Pleasure Vs Joy

What’s the difference between Joy and pleasure, and how can you use it to build discipline?

I am currently in the process of cutting out sugar and flour from my diet. I am 5 weeks in with no sweets like cake, chocolate, ice cream or mars bars. Mmm mars bars.

I have also cut out bread, pasta and any flour based products.

If any of you have done this too, you know what it’s like. For the first few days your body goes into total chaos. You have withdrawals, craving and even headaches as your body transitions from using sugar as a fuel source to using fat.

What I found is that the mental component of it was an even bigger test.

I started realising how much I was eating emotionally.

Any time I felt bored, restless or uncertain, I would turn to food (normally something sweet) and like a magic pill, it would make the uncomfortable feeling go away.

Why would anyone want to change such a perfect system?

Well, it has come to my awareness that one of my goals in life is to live authentically. I want to feel any emotion and learn how to process it. I don’t want to hide from myself.

However, when I buffer my emotions with food it stops me learning how to feel the emotion and also distracts me from what is really going on.

Pleasure is the life of instant gratification.

For you, it may not be food but it may be alcohol, social media, work, porn, or even over exercise.

What do you do to run away from your emotions and encourage the pattern of instant gratification?

What do you do when you feel stressed, nervous or uncomfortable while growing your business?

When you dull your negative emotions, you also dull your positive emotions. Therefore, when you distract yourself, you never build the muscle of allowing it, feeling it, letting it take its course and moving forward anyway.

What I have learned is that desire is limited. The most desirable part of my day was eating. I now have the task of making my food more boring and my life more awesome. When I stop having the over desire for food, I can use that desire to grow my business, my relationships and my life.

Have you ever done something that you knew was important for you long-term, but short-term it was uncomfortable? What happened when you went for it anyway, when you felt uncomfortable but you knew there was a bigger purpose, a bigger mission, a better version of you on the other side?

What happened was you experienced JOY.

Joy is achieved by doing something tough, when you are tested, you are challenged, you are stretched to your emotional capacity. Yet you strengthen some part of you to get through it.

You strengthen your love, passion, patience, determination, creativity. On the other side, you are proud because you have grown.

So what can you do next time you feel yourself reaching for that chocolate bar or typing Netflix in your browser?

Just sit there and feel.

Feel the emotion flowing through you and let it take its course. Allow it to be there and feel it vibrate, move, pulse whatever it feels like for you. Breathe with it, and describe what it’s like in your physical body.

When you stop resisting, avoiding or reacting to an emotion and just feel it, it starts to dissipate.

You will begin to realise that you are strong enough to feel whatever emotion you want. Everything we do or don’t do is because of an emotion to do or don’t want to feel. Whether it’s shame, fear, loss, embarrassment, whatever it may be.

If you are willing to feel those emotions, and you know you are strong enough to do so, there’s nothing that can stop you.

You will start to then experience more joy in your life and with yourself.

If you haven’t already, feel free to jump in my free 5 part email series.

Inside I’ll walk you through the steps for building the correct psychology to sell your services online as a consultant. If you don’t like your current results the answer will be in your thinking.

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