Time, tide and Jayan waits for no man ... or any woman for that matter...

Contemplations at sunset .

What's in it for me

What’s In It For Me? That question drives most every decision you make. From the moment you wake up in the morning, “What’s in it for me” is the subconscious mantra playing quietly in the back of your head. These five words help you choose what clothes to wear, what food to eat, what people to hang around with, what movie to watch, and so on. They also help you evaluate risks: do you dare walk across that fallen log, do you try to make that traffic light, do you ask for a raise, do you ask her out, do you get a Bald Eagle, do you find a new job, do I go on with these examples, do I write do I go on with these examples….?

What’s in it for me is not always about what we will get, it is often about how we will feel. We are often inspired to do things for the feelings of pride, compassion, sharing, safety, security, thrill, excitement, etc. Our subconscious mind helps us make appropriate decisions based on our experience, motivation, and our prediction of the rewards and risks associated with our actions. In this regard, we are not all that different from the animals we train.

Animals also evaluate situations from the perspective of “What’s in it for me?” They make decisions based on their experience, motivation and prediction of the possible consequences associated with their actions. As trainers, we have the ability to influence or even control some of these factors to help our animals learn to perform behaviors in our shows.

Experience is the way animals learn. Or put another way, learning is a change in behavior due to experience.

Wild animals make countless decisions each day, each decision is an opportunity to learn about their environment. They learn from their successes just as they learn from their mistakes. If they don’t learn, they

don’t survive. Its as simple as that !!!