Will Power and Self-Discipline
Sometimes, you wish to go for a walk, knowing how good it isfor your health and how wonderful you feel afterwards, but you feel too lazy,and prefer to watch TV instead. You might be aware of the fact that you need tochange your eating habits or stop smoking, but you don't have the inner powerand persistence to change these habits.
Does this sound familiar? How many times have you said,"I wish I had will power and self discipline"? How many times haveyou started to do something, only to quit after a short while? We all have hadexperiences like these.
Everyone possesses some addictions or habits they wish theycould overcome, such as smoking, excessive eating, laziness, procrastination orlack of assertiveness. To overcome these habits or addictions, one needs tohave will power and self discipline. They make a great difference in everyone'slife, and bring inner strength, self mastery and decisiveness.
Definitions of Will Power and SelfDiscipline
Will poweris the ability to overcome laziness and procrastination. It is the ability tocontrol or reject unnecessary or harmful impulses. It is the ability to arriveat a decision and follow it with perseverance until its successfulaccomplishment. It is the inner power that overcomes the desire to indulge inunnecessary and useless habits, and the inner strength that overcomes inneremotional and mental resistance for taking action. It is one of the corner stonesof success, both spiritual and material.
Self-disciplineis the companion of will power. It endows with the stamina to persevere inwhatever one does. It bestows the ability to withstand hardships anddifficulties, whether physical, emotional or mental. It grants the ability toreject immediate satisfaction, in order to gain something better, but, whichrequires effort and time.
Everyone has inner, unconscious, or partly consciousimpulses, making them say or do things they later regret saying or doing. Onmany occasions people do not think before they talk or act. By developing thesetwo powers, one becomes conscious of the inner, subconscious impulses, andgains the ability to reject them when they are not for his/her own good.
These two powershelp us to choose our behavior and reactions, instead of being ruled by them.Their possession won't make life dull or boring. On the contrary, you will feelmore powerful, in charge of yourself and your surroundings, happy andsatisfied.
How many times have you felt too weak, lazy or shy to dosomething you wanted to do? You can gain inner strength, initiative and theability to make decisions and follow them. Believe me, it is not difficult todevelop these two powers. If you are earnest and are willing to becomestronger, you will certainly succeed.
In this article, you will find some exercises and techniquesfor developing these abilities. These simple, but effective exercises, can beperformed everywhere and at any time. Go slowly and gradually, and you will seehow you get stronger and your life start improving.
There is a misconception in the public mind regarding willpower. It is erroneously thought to be something strenuous and difficult, andthat one has to exert and tense the body and mind when expressing it. It is a completely wrong concept.This is one of the reasons why people avoid using it, though they are consciousof its benefits. They acknowledge the fact that the employment of will power intheir life and affairs will greatly help them, and that they need to strengthenit, yet they do nothing about it.
Will power gets stronger by holding back and not allowingthe expression of unimportant, unnecessary and unhealthy thoughts, feelings,actions and reactions. If this saved energy is not allowed expression, it isstored inside you like a battery, and it becomes available at the time of need.By practicing appropriate exercises, you develop your powers the same way, as aperson who trains his/her muscles in order to strengthen them.
Developing WillPower and Self Discipline
An effective method for developing and improving theseabilities is to perform certain actions or activities, which you would ratheravoid doing due to laziness, procrastination, weakness, shyness, etc. Doingthings that you usually do not like to do. or feel too lazy to do, you overcomeyour subconscious resistance, train your mind to obey you, strengthen yourinner powers and gain inner strength. Muscles get stronger by resisting thepower of the barbells. Inner strength is attained by overcoming innerresistance.
Remember, strengthening one of these abilities,automatically strengthens the other one.
Here are a fewexercises:
1) You are sitting in a bus or train and an old man orwoman, or a pregnant lady walks in. Stand up and give up your seat, even if youprefer to stay seated. Act so, not just because it is polite, but because youare doing something that you are reluctant to do. This is an exercise inovercoming the resistance of your body, mind and feelings.
2) There are dishes in the sink that need washing, and youpostpone washing them for later. Get up and wash them now. Do not let yourlaziness overcome you. When you know that in this way you are developing yourwill power, and if you are convinced of the importance of will power in yourlife, it will be easier for you to do whatever you have to do.
3) You come home tired from work and sit in front of theT.V., because you feel too lazy and too tired to take a shower first. Do notsuccumb to the desire to sit in front of the T.V, and go and take a shower.
4) You may know your body needs some physical exercise, butinstead you keep on sitting doing nothing or watching a movie. Get up and walk,run or do some other physical exercise.
5) Do you like your coffee with sugar? If you do, then forone whole week drink it without sugar. Do you drink three cups of coffee eachday? If you do, then drink only two cups a day for one whole week.
6) Sometimes, when you want to say something that is notimportant, decide not to say it.
7) Don't read some unimportant gossip in the newspaper, evenif you want to.
8) You have a desire to eat something not too healthy. Forthe sake of the exercise refuse the desire.
9) If you find yourself thinking unimportant, unnecessary,negative thoughts, try to develop a lack of interest in them, by thinking abouttheir futility and uselessness.
10) Overcome your laziness. Convince yourself of theimportance of what is to be done. Convince your mind that you gain innerstrength when you act and do things, in spite of laziness, reluctance orsenseless inner resistance.
Never say that you cannot follow the above exercises,because you certainly can. Be persistent no matter what. Motivate yourself bythinking about of the importance of performing the exercises, and the innerpower and strength you will gain.
Trying to attempt too many exercises when you are still abeginner, might end in disappointment. It is better to start with a few easyexercises at first, and then gradually increase their number and move to themore difficult exercises.
Most of theseexercises can be practiced anywhere and at anytime, and you don'thave to devote special times for them. They will train and develop your innerstrength, enabling you to use it whenever you need it.
If you practice weight lifting, running or aerobics, youstrengthen your muscles, so that when you need to move or carry somethingheavy, for example, you have the strength for it. By studying French each day,you will be able to speak French when you travel to France
If for the sake of an exercise, you stop doing somethingthat you usually do, and overcome the inner resistance concerning it, you mayresume doing it, if it is not harmful. For example, if you love drinking orangejuice, and for the sake of an exercise you switch to drinking apple juice,after doing so for some time, and after it makes no great difference to you,you may go back to drinking orange juice, if you still like it. The point hereis to develop inner strength, not making life difficult for you or continuedoing things you don't like to do.
Benefits ofPossessing Strong Will Power and Self Discipline
You need these skills to control your thoughts, improve yourconcentration, and to become the boss of your mind. The stronger these skillsare, the more inner strength you possess.
Being the master of your mind you enjoy inner peace andhappiness. External events do not sway you, and circumstances have no powerover your peace of mind. This might sound too unreal for you, but experiencewill prove to you that all the above is true.
These skills are vital for achieving success. They give youmore control over your life, help you change and improve habits, and areessential for self improvement, spiritual growth and meditation.
Practice the exercises presented here earnestly andpersistently, and your life will start changing.
If you liked this article and wish to make real progress,gain inner power and self-control, overcome laziness and procrastination, andbecome more decisive and assertive, you need to read the book "Willpowerand Self Discipline".
You will find in this book full guidance and instructions tohelp you attain inner mastery and inner power. You will also find a lot ofpractical information, advice and powerful exercises that you can practice atany time you want and at any place.
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