Mastering the hidden force that undermines health & happiness.
The Motivational Triad
1. Seek pleasure
2. Avoid pain
3.Conserve energy
Magic Buttons! Modern life has magic buttons that can short circuit the natural connection between happiness and pleasure seeking behavior, with products such as recreational drugs, processed foods, pain relieving medications and gambling. These magic buttons are dangerous as they appeal to the instincts embedded in the motivation triad, but rob their victims of health and happiness. This deceiving of our instincts is what we have termed “the pleasure trap”
Preventable Tragedies. Our population faces a plethora of health dangers-most people over 75% will die from prematurely of strokes, heart attacks, congestive heart failure, cancer, or the consequences of diabetes .This means that many people we know our friends, spouses, parents, relatives, co-workers , and even our children will needlessly suffer and die from one of these conditions. We say “needlessly” because scientific evidence now clearly indicates that most of these tragedies are preventable, not through early or more intensive medical intervention, but through the adoption of health-promoting dietary and lifestyle changes.
Simply stated, our greatest threat is our awe of modern medicine
Your greatest danger is the possibility that you may be lulled into a false sense of security by medicine’s spectacular but limited triumphs. You and your loved ones need to know that your health is largely in your own hands and no one else’s. What needs to be understood is that health is the natural, spontaneous consequence of healthy living. It is rarely the consequence of expensive or complicated medical care.
The pleasure trap is more than one force. It is a system of forces , and this makes breaking the cycle a greater challenge. Pleasure – seeking leads to obesity, exhaustion, and addiction. Pain avoidance disguises serious symptoms and discourages exercise, the lack of which undermines mood regulation, fitness, and sleep quality. These facets of the pleasure trap reinforce each other, actively discouraging healthy change. Any positive choices may first result in less pleasure, more pain, or require more effort. In the short- term, good decisions can result in what appear to be bad outcomes. It can be a vicious cycle- a confusing trap.
