Hi there.

Welcome to the November edition of the Blaze Unlimited Satisfaction @ Work E-Zine.   I’ve recently been working on my own personal development.  It’s kind of essential that I do this regularly so that I stay in touch with current approaches that can be applied to my clients’ situations AND so that I can take personal advantage of the developmental opportunities.  In running my own business I benefit enormously from things like:

• Improved clarity of objectives
• An ability to focus intensely on what’s important
• Building and maintaining enthusiasm and resilience so that I may persevere… even in the face of adversity

 My current personal / professional development is the completion of the Anthony Robbins, Personal Power CD Series.  I’m sure most of you will have heard of him, if not directly then indirectly.  Like him or loathe him, his influence in the field of personal psychology and development is simply astonishing and his ability to convey complex behavioural and psychological concepts in simple, easy to understand (and apply) ways is really impressive. 

 With many of my clients seeking to make significant behavioural change in their lives to help support the attainment of their career and life goals I’ve often find myself talking about the Pleasure / Pain Syndrome.  Put simply I believe that human beings will act for one of only two reasons.  That is, to avoid pain or to attain pleasure.  Imagine my surprise when two cd’s into Anthony’s Personal Power series I heard him talk about this exact same concept!!  Here I was thinking I was an original thinker and all the time I’d been para-phrasing Anthony Robbins.  

Well notwithstanding who came up with the theory, it’s a good one and I want to tell you about it.   

Many of you will have experienced the frustration of procrastination at some point in your lives.  We all suffer from it although some more than others.  A recent client of mine was a deployee in Qld State Government and was having real trouble locating meaningful work.  They were entrenched in a negative spiral of reduced self esteem leading to reduced ability to motivate themselves to go forward and enthusiastically locate suitable employment opportunities (which lead to even lower self-esteem).  At this point the client had associated so much pain with the process of locating, researching, and applying for jobs that they had virtually stopped.  Now, from the outside looking in we can all see that they will not secure employment if they are not actively seeking it but from the inside the situation is a lot more desperate and complex.  Your brain is hard-wired to avoid pain.  Even if it compromises your ability to attain the thing you want most.  Think for a second about your own situation.  Is there anything that you want, and want badly that you haven’t seemed to do anything about?  Perhaps it’s dropping a few kilo’s, saving for a holiday, getting a new job?  It doesn’t matter, chances are you, like my client, know what it is that you want, you may even know what you have to do to get it, but for some reason you still don’t do it.  It’s that hard wiring.   

My client’s brain associated so much pain from the effort required to engage suitable opportunities and from the rejection that had occurred previously that he simply avoided it.  They didn’t take action and therefore avoided the pain of acting (or its consequences).  Unfortunately, the pain associated with not acting is typically more significant, with greater consequences than the pain of acting.  Again consider the exercise program.  You need to drop 10kgs.  It’s painful to do that because you have to diet and exercise.  You avoid it.  You don’t drop 10kgs (in fact you put some on).  Consequences… cardiovascular disease, obesity, loss of energy, self esteem…. The list goes on.  See what I’m getting at.  What we need to do is re-program our brains to focus on the pain associated with NOT acting so as to prompt action.  There are a number of ways you can do this.  I’d suggest with just getting it down on paper.  Try this exercise with something that’s important to you that you want to do or achieve. 

Firstly identify some objectives or goals that are important to you that you’ve not seemed to have gotten around to.  Make a table like the one below to record your answers in.  Identify all the pleasure you get from not acting, from not having to deal with this issue.  Then identify all the pain and unpleasantness associated with doing what’s necessary to achieve your objective (from acting).  Now, write down all the pain associated with NOT acting.  The bigger this list the better.  Finally, make a list of all the pleasure you will get from acting, from doing what’s necessary to achieve your objective. 

Objective	Pleasure from Not Acting	Pain from Acting	Pain from Not Acting	Pleasure from Acting
Lose 10kg’s	Avoidance, don’t have to exercise, can eat what I want	Have to be disciplined, deny myself certain foods, exercise even when I don’t want to	Reduced health, poor body image, reduced energy etc.	Better health outcomes, self-confidence from doing something I needed/wanted to etc

 What you’ve done is connect consciously with the barriers to action and the consequences of not acting.  Your objective is to make the current situation as painful as possible, so that your brain (which is hardwired to avoid pain) switches over and you do what is necessary.  Create reminders, engage the support of others. Do whatever it takes to take action right now and move forward.    If your desire is strong enough and you have the right strategies in place, you WILL achieve your objectives. 

Back to my deployee.  When we went through the above process he quickly realised the path he was on.  His commitment to his career planning program went through the roof which alone helped to improve his self confidence and self esteem.  He created his own positive spiral.  The better he felt, the more likely he was to take action.  The more action he took the better his outcomes were and the better he felt.  Get the picture?   

I think it’s important to note that there are no magic bullets out there.  The above process was not the only catalyst that helped this client move forward but it is a strong addition to your tool kit that promotes greater self-awareness and more control over your behaviour.   

I would love to hear your views, experiences and feedback.  Perhaps you have an approach that worked for you that you would like to share or would like some advice about your specific situation.  Why don’t you drop me a line and share your story? 

Okay… time for the promo.  Deployee management is a specific area that we’re currently focusing on.  It’s an experience in Government that when managed poorly or inappropriately has the potential to cause a lot of dissatisfaction and disruption in the workplace for the affected person, their managers and their colleagues.  Our programs are tailored specifically to ensure that deployees are able to move confidently into meaningful and rewarding employment and contribute to the effective operations of their Agencies and Departments.  If you or anyone you know is a deployee or is involved in managing deployees and you want more information please contact us requesting an information pack. 

Have a great month.  All the best with your career and please… if satisfaction at work is an issue.  Call us on 130 886 501.  We can help. 

Warm Regards,