The Two Major Driving Forces that Control Your Life: Pain and Pleasure

” To be able to influence people, you must first know what they link their pain and pleasure to, then help them eliminate their pain and/or help them gain their pleasure. “

Atip Muangsuwan
CEO Coach and Coach Supervisor

“The Two Major Driving Forces that Control Your Life: Pain and Pleasure”

 What do we need to know about “Pain and Pleasure”?

 We’re trying to move away from Pain and we’re trying to gain Pleasure. As a leader, we can make use of this key insight to motivate and influence people.

If we can find out what a person’s pain is and we can eliminate or alleviate that pain for them, we’ll be able to influence them.

In the same fashion, if we can find out what a person’s pleasure is and we can provide or facilitate that pleasure to happen for them, we’ll be able to influence them, too.

Not only humans, but animals also try to move away from pain and try to gain pleasure!

My German Shepherd dog is a good example of this. Whenever I bring him out for a morning jog, he almost always wants to turn around to go back home immediately.

He doesn’t want to jog at all. Because to him, jogging is his pain. Jogging makes him hot and tired. So, he links his pain to jogging. That’s why he always tries to avoid jogging— a pain for him.

However, he loves sniffing and licking. Sniffing and licking are always his pleasures. Whenever, I bring him out, he always sniffs and licks the green grass and trees along the way.

So, I’ve utilized this insight of “his pain and pleasure” to bring him out for jogging. I allow him to sniff and lick the green grass and trees along the way first, then after he already gains his pleasure, I persuade him to jog along with me.      

Pain is linked to “Suffering”. Pleasure is linked to “Happiness”.

Everyone wants to be happy and doesn’t want to suffer. However, your happiness might not be the same as my happiness. Your suffering might not be the same as my suffering. It all depends on each individual’s own definition and interpretation of their happiness-and-suffering or pleasure-and-pain.

In conclusion, to be able to influence anyone, you must be able to detect and understand what people link their pain and pleasure to, then help them eliminate their pain and/or help them gain their pleasure!

It’s as simple as that to influence or motivate people! Do you agree?

If you need help on how to influence or motivate people more effectively as a leader, then let’s talk!