If you really want something, you will get it. If you are not getting what you want, it's because you do not really want it.
#desire
Conversation
Can this lead to a solution? Let's say you "want" to quit smoking, but you also "want" to smoke. To increase your success with quitting should you somehow boost your desire to quit?
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If you want to quit smoking, you will quit. Until then, you will rationalize it and/or make up excuses and so on. You rationalize and make up excuses because deep down you don't really want to quit.
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Wouldn't it be more accurate to say the struggling quitter wants two things:
1. Enjoyment (of smoking)
2. Health (from not smoking)
As you suggest, he will inevitably choose the one he desires more.
Any thoughts on how to shift one's relative balance of desires?
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It would be more accurate to say that you'll keep smoking because that's what you really want.
The way to shift the balance is to understand what it is that you really want. It's not always easy to understand what you want. It takes some introspection.
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What would be the point of introspection if,as you say, ones actions reveal ones preferences?
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Replying to
Because, if you do not understand clearly what you really want, then, you cannot attain it nor can you subvert it