Pain and pleasure are used in many areas of our lives to shape human behavior. In the world of commerce, people who have a product to sell will try to find some way to instill pain or pleasure into you to motivate you to buy. On the pleasure side, they will tell you how attractive you will become and how pleasurable your life will be if you buy the new Challenger 3000 Nose Hair Removal Kit for only $19.95 – BUT WAIT, there’s more! You buy the Challenger 3000 in the next 30 minutes and we will throw in the ear hair removal attachment for free. BUT WAIT, there’s more! Act now and we will double your offer! How could you possibly say no to these products?

Or you will see businesses try to get you to anticipate some perceived amount of pain if you do not purchase their product: If you don’t buy the new Dental Lab Diesel Powered Flossing Machine for only $19.95, you may end up with gum disease, which could lead to brain tumors, athlete’s foot, poor cuticles, loss of limbs or the pain of hemorrhoid tissue. Well, you can’t take a chance on any of those, so of course you will pick up the phone at three o’clock in the morning and order a dozen for everyone in the family in order to save them from this potential pain.

We also use these two methods with our children when we want to move them toward change of some sort. Being the supportive and loving parents that we are, we seek to show our children the benefits (pleasure) of cleaning their room, doing their homework, dumping the garbage, cleaning the cat box, or any other darling of a duty that we don’t want to do either. We try to make these tasks pleasurable by offering them allowance, providing them with praise, buying a new video game for them or cooking their favorite meal. For some children, this method works really well, but for others, not so much.

We use this exact same methodology with our employees by offering them the many benefits of doing what they are told or achieving specific levels of performance. We offer them incentives such as bonuses, extra time off, non-cash awards like gift cards for a little extra effort, or we dangle promotions in front of their faces. We offer them praise and recognition, which is the top motivator for most people and demonstrate by our actions how valuable they are to the organization. These methods work great with most people because they are pleasurable, and who does not enjoy something pleasurable? So what motivates you and how do you motivate the people in your life?

All of this and more is in my newest book titled: Simple Steps to an Extraordinary Career & life, which is available at my store.

Brad Worthley is an accomplished consultant and behavior change specialist with over 37 years of service culture, personal development and leadership development experience. Share: