CONTENTS
The principle of cause and effect
Right cause or wrong cause?
Don't just solve the symptom, solve the cause!
Relief from symptoms is no solution
The causal chain - causes and effects occur in chains
Look for the cause
Can't skip over the necessary steps
Being "at cause" over your life; being powerful
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THE PRINCIPLE OF CAUSE AND EFFECT
It is simple.
A cause causes an effect (result).
Correspondingly, if there is an effect, then we know that there must be a cause.
If we want to eliminate the bad result/effect, then we need to identify and correct the cause! (Much like problem solving, we must go backward from the result to the cause and then insert a new cause to create a new result. Duh!)
Recall that for every effect there must be a cause. So we can go “backwards” from an effect to find a cause.
If you’re getting poorer results on average, then the law of cause and effect says there must have been a cause, one you can change. In other words, if you get bad results, stop doing what you’re doing and find out what would work better on average and start doing that.
RIGHT CAUSE OR WRONG CAUSE?
Misidentifying cause does not lead to solution. However, identifying cause increase dramatically the probability of a good solution, provided you use Problem Solving that is systematic.
Wrong cause does not work, such as in relationships. Many in relationships think the cause of their unhappiness is their partners, whereas the actual cause is some fear that possibly has actually resulted from a neutral event. Understand the blame cycle to see fully where people's misunderstandings and victim stance are the actual cause of the problem.
Or people believe the behavior was a result of the upset and couldn't be prevented. Or that the failure in a diet was due to the diet and/or due to irresistible impulses - and they never get to the actual cause.
Spend some time learning the causes in each area of endeavor for you, as you can then solve the problem. Wrong cause doesn't work and will cause repeats of the same problem - and isn't it worth it to stop getting the same old results!
the belief is the cause of the chemical which motivates us and then we try to solve it based on our beliefs and produce a behavior which has a consequence the ultimate effect, but note the causal chain.
DON'T JUST SOLVE THE SYMPTOM, SOLVE THE CAUSE!
"Solving the symptoms, never solves the cause. Thinking people solve the cause of the problem, so that they won't keep on getting the effects (symptoms) of the problem." (From Thinking Isn't So Difficult.)
In order to get rid of the undesired effect, we need to get rid of the cause! You can’t just “solve the symptom (the effect)”, for that will be temporary. You’ve gotta solve the cause!!!!!
There is evidence all around you of people who have been dealing with symptoms for years and years, but making no progress. That is simply from "wrong targeting", as the target to be solved is the cause of it all!
RELIEF FROM SYMPTOMS IS NO SOLUTION
The ineffective seek relief from anxiety by escaping. This's does not work.
Read Why We Do What We Do. Once you identify the basic "why", then you are at the source of the undesired behavior, at the cause of it.
CAUSES AND EFFECTS OCCUR IN CHAINS
The biggest bang for your buck is usually in curing the basic cause at the beginning of the causal chain.
For instance, a simple chain usually looks something like this:
Event--> Perception/interpretation--> Belief--> Emotion--> Belief-->
Emotion--> Belief --> Choice of behavior --> Behavior
You can intervene at any point before the behavior and it may be helpful. The best points are usually as early in the chain as possible. The most effective places will be:
1. At why the event occurred and how to make it less likely, possibly.
2. Whether there is some misperception/misinterpretation that created it as
having a threat in it.
3. A belief that is dysfunctional, such as "that means big danger" or "that person
is threatening me in some way".
The chain does not look like this (as discussed in the Beliefs section):
Event (causes) --> Behavior, Emotion (maybe in an animal, but not a human!)
LOOK FOR THE CAUSE
From another section:
Thus we need to look for the places where you have negative feelings (the “effects”) and then know that there must be a “cause” (simple logic: it takes a cause to create an effect; if there is an effect, there must, therefore be a preceding cause).
CAN’T SKIP OVER THE NECESSARY STEPS
Many people want to skip over the steps and have some magical conclusion that will relieve them of all that stress and bad feeling – but that is magical thinking – which is something that is a characteristic of an 8 year old child. This is not highly recommended for an adult to run his/her life on!!!!!!!!!
BEING "AT CAUSE" OVER YOUR LIFE; BEING POWERFUL
When one gives up waiting to have others rescue them or cause an effect on them, then one begins to be "at cause over life." In other words, one takes over as the sole person responsible for creating the desired effects, such as dealt with in the section called 100% Responsibility In Life .
To be fully "at cause", one needs to find out where one is on the Victim Vs. Cause Scale . Where are you on that scale? Are you really as good as you might think?
You'll note that those who are powerful in life are spending alot of their time improving the causes that produce good results, such as emotional discipline, character, etc. Each of the things dealt with in that section are immensely worthwhile doing or being. Decide for yourself.
