carrying any food. Pavlov concluded that the dogs associated mealtime with the sound of footsteps, which triggered an automatic salivation response. He investigated this further and introduced a bell to feeding time; Pavlov began to ring a bell just before mealtime and within a few days, the dogs had formed an association with the sound of the bell ringing and mealtime. They would salivate at the sound of a bell even if there was no food. What relationship does Pavlov’s experiment have with 21*-century humans? It demonstrates that instead of having to force certain responses, we can make the process a lot easier by using the power of conditioning. If you can pair an unpleasant or difficult task with positive feelings, over time, you will start to enjoy the task because a positive association of action and feeling has been formed in your mind. What I am saying is that it is possible to feel happy at the thought of hard work! It might sound too good to be true, but to make it even better, the process is relatively simple and easy to accomplish. Your only job is to think about how you can trigger feelings of calm and pleasure before, during, and after you have completed a task. May I stress that even though this is a simple process, the only reason people fail is because they are not consistent. Conditioning doesn’t happen overnight, and if you are not willing to put the work in over the short term, you will not reap the long-term benefits. Let’s take a look at how this can work for you on a personal level. Let’s say you want to launch your own company, but you need to put a business plan together to apply for a bank loan. You know that this will take several hours of research and then additional hours of research to put the plan together. The idea of sitting in front of your laptop to accomplish this goal fills you with dread and so you keep putting it off. What can you do to form a positive association with this difficult task? Here are some ideas to get you started. How To Form PosItTIvVE ASSOCIATIONS Think about your favorite snack or beverage—before sitting down to start working on the business plan, you prepare your snack or pour out a cup of the drink you like. After a while, your mind will begin to associate the act of consuming your favorite drink or snack with working on your business plan. Or you can spend a few minutes listening to your favorite motivational speaker or reading an inspirational article before you start work. Or you might enjoy taking a hot shower with a scented shower gel. This will encourage you to associate a certain smell and temperature with productive work.