earn. It’s a reminder of that first person that said yes to their offer. If you’re looking for a way to motivate yourself (don’t worry I’m not about to pitch you on some MLM), try this approach. Go find someone to buy your first product. Start with your inner circle and spread out from there.
Of course, there may be times when you cannot take a small step towards your dreams because your next step is a big one. The only thing that I can say for you is “Go for it!” Your next level is just an attitude, a belief, and a commitment away. You only have to decide to work on them and you’ll see that you’ve had the power within you all along. (I’m willing to bet that you already know that you have the power. You need a way of tapping into is on a regular basis.
Your next step
Here’s where you go to get that stimulation: www.NoDoubtLiving.com/potential Jump into the exercises, start rewiring your brain, and start living out your mission.
