enjoyment vs pleasure
Few days ago, I was watching Dan Koe's A Full Guide to Reinvent Your Life (In 6-12 Months) during a late-night self-help videos marathon. He discussed a few interesting points: the human mind incessantly bounces between order and chaos. Chaos (what he referred to as psychic entropy) is the default mode of the human mind. Our mind becomes clear when what we pay attention to is clear.
Investing our limited attention into a clear, consciously-generated goal that aligns with a desired future can offer a level of clarity that suppresses entropy. Goals provide a feeling of fulfillment that nothing else can. When you are actively working towards a goal, exerting a make-believe effort to achieve what your heart desires, you feel fulfilled. Unbeatable. On top of the world. It gives you an exhilirating sense of enjoyment. Not pleasure. Enjoyment.
Here is where Koe further entertained an interesting topic of discussion: enjoyment vs. pleasure.
I found his specific use of the two words intriguing. Aren't they the same thing? We often use those two words interchangeably, but, according to Koe and research I have done on the internet, enjoyment and pleasure are, in fact, not the same thing.
Pleasure is a feeling of contentment when our needs are met with minimal effort. It offers instant gratification, requiring barely any effort and time, and usually providing no long term value. We seek pleasure from watching TV, sleeping, eating, or owning material possessions. We conditionally expect these needs to be met, without time and effort, and we feel pleasured, immediately gratified. Pleasure comes from spending our attention.
Enjoyment, however, comes from investing our attention. It is process-focused, something you gain through your own effort, such as the progress you make when working towards a fulfilling long-term goal. Enjoyment is about accomplishment, the sense of moving forward, extended our capabilities beyond what we thought we were able to achieved. Enjoyment roots from hard work - one that is done repeatedly and for long stretches of time.
The real question is - Which should we seek?
Both are important to survive, but, at times, we have to choose our dopamine sources wisely, especially if we want to drastically change our lives for the better. In other words, especially if we are seeking clarity.
If you are feeling bored, disordered, or aimless - will you seek enjoyment or pleasure? Will you invest your attention in what matters, in what aligns with a conscious future, or will you seek the instant gratification from endlessly doomscrolling on your phone, hoping that the fleeting sense of temporary pleasure will miraculously save you?
What have you been paying attention to?
The choice is yours.