Willpower

The willpower is a skill we can learn and develop. It is like a muscle, it can be trained. Just as physical and mental preparation is essential for athletes, preparing ourselves to achieve our goals will also be a fundamental task for us.

How to define the will?

Etymologically the word will comes from the Latin voluntas-atis, which means to want. But this concept implies many other factors such as the ability to make decisions, choosing one possibility among several, the tendency or desire for something that allows us the opportunity to discover, the determination that specifies and is related to the ability to evaluate and clarify our goals. , and action, as the definitive factor for the implementation of what we want.

When the will has acquired strength and vigor, it helps us in the endeavor to achieve our desires and ideals, constituting that much-needed driving force that pushes us to walk forward despite difficulties, being its two most important ingredients, as the psychiatrist points out. Enrique Rojas, motivation and enthusiasm.

The will determines us

Everything begins with a desire, but to fulfill it, it is not enough to yearn for it, rather that desire has to be transformed into something we want, that is, something guided by our will and motivation.

Will at first is to choose, and when we choose we also resign, even when we do not we are making a choice, as the philosopher William James expressed ” When we must make a choice and we do not make it, this is already a choice .”

Choosing in the case of the will is to bet on something that excites us that is in the distance, and to which we will arrive with a dose of effort and patience. Being our goal the stimulus for action, especially in the most complicated moments. But really what is dragging us is our motivation. At times, we can see the goal as positive, but the process to get to this difficult and expensive port . How can we encourage our willpower here?

The first thing is to know if it is something that we really want to achieve and when we obtain the answer, if this is affirmative, we will have to know how to make our demand attractive without losing sight of our horizon, since every effort in one way or another generates a reward because only Those who know how to wait have the ability to use their will without rushing to reap immediate fruits, dedicating themselves to the achievement of their objective.

If we think about it, the true objective of the will will lead to victory over ourselves.

Educate the will

We have already mentioned it before the will is like a muscle that can be trained. But how can we do it? For this we must have some clear questions.

The will uses a gradual and progressive learning, through the repetition of actions in which sometimes we find ourselves defeated, we fight and we fall but where we have enough strength to get back up. It is as if we were acquiring habits, requiring a lot of effort in the first moments.

One of the fundamental things is to be clear that the benefits in most cases will not be obtained immediately, but that we are walking on a long-term path in which the freedom to make decisions constitutes one of the fundamental factors at the core of the will, since it begins our path towards the realization of our personal project, which is characterized by presenting several struggles against obstacles, which if we win, will allow us to reach the peak of our development.

The motivation must be our main engine that will generate the necessary force to the contents that move. And for this, we have to know what we want to prepare the will towards the fight, having our objectives clear and well defined, giving up everything that distracts us. It must be borne in mind that we are cultivating what in the future will be our fruits, our will will be that seed that we have planted and that will grow, if we work for it, bearing fruit as our personal struggle does not give way, insisting once and for all again in your care and growth. Thus, we will govern ourselves more by developing our willpower, through perseverance.

Balancing the instruments in proportion to the proposed objectives is also an important task, seeking harmony between ends and means, knowing our strengths and weaknesses, developing strategies for it, achieving a good ratio between our skills and limitations.

And let’s not forget that the education process has no end, because life continually surprises us with unexpected situations that force us to reorganize the skeleton of our personal trajectory, that is why the will, specifically its education, is something continuous.

Finally, if at any time we feel that we do not have willpower, we can ask ourselves what we think it is due to.

Are you doing something that you really want? Do you think it is worth the effort? Do you think you are going to be able to achieve it or not? Why? Question yourself!

With these questions we can go to the core of our lack of will and discover what is the real cause behind it. Since often, our thinking style and beliefs tend to limit us in achieving our goals if we do not remain alert.

Bibliography used:

Rojas Montes, Enrique. (1994) The conquest of the will . Ediciones Temas de Hoy, SA