What is this ‘Will’?

Everyone has a will of his or her own.

The dictionary meaning of ‘will’ is, “will is the faculty by which a person decides or regarded as deciding on and initiating action.”

It is implied from the above that it is up to the person to use his or her will or not. It also implies that the person concerned alone is responsible for deciding whether to initiate or not to initiate an action. Simply put, it’s the choice of the person who is the owner of the will to act or not. For example if a person is lured by smoking, his will initiates for an action, making the person an addict to smoking. If it is otherwise, his will  refuse to initiate the action. It means the initiation of action or otherwise is based on two factors. One is your intention and the other is desire.

Here the intention is to smoke.

Desire is to enjoy smoking.

A conflict arises.

In the above said conditions a conflict arises. A conflict  between intention and desire.  Here is where your will comes in to the scenario.  

And the winner is….

The mind says smoking is harmful to health. Mind advises to take all precautions to preserve the health. But the body retorts, ‘what could be a more heavenly experience than a cigarette with a steaming cup of coffee in the morning’? In this conflict, one who is endowed with strong will power will discard the momentary joy of smoking. And opts for a long term advantage of sound health.

Will Power Wins.

It is obvious from the above, it’s those who are blessed with Sturdy will power emerge as the ultimate champions. So don’t you think that everybody should get this power and win in all fronts of life? Definitely, having a strong will help a person shoot ahead in life achieving what all they dreamed one day. Lack of will power makes anyone be it a monarch or a pauper, a slave. It means you are a prisoner tied with chains under the control of your mind that has a weak will power.

Such people with weak will power will yield to all kinds of cravings. All kinds of hazardous habits that one day or other will take their toll. 

In this background it’s essential to find a way to fortify the will.

Can we control or develop our will power?

That’s a question one should ask for himself before proceeding to the ways to strengthen the will.

As I said earlier at the outset of this article that each of us are endowed with Will. It means will is our property. We have every right to apply any method that ensures its development. So obviously we have a provision to improve  and develop our will in tune with our needs.

Now is the time to explore the ways to rev up our Will. 

Meditation Mantra

Meditation is the boon to the mankind given by the ancient Indian quintessence The Vedas. For many years it remained neglected for centuries.The roots of meditation lie in the Vedas. The purpose and objective of Meditation is  to promote relaxation. It builds internal energy or life known as ‘Prana.’ Thus strengthened internal energy further leads to  love, compassion and tolerance. To put it simply, a practitioner of Meditation will have absolute control on his mind and body. It means the person who practices meditation will never become a slave to all those desires which are likely to hamper his progress in life. 

In the present context Meditation will fortify the person’s ‘Will Power’. This enables the person to overcome the lure of cravings.

Kelly McGonigal, a health psychologist at Stanford University says that Meditation makes use of two vital parts of the brain. The first one is, prefrontal cortex and the second one is anterior cingulate. prefrontal cortex plays a vital role in taking good decisions. And the anterior cingulate cortex plays an important role in directing you when to take a decision favorable to you and when not to take to unfavorable decisions. The more efforts are put to keep active these two parts of the brain the stronger will be your “Will.”

Meditation is a part of Yoga. Yoga has many branches  like Yogasanas, Pranayama etc. All of them are the time-tested practices which proved their ability to strengthen the human “Will.”

Take for instance, meditation, which is very easy but very powerful way to strengthen your will.It needs only a 10-15 minutes session.

How to do meditation

Sit in a comfortable position that is convenient to you. If you find difficulty in sitting on the floor, you can sit on a chair and  perform meditation. Keep your body erect Important aspect that should be taken in to consideration is, you should sit in a place which is far from the din and noises.Ensure to choose a convenient time for meditation either in the morning or in the evening. Consistency is the key to derive maximum benefits from Meditation.

Start breathing in and breathing out deeply. Don’t tighten your shoulders and neck. Close your eyes which is an option left to you. The idea is to concentrate on your deep inhalations and exhalations. Continue this for 10-15 minutes.

With this small investment of time, you will get huge benefits. It keeps you fresh and alert the entire day ready to face any eventuality. It sharpens your will. It will not make you to jump to conclusions which may lead to disastrous results.

Remember a calm mind is the abode of energy.

It’s the action that counts.

Wishful thinking without proper action is an exercise in futility. An unfulfilled wishful thinking will disappoint you and you will be thrown in to the dreadful sea of depression. This will blunt your will. Hence instead of aiming at non-pragmatic goals, set practical and easy to achieve goals. Then gradually raise your bar. If you fail in your very first attempt to achieve your set goal, you will be subjected to severe stress. This ultimately leads to blunting of your will.

