This is a psychological term that was coined by renowned psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud. He defined the reality principle as the psychoanalytic concept that describes circumstantial reality and tells a person to forgo instant gratification.
The Id controls all your behaviour as a child. When the Id is in control, one can only obey the pleasure principle. A young baby cannot control the urge to pee but will just pee when the urge comes. Maturity is defined as the ability to put off gratification and to deal with the pain of doing so. Freud says that when the ego is educated, it becomes reasonable. One is said to be mature when they can ignore the pleasure principle and can obey the reality principle. The mature Ego does not let itself be controlled by the pleasure principle.
The reality principle seeks to get pleasure that is assured through taking account of reality even if it means postponing or leaving the pleasure all together.
Dating is complicated and basically seeks to satisfy the Id. The way we respond to our urges defines our behavior that could be guided either by the pleasure principle or reality. Mostly the relationships that never last were guided by the pleasure principle as the parties did not consider the long term aspects of what they were getting into. If people put the reality principle first, they would see the pros and cons of what they are doing before it is too late. The ability to put off what is pleasurable now for something else.
The important point here is taking reality into account. Take serious account of your life. There are things you may not like when you look in the mirror like your bulging waistline, bad bank account and the women in your life or out of it. These may just be as a result of over indulgence in the pleasure principle. Discipline is the basis for most peoples success. The top business man you know did not get where he is by sleeping with any woman soon as he felt the need for sexual satisfaction. Those who learn to control their pleasure principle are very successful as they have learned to prioritize well.
Remember that if you are in the dating scene, your responses to the Id or Ego determine what results you get. Typically those who obey the Ego do not dive into a date or a one night stand the moment a chance comes up but weigh the situation to gauge its possible effects. Success is not all about thinking positive and attracting positive energy. Think about it, will you just sit there and the women come flocking to you? well, unless you are flat out drop dead gorgeous or are just a super rich tycoon and even then women just don't show you plain out that they want you.
The way you behave in various situations determines the out come and don't be foolish enough to accept the whole manifesting and positive energy thing. The Id might tell us to spend all our savings cruising the Bahamas with all the hot girls but it is the mature Ego that reminds us how important it would be to invest some of that cash in real estate. Behavior is what leads us in the path to freedom and success. Behavior and only behavior is the key to prosperity in life.
