The 4 M's of Motivation & How You Can Use Pain For Motivation

If there were only one way to motivate yourself to get you to accomplish your goals and vision, would you give it a try?

Of course you would, if you were truly serious about making that positive change in your life.

All aspects of your life can improve to your standard by using one simple principle. It doesn't matter if its related to money, your health, or even improving your social life.

That principle revolves around pain.

No this isn't a joke.

Pain is a part of your life. No matter how you want to turn the tables it is, was and will be a part of your life. So why not use it to your advantage? Ironically, must people try to avoid or become numb to pain through extreme measures with drugs, other hazardous methods and sometimes by suicide.

I'm not ignorant to the fact that there are severe cases where it's best to seek out professional help, but it's also known that not everyone has a severe case. Sometimes our mindset tricks us into thinking all is hopeless and overtime we become good at making arguments to support what we are feeling.

Getting back to pain, what exactly is it? What do we feel once we experience pain?

According to Tony Robbins, pain is when our life conditions don't match your model of the world.  As a result, we suffer—feel hopeless and powerless because we feel like we can't do anything to change it.

You could see the clear distinction between both pain and suffering. Pain is inevitable while suffering is optional.

So if you're frustrated with life, hurt from losing your job or let down by a loved one, your suffering will stop. Life is constantly changing and your suffering will change so you can take that next step to accomplish what you seek.

What Motivates Me
What motivates him, her, you and me is different.

Looking at the 4 M's of Motivation will give you a better understanding on what motivates you:

• Material Things- Money, Nice Homes, Luxurious cars, Expensive Clothes
• Mating- Relations, Love, Romance, Social Life
• Mastery- Status, Respect
• Momentum- Movement, Action

Which ever your motivation is run with it. Forget societal norms that say it's wrong to align your life with one of these motivations. If it makes you happy and makes a positive contribution to your overall wellness why not? I'm not talking about extremes because you can take things too far. On the other hand, you might not know what motivates you which can also cause problems and frustration.

How Can I Use Pain For Motivation  
Pain opens up this deep well inside us. It's up to us to fill that well with something that aligns with what motivates us.

Lets say you want to physically look great and be healthy to attract someone. Your motivation might be Mating. Naturally we tend to fall in line with the pain-avoidance tendency despite the obvious signs that we can benefit or help ourselves by facing pain.

Don't fall victim to this tendency.

Being aware that is exists is a start and overtime you catch yourself before you fall victim to it.

Now you have to ask yourself is temporary pain of lifting weights for an hour, doing sprints when your tired or going outside for a brisk morning jog worth it? Isn't it less painful than living an unhealthy life when you don't feel physically good and left unfulfilled because you can't attract that special person you had your eyes on.

When the pain of disappoint outweighs the temporary pain of exercising only then will you overcome it to make it part of your daily life and achieve what you set out for.

My name is Romario Villanueva.  Entrepreneur & blogger. I'm a graduate from Rutgers University with several certifications from top schools through Coursera. I love all things business, psychology, and basketball. Feel free to reach out to me on Twitter or LinkedIn