Envisage the likely obstacles from the day one.

They say a forewarned is forearmed. While on your journey to success, envisage the probable obstacles and pitfalls beforehand. At the same time keep ready an alternative way to overcome the hindrances on your way. This preparation will not surprise you in case of a failure. Because you are already ready with an alternative. 

Cultivate the habit of thinking in terms of seeing the situation with “Ifs and Buts.” Suppose you thought of reaching a place by your car. Keep a spare tire in your boot and the related tool kit. This is what you need to succeed in reaching your goals.

Let your brain identify the reward.

We are habituated to keep choices for ourselves. For example, if you see a well dressed, mouth watering delicacy, many of us, think immediately. ‘Will it be more delicious if it’s taken hot or cold’?

This way of thinking will not help in arresting the craving for that delicacy.

Now try changing your choices. Instead of the choice you gave yourself ‘hot or cold’, re frame your choices. If your choice is ‘good or bad’, your craze will be curbed.  But for achieving this your mind should be trained in such a way it shifts your focus from ‘taste’ to your ‘health. It goes without saying that you conquered your will.

See this example to get a clear view.

Suppose you see a well dressed, mouth watering delicacy next time, start seeing the delicacy in terms of beauty. You say how beautifully it was decorated.This changes your attitude and outlook.

Gain control over your temptations.

Walter Mischel, professor of psychology at Columbia University called a few kids and left them in a room with a few tempting ice creams. While leaving the room, the professor said not to eat the ice cream if they want two ice creams each later. Naturally, the kids found it impossible to wait. But had the professor highlighted and described in beautiful words like, the physical features of the ice creams and how they are looking like a group of clouds or about the soft andpuffiness, the kids would not have yielded to the temptation.

And this can be made possible even in adults also. This curbing of temptation will make you gain control over temptation which is nothing but an improvement of your will power.

Beware of the evils caused by a weak will

A week willed person is no better than a slave. Every moment he is directed by his dominating and commanding brain. He loses his individuality because his will has been robbed by his body and the habits. If the body says seep till noon. Poor fellow even if he knows  sleeping till noon will upset his plans, he cannot resist because of his weak will.

This in turn leads to procrastination. Procrastination leads to stress. Stress paves way for many deadly diseases.And it is a chain reaction.

Will power is like a muscle.

If one is desirous of having a well shaped physique, he will do physical exercises. And goes to a well equipped Gym regularly. This enables him to shape his body. Akin to this, will power also can be shaped and molded as one desires. Will power can be boosted by following the below given tips. 

Have an organized life style.

Start with getting up early. It looks daunting in the beginning. But never back track or give up. And as far as possible try to get up from the bed at the same time. True, your body moans and complains. Pretend as if you did not hear. But beware, if you hear the moans and complaints, you are sure to succumb to the evil designs of your body. But if you resist you have entered the first phase of fight to build up your Will. 

Work according to a Plan.

The time proven ideal method of jotting down all your ‘To Do’ jobs and displaying them in a place prominently visible place to you just before retiring to bed. The moment you rise up from your bed in the morning go straight to the ‘To Do’ list that you jotted previous night. 

As an example your ‘To Do’ list says finish the article that was left unfinished yesterday. Then you should go all out to finish the unfinished article. No pretexts. No excuses. By hook or crook the article should be completed. In this process, if it becomes necessary to go for a slight variation in the task to be finished, go ahead.

For example, you aimed at doing Yoga for a period of say 60 minutes in a week. You can distribute the total period of 60 minutes for yoga in a different manner to that suits you. You can spread the number of days if you are not busy. Or you increase the duration of Yoga, if you are short of time. But remember not to reduce the mandatory 60 minutes in a week that you planned under no circumstance.  I would say that you should be ruthless.This way you can train your Will that in turn yields amazing results over a period of time.

No postponing please

Some times its natural to feel that feeling of laziness, which all of us feel at one time or other. It's natural. And this type of feeling is an opportunity for a weak willed person. And he succumbs succumbs to the temptation. So you have not fulfilled the promise to yourself. But sorry to say, irrespective of such kinds of those feelings of laziness and lethargy, you have to put on a battle to win on your laziness. That is to say you should have that dogged determination. If you fail to have that dogged nature you will be robbed off the opportunity to strengthen your will. 

“Do it Now”

It is is the attitude that pays assured rich dividends. We all know that an Express and urgent phone cal will cost more than the normal phone call or even an ordinary postal letter. Wisdom lies in knowing that a job that is to be done NOW, would have avoided that extra expensive phone call.

