Lifehacks







Learn how to give up one pleasurable thing for another

Wednesday, 2 January 2008

We humans are funny creatures. We seem to be part animal on one side, and part angel on the other. When I go to the zoo and I observe the creatures there, I'm often struck by how similar their behaviours and motivations are to our own. They act on lust, hunger, power, love and anger, just as we do.

Yet, there is part of us they will never know. Somewhere inside us is the ability to create great works of art, discover new worlds, and understand the universe in ways they could never contemplate.

It is this conflict between our two halves that dominates much of our lives. On one side, we have our base animal instincts pulling at us urgently. On the other, our higher faculties of reason try to motivate us to do the right thing and think long term.

It's these higher faculties that take time and effort to develop. You should put work into allowing them to dominate and control your inner-beast.

And the best way of doing this is to learn the habit of giving up one pleasurable thing for another. Specifically, you should learn to put off immediate gratification in anticipation of an even greater reward in the future.

For your base instinct is to consume whatever comes your way as soon as it arrives. A resource not consumed in the wilderness is usually a resource wasted. Food not eaten or shared straight away will almost certainly go bad or be stolen. The moment is the main thing that matters under those circumstances. You may not be alive tomorrow to enjoy the fruits of your labour.

It's this inner-belief that drives people to consume today and forget about tomorrow. Those who buy things they can't afford on credit are following such instincts.

The classic way to give up one pleasurable thing for another and train yourself is through savings. Rather than spending all your income today, put some aside for tomorrow and invest it. Learn how to sacrifice today's desires for tomorrow's reward.

But there are other ways also. Learn how to eat less and exercise more. Or commit a selfless act to reinforce a friendship. Once again, pleasure postponed leads to a reward.

Learn how to give up one pleasurable thing for another. The more you can control this aspect of your life, the more successful you will become.




Self help & motivationTake the initiative in establishing new relationships
The world is filled with people who are dissatisfied with the state of their relationships. They think they haven't got enough others in their lives, or else they believe the others they have aren't up to scratch. Whether it's friendships that are missing or something more, a lack of satisfactory relationships is a common complaint.
Self help & motivationImprovement usually requires suffering
We all want to be better people. We want to be smarter, wiser, stronger and more beautiful. Look at any magazine rack in any supermarket, and you'll see that self-improvement is on a lot of people's minds.
Self help & motivationMy favourite investment books
I've been getting a few emails recently asking which investment books I would recommend. Obviously there's a vast array of good books out there on this topic and I haven't read them all.
Self help & motivationUnderstanding the basis of your emotions
We are emotional creatures whether we like it or not. There is a popular idea that emotions are irrational and the intellect rational. We are supposed to aim to use our intellect and ignore our emotions, like Mr Spock, or so some would have us believe.
Self help & motivationA lot of success and failure is compounding
Why is it that some people get so successful that they just seem to grow in strength every year, while others sink their lives deeper and deeper into the abyss? I think the answer is that much of success and failure is compounding. The good things you did yesterday can be built upon, while the bad things you did have to be dealt with.
Self help & motivationIf you work and take risks, it's possible to build a good life for yourself
When I consider my life at the moment, it's really pretty good. I'm happily married, make plenty of money, and live in my favorite place in the world. For years now, I've been in a position where I can do pretty much whatever I want. It wasn't always that way though.
Self help & motivationHow to start a conversation with someone
Breaking the ice and starting to talk to someone can be very difficult. Someone you've never spoken to before can seem big and scary. Here are some ways of getting people talking that I've figured out.
Self help & motivationIdeas are easy, implementing them is hard
I've know a lot of intelligent people in my time - some of them highly intelligent. Yet many of them aren't much more successful than average. How come?
Self help & motivationA neat trick for dealing with anxiety
When I was younger, I used to get anxious a lot. I think this is partly to do with the fact that being a teenager is just a stressful time, but also because I hadn't learned to deal with anxiety.
Self help & motivationSuccess is like fishing
When most people look back on their lives and particularly which parts of them were successful, they’re often surprised at how these successes came about. More often than not, the opportunities we expect to be fantastic turn out to be not worth the time we invest in them; while those we expect to amount to nothing can turn into the greatest of our lives.

New articles are being added all the time, so make sure you bookmark Paul's Tips and come back.




Newsletter
Enter your email to be informed whenever a new article is added.



auch auf Deutsch verfügbar
Search
Web Paulstips.com

Rss Feed

Subscribe in NewsGator Online

Add to Google

Add to My AOL

Subscribe in Bloglines





© PRK Holdings