Have you ever asked yourself what motivates you? is it what you want in life (pleasure) or is it what you want to avoid (pain). We all have those things programmed deep in our mind and they run our everyday behaviour.

Motivation Direction

Let's say you want to be financially independent, you are sick of being poor... or you want to be rich... whats the difference right? Well, there is a difference!
The difference is what motivates you, if you are thinking to your self "I don't wanna be poor" then what motivates you is avoiding being poor (Pain). If you are thinking "I wanna be rich!" then what motivates you is the idea of being rich (Pleasure).

Poor = Pain
Rich = Pleasure
This is just one example but you could take it anywhere:
" I don't want to be fat" vs "I want to be healthy",
"I have to be strong" vs " I can't be weak",
"I have to succeed" vs "I can't fail".

Sometimes the reward (pleasure) is big enough so we move toward the goal or the consequences (pain) are bad enough to make us move away from something. But sometimes it's a matter of thinking patterns.

The Reptile Brain

Our brain is made of three sections: outer brain which is the youngest and responsible for calculating, language, and another complex thinking. The middle section which is responsible for feeling and emotions. And the one which is important for this post the reptilian brain which is the oldest part of the brain and responsible for survival and instincts.

The reptile brain has one main focus, avoid pain and get pleasure.If this is not enough, the reptile brain also controlling autonomic bodily functions like beating rate of the heart, breathing rate and body temperature regulation.

Its only natural that this part of the brain has the biggest influence on our decision making. Still, its the most primitive part of the brain and sometimes irrational!
Sometimes you are confronted with a situation that triggers this part of the brain and the rational thinking usually won't have an effect. For example, why we rather sit here and have fun on steemit reading cool stuff instead of working on the post we planned to do for a long time? "Work = pain"(If you look at scientific research boredom and physical pain are very similar in the brain). And of course, our reptilian brain tries to avoid pain!

No wonder its soo hard to start and keep working out, working, a diet maybe, doing the stuff you wanted to do for soo long! It's hard when our own brain tries to avoid pain unconsciously! So... we cant do nothing about it?

Yes, we can! we can use the pleasure and pain system to our advantage. It's hard to start training, but what if we focus on the goal? or in other words the pleasure? think about how fit and healthy you can be! You can also avoid the pain of not being in shape and being unhealthy to your advantage but in my opinion, it's less effective.

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Thinking patterns

Aside from the influence of the reptile brain on our decision, there is also thinking patterns that are programmed into our brain. Each of us has certain Thinking patterns that differ from person to person.

Goal Setting - Toward Pleasure Motivation

People who have this kind of thinking patter usually move toward what they want to get and what they focus on, they will visualize the future and think of all the possibilities. This is the kind of people who will think "I want to succeed" and not "I don't want to fail".

Even though they are focused on their goals and always think of the positive side, sometimes, they won't recognize treats or obstacles they should avoid.

Avoiding - Away From Pain Motivation

People who have this kind of thinking patter usually tend to avoid possible pain. They will move away from what they don't want and that makes them good problem solvers. They get motivated by consequences and deadlines. Those are the kind of people who will think "I don't want to fail" instead of "I want to succeed"

The downside here is more clear, as they usually focus on the crisis or the problem, they will lose sight of their goals. This kind of thinking can be an obstacle as they try to manage their ambitions and do what they want.

Having The Balance

Yes... we have those patterns that already programmed into our brain. But it doesn't mean you have reframe the way you think and create new thinking patterns that could be productive for you!

The best thing you could have is the balance, be able to do both. Having your mind set to certain goals you want to archive but at the same time avoid harmful stuff and deal with problems in time.

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There is no such thing as "no"

What if I will tell you don't think about a pink elephant with wings, no matter what you do, don't think about a pink elephant with wings!
What are you not thinking about?

This is right, your unconscious mind does not know what "no" is. That means when you tell yourself don't think about something you are actually thinking about it. But this also means that sometimes when we try to avoid negative thoughts we actually think negative thoughts.

So if you tell yourself, "I can't be a loser! I have to do something with my life...", what your unconscious mind actually hear is "I am a loser". I think we can agree that a negative belief such as thinking you are a loser won't be productive and helpful in getting what you want.

Therefore, the smart way to approach the situation won't be thinking "I can't be a loser", but to think "I am a winner that's why I'm going to do X" or "I will do X in order to become successful".

Your mind tends to give you what you think about. I'm not speaking about "the law of attraction" but simply the way the brain works. We should feed our brain with positive thoughts in order for us to produce positive behaviours.