Have you ever needed to wake up early to catch a flight for a trip?
Even if you’re not a “morning person,” and even if you’re a habitual “snoozer,” chances are that you didn’t hit the snooze button on those days.
Why not?
Because you knew you had to make a flight and you were excited about your upcoming trip.
You had a good Pull.
On the other hand, if you’re facing a day with boring meetings and desk drudgery, you likely hit snooze and roll over several times.
You might do the “in-bed self-negotiation” to calculate exactly how much time you can linger in bed before you “have to” get up.
(If you’ve never done this, please take your gloating elsewhere.)
Eventually, you drag yourself out of bed.
That’s a Push.
Push vs Pull Dynamics
In the context of physical movement, push and pull are two of the most basic movement patterns humans use in every day situations.
If you exercise, you practice this in the gym.
Push-ups and pull-ups.
Sled pushes and rows.
When you push, you move an object away from you.
When you pull, you bring it closer to you.
Consider this in the context of how people treat objects in daily life.
When we don’t like something, we push it away from us.
When we want more of something we pull it in closer.
The energy of pushing is one of efforting and exertion. You “push yourself” harder or someone pushes you to work harder. It can often feel draining, both physically and emotionally. And when someone is pushing you, it can feel like a separation — like they’re pushing you away.
Pulling evokes an image of moving toward something. You’re bringing something closer or something is bringing you closer.
Even if you’re putting in effort, like climbing a wall, to the extent that someone is helping you, they are pulling you up to them.
Desire Creates a Pull
Any endeavor we take on in life typically has both a push and a pull. It’s much more challenging to navigate a push than a pull.
When we truly desire something, we don’t need to push ourselves to do it. We feel pulled toward it.
When we can identify the pull, everything gets easier and more sustainable.
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