The ability to consciously control our behavior, or will, plays an important role in our life. Without her, it is impossible to become a truly significant person and achieve success, so the question of how to develop willpower is very relevant. This is a complex mental phenomenon, which is a set of personality traits, and its development should be started with introspection, with an understanding of those volitional qualities that should be paid attention to in the first place. Moreover, the development of each of these qualities requires its own specific approach.
Strong-willed personality traits and their development
The formation of the ability to consciously control one’s own behavior begins from early childhood, when the baby is just beginning to develop the beginnings of voluntary actions. Even at 3 years old, a child is able to restrain some of his impulsive impulses, to understand the need for certain actions, even if he does not want to.
The development of volitional qualities is especially intensive in adolescence, and by the age of 18-20 they should have a sufficiently high level. However, in reality this often does not happen, and a person has only some of these qualities or they are weakly manifested. There are also completely weak-willed individuals.
One way or another, the development of willpower is primarily the identification and solution of problems with individual volitional qualities.
Initiative
The adage that the first step is the hardest is true. After all, for this you need to overcome your own inertia, fear and laziness. Initiative is the ability to independently make decisions and implement them without outside pressure. The ability to force oneself to act independently without any external stimuli is a very important quality that is necessary for achieving success. Unfortunately, people do not always possess it and wait for a prestigious job, a good salary, grandiose projects where they can not only earn money, but also demonstrate their abilities, etc. they will show themselves in all their glory.
These lack of initiative people are not lazy, they are simply inert and can wait all their lives for a magical stimulating kick. But when they get down to business, they are quite capable of being persistent and tenacious. Such people make good performers, but they will not create anything of their own.
In order to develop such an important volitional quality as initiative, you need to find a truly interesting business for yourself. It is easiest to start such a business on your own, because interest is a good incentive.
Development of creative potential is also important for initiative, because a rich imagination and creativity can give rise to bright new ideas and plans that you want to be engaged in and which encourage activity and initiative.
Independence
It’s boring to work under someone else’s guidance, according to someone’s instructions, but it’s easier than working on your own. And, by the way, you can scold this “someone” with a clear conscience and explain the reasons for your mistakes with a crooked instruction.
But acting independently, according to your own plan, is much more difficult and requires considerable volitional efforts. Moreover, the difficulties are not only material and physical, but also psychological, since the responsibility for both success and failure lies solely with you.
Often, adolescents who do not want to obey the demands of teachers and parents and show willfulness are considered undisciplined. Probably so. But more importantly, they strive for independence, which, alas, is not welcome at their age. Therefore, in adults, this quality is poorly developed or completely absent, but it is very important and necessary for every person who strives to be not just a pawn in someone else’s game.
How can you develop autonomy for an adult? It is clear that at the main job it is difficult to show this quality – not all managers like subordinates who are too independent. But you can develop independence in different types of activities. And in general, even the decision to do something else besides work must be made independently. For example, you can freelance and start earning money on the Internet, devote your free time to sports or creativity, organize an exhibition of your work or a thematic group on one of the social networks. Yes, there is a lot that can be done to feel not like a cog in someone else’s mechanism, but an independent person.
Persistence
Making decisions sometimes requires serious effort, but the act of will does not end there. It often takes a lot of effort and patience to get things done. There are very proactive and completely independent individuals who quickly “light up”, give birth to new interesting ideas, organize their own projects, but their activity is not enough for a long time. These people lack the energy that is necessary to maintain long-term activity and is the basis of perseverance. By the way, this is the weak point of many creative personalities. Therefore, even with a high creative potential, not everyone becomes outstanding writers, musicians, and artists.
Where to find this energy and how to develop perseverance in yourself? The energy level largely depends on the individual psychological properties of a person, for example, on temperament. Choleric people quickly “flare up” and just as quickly “burn out”, and phlegmatic people literally demonstrate miracles of perseverance, but they have a problem with initiative.
It is perseverance, perseverance in achieving the goal that is most often associated with the concept of “willpower”. And you can develop it only by systematically convincing yourself of the need to complete any business you have begun. It is better not to start at all if you are not confident in your own strengths and patience. But every case must be completed. And sooner or later it will become a habit, it will become a norm of behavior for you.
You can also advise to constantly stimulate yourself, presenting the result of your efforts, to think about how great it will be, how pleasant it will be, how you can be proud of yourself and boast to your friends, and what benefit you will get by completing the case.
Self-control and composure
The will is manifested not only in overcoming external difficulties, but also in solving internal problems, including those associated with indecision, fear, the desire to sit out in a quiet, calm corner. Every person has these feelings, and often they act as very strong motives that induce us to passivity, inertia. It is self-control that helps to abandon such an attractive peace and, in a situation of choosing motives, to prefer the most significant and important ones.
And self-control protects against impulsive, rash actions, helps to restrain momentary desires. The level of self-control largely depends on the development of rational control and the ability to control the emotional sphere. Therefore, the development of this quality is closely related to the ability to regulate the manifestation of emotions, not only to control them, but also to suppress unnecessary and spontaneous outbursts.
It helps to develop self-control and endurance of playing sports very well, where the habit of overcoming oneself, one’s fatigue, pain, and laziness plays an important role.
Some more tips for developing willpower
Will is very closely related to the rational sphere and the ability to consciously analyze one’s actions and their consequences. Therefore, the control of volitional processes lies in the sphere of reason. Classic psychological trainings that form behavioral skills are not very effective here. But a few tips from a psychologist will help you strengthen willpower:
- Never do anything spontaneously, under the influence of emotion. Train yourself to analyze the possible consequences of your actions.
- When making an important decision, first assess your strengths and capabilities and only then start to act.
- Train yourself to be independent not only at the execution level, but also at the decision-making level. The more often you take the initiative, the more familiar and even attractive it will become for you.
- Feeling the need for something, always analyze the motives: what pushes you to do the deed, how significant or petty these motives are. Do they work for your success or are they connected only with momentary desires?
- Try to be consistent. Once you have set a task for yourself, always work towards solving it. Even if this is not a very significant task.
For the development of willpower, the activity that a person chooses is also important. There are activities that in themselves contribute to the development of volitional qualities. This is primarily sports and creativity. They require dedication, perseverance and perseverance from a person.
Interest plays an important role in any business, so try to set yourself not only necessary, but also attractive goals that you want to achieve. They, like a lighthouse, are able to illuminate even the most difficult path.
