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Willpower Versus Making Resolutions
Willpower and making emotional resolutions are two completely different things. There is a common misunderstanding of what willpower means, and confusing it with promises and resolutions made emotionally and without much thinking, and which lack the inner power to support and carry them out.
People often make resolutions and promises to do something, behave in a particular way, study, look for a job or a partner and so on. They may even start acting according to their resolutions, but this goes on only for a short while.
They may start with much noise, but end in silence. They make resolutions enthusiastically and optimistically, but after a short while lose their enthusiasm and stop doing what they promised themselves to do. These kinds of actions weaken the power of the will, and make people lose their faith in their ability to use willpower. Then they might start believing that willpower is a myth, an unreal thing. This is a wrong assumption, because no real willpower was involved here.
Most of the resolutions that people make are triggered by emotions. They make them in response to some outside event or due to a strong emotion or thought, and rarely because of common sense and reasonable, balanced thinking. The driving powers behind these resolutions are feelings and emotions, but feelings and emotions are not stable and not constant. One moment you may feel you can conquer the world, and a moment later you may feel weak and incompetent, and everything seems so impossible to do.
A resolution made on the spur of the moment is usually useless. The emotion that triggered it may die a short while later, and there will be no desire left to carry on the resolution. Another important point to mention is that subconscious habits are stronger than any resolution, and they usually overcome any decision and desire for change.
All this has brought people to regard willpower as unreal, as an illusion, but this is not so. Real willpower is something utterly different. It is not gained in a day, but requires training over a period of time. You cannot expect a physically weak person to lift heavy weight, but if he trains for a while he will get stronger. It is the same with the strengthening of the power of the will.
Real willpower is not dependent on feelings, emotions, temporary enthusiasm or optimism. It is an ability that is developed over time and becomes a habit. It is an ability, which can be always displayed, whenever and wherever required.
Training of the will also develops self-discipline, as both abilities are interconnected. The training also develops concentration, perseverance, assertiveness and self-confidence. At a particular stage, if the training is taken earnestly, it may awaken in you an inner power and consciousness that are above the mind.
This inner power gives you the ability to make decisions with a balanced, calm mental attitude, and carry them out until their successful fulfillment. It gives you the ability to give up instant gratification for something better and more useful. You become conscious of a wonderful inner power, which is an inseparable part of you.
Constant training of the power of the will results in a real power, which is always available. It is not the same as programming the mind to do one particular action, and then when you need to do something else you start again programming the mind for that other action. Real willpower is like a master key, once present it can be applied to any sort of action or decision.
Anyone who is willing and ready to devote some time to develop and strengthen his willpower will be highly rewarded. Real training starts gradually, and when the inner power gets stronger you can undertake some more difficult exercises. How far you will go in developing this important ability depends on how much time, effort and earnestness you are willing to invest.
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Copyright © Remez Sasson. Remez writes and teaches about self improvement, spiritual growth, meditation, positive thinking, creative visualization, success and mind power. He is the author of several books, and the publisher of the biweekly ezine, "Consciousness and Success." Visit his website. Reprinted with permission.
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