In this context, it would be more appropriate to recall that ancient but relevant even now Quote of Kabir Das. It goes like this in its English translation: “ Work that is scheduled for tomorrow should be done today. Work scheduled for today should be done Right now.” Because nobody knows what will happen in the very next moment. Future can’t be seen So the moral is, cultivate the habit of doing the things right now. It’s the only way to drive away the cancerous habit of Procrastination.

Sports sharpen your Will power.

The best antidote for uprooting laziness and improving your agility is playing sports. The greatest advantage of sports lies in building up your inner confidence. Sports teach you to frame quick strategy to tackle the opponent. Sports teach you to cultivate the habit of equanimity. That is the attitude of taking win and defeat alike. Equanimity in its turn equips you with a weapon to deal with dreadful Stress.

Time wasters and Time savers.

Parker’s principle says, ‘everyone does what he likes and not what should be done.’ It implies that handling any job is not the criteria for saving the time. It’s when you handle that job what has to be done now will save time. Because Time saving is all about finding your “Time savers” and “Time wasters.”

And as I said in the above lines effective Time management paves way to enhancement of will power. 

Time savers

Sleeping for Six hours is just what you need. For this you should go to bed early.Attend only important social functions and visits.As far as possible use your cell phone or telephone to get an information either from an office or a known person.Restrict your TV viewing. And idle surfing on the net.

Time wasters.

If you are an executive and meetings with your staff is part of your official duties, restrict them to minimum. Be sure to have a clear Agenda.While on a job be sure to avoid unimportant phone calls and unannounced visitors.Be it in the family or in the office, while entrusting a job to others be sure to give specific instructions.

Avoid unproductive ways.

Limit the time you spend on a pointless and mind-numbing activity, like watching TV series or social networking. Read more good quality books by famous writers and popular science literature and spend more time outdoors. Improve your skills, learned from books and from other sources. 

Health is wealth.

They say ‘A healthy mind in healthy body.’ It’s a concentrated truth. To stay healthy, there are a plethora of ways. But out of all, I for one give top priority to ‘Laughter.’ Nothing can be as effective and as inexpensive than a hearty laugh. A laugh has the potential to keep the stress and fatigue at bay.  

It’s not all, laughter boosts and fortifies your immune system. That means you remain free from ailments. This is the prime requisite for the growth and development of your will power. You know that our body is endowed with ‘feel good hormones’ known as endorphins. These hormones create a sense of ‘well- being’ in us. For awakening endorphins, laughter is the best medicine. 

So laugh for a strong will.

Do one thing at a time.

In a bid to complete the assigned tasks we tend to start all things at a time and start doing a bit of this job and jumping to another job. This is a sure invitation to mental conflicts which are likely to land you in serious problems physically and mentally. 

The first casualty will be your ‘Focus.’ Loss of focus will not allow you to see the things in their real form and shape. Failure to view the things in their real perspective will lead to failures. And failures will make you frustrated. This in turn leads to stress. Which I’m sure will not contribute to fortifying your will power. 

Keep a part of your brain empty. 

It may sound strange. But it is true and necessary. To understand this, I place before you a famous Zen story.

A university professor wanted to know about Zen. Zen according to dictionary is a school of Mahayana, a branch of Buddhism. This school says enlightenment or wisdom can be attained through meditation, contemplation and intuition rather than blind and irrational faith and devotion. The equivalent of Zen in Hinduism is “Dhyana” or meditation.

The professor in a bid to know about the nuances of Zen approached a Zen master, Nan-in. The Zen master gave the professor an empty cup and started pouring tea in to the cup. The cup was full. But the Master did not stop pouring the tea in to the cup.The professor, when observed the Master was still pouring the tea in to his cup though it was overflowing, said, ‘Sir, please stop pouring. The cup cannot further take the tea.’

Then the Master, stopped pouring the tea and said, ‘ Akin to this cup, you came here with your mind filled  with notions and ideas. Now tell me, how can I say or explain about Zen, when your mind is full? Zen says, if you want to learn anything, your mind should be a as empty as a child's mind. ‘A child will not have any preconcieved thoughts and beliefs

The Master further explained that one’s mind should be free from preconceived thoughts and ideas.

in order to learn anything one should keep his mind partially empty so that the mind can offer with all possibilities and alternatives.Just remember that your mind should be clear and have enough space to accommodate all the incoming thoughts and ideas.

So from the above one can understand it’s possible to enhance the will power. And mind it, its your will. So it goes without saying you can mould your will as the way you expect it to work to attain all you wanted to embellish your life.