How To Change Yourself

QUESTION: You have said that in order to change something, you have to change something. So in personal terms, how do you change something?

ANSWER: In order to change something about yourself with conscious intent, you have to want the pleasure of something you don't have more than the pleasure of something you do have. For instance if you want to lose weight, you have to want the pleasure of having a lighter body more than the pleasure of eating more than you can burn. If you want a lot of friends, you have to want the pleasure of friendship more than the pleasure of criticizing and complaining. If you want to stop smoking, there has to be something about being a non-smoker that you want more than the pleasure of smoking. The concept is simple. It's the application that's difficult for most people.