THE POWER OF CONCENTRATION/PART 6
LESSON VI. THE TRAINING
OF THE WILL TO DO
The
Will To Do is the greatest power in the world that is concerned with human
accomplishment and no one can in advance determine its limits.
The
things that we do now would have been a few ages ago impossibilities. Today the
safe maxim is: "All things are possible."
The
Will To Do is a force that is strictly practical, yet it is difficult to
explain just what it is. It can be compared to electricity because we know it
only through its cause and effects. It is a power we can direct and to just the
extent we direct it do we determine our future. Every time you accomplish any
definite act, consciously or unconsciously, you use the principle of the Will.
You can Will to do anything whether it is right or wrong, and therefore the way
you use your will makes a big difference in your life.
Every
person possesses some "Will To Do." It is the inner energy which
controls all conscious acts. What you will to do directs your life forces. All
habits, good or bad, are the result of what you will to do. You improve or
lower your condition in life by what you will to do. Your will has a connection
with all avenues of knowledge, all activities, all accomplishment.
You
probably know of cases where people have shown wonderful strength under some
excitement, similar to the following: The house of a farmer's wife caught on
fire. No one was around to help her move anything. She was a frail woman, and
ordinarily was considered weak. On this occasion she removed things from the
house that it later took three men to handle. It was the "Will To Do"
that she used to accomplish her task.
Genius Is But A Will To Do Little Things With Infinite Pains. Little
Things Well Done Open The Door Of Opportunity For Bigger Things.
The
Will accomplishes its greater results through activities that grow out of great
concentration in acquiring the power of voluntary attention to such an extent
that we can direct it where we will and hold it steadily to its task until our
aim is accomplished. When you learn so to use it, your Will Power becomes a
mighty force. Almost everything can be accomplished through its proper use. It
is greater than physical force because it can be used to control not only
physical but mental and moral forces.
There
are very few that possess perfectly developed and balanced Will Power, but
those who do easily crush out their weak qualities. Study yourself carefully.
Find out your greatest weakness and then use your will power to overcome it. In
this way eradicate your faults, one by one, until you have built up a strong
character and personality.
Rules
for Improvement. A desire arises. Now think whether this would be good for you.
If it is not, use your Will Power to kill out the desire, but, on the other
hand, if it is a righteous desire, summon all your Will Power to your aid,
crush all obstacles that confront you and secure possession of the coveted
Good.
Slowness
in Making Decisions. This is a weakness of Will Power. You know you should do
something, but you delay doing it through lack of decision. It is easier not to
do a certain thing than to do it, but conscience says to do it. The vast
majority of persons are failures because of the lack of deciding to do a thing
when it should be done. Those that are successful have been quick to grasp
opportunities by making a quick decision. This power of will can be used to
bring culture, wealth and health.
Some
Special Pointers. For the next week try to make quicker decisions in your
little daily affairs. Set the hour you wish to get up and arise exactly at the
fixed time. Anything that you should accomplish, do on or ahead of time. You
want, of course, to give due deliberation to weighty matters, but by making
quick decisions on little things you will acquire the ability to make quick
decisions in bigger things. Never procrastinate. Decide quickly one way or the
other even at the risk of deciding wrong. Practice this for a week or two and
notice your improvement.
The
Lack of Initiative. This, too, keeps many men from succeeding. They have fallen
into the way of imitating others in all that they do. Very often we hear the
expression, "He seems clever enough, but he lacks initiative." Life
for them is one continuous grind. Day after day they go through the same
monotonous round of duties, while those that are "getting along" are
using their initiative to get greater fullness of life. There is nothing so
responsible for poverty as this lack of initiative, this power to think and do
for ourselves.
You
Are as Good as Anyone. You have will power, and if you use it, you will get
your share of the luxuries of life. So use it to claim your own. Don't depend
on anyone else to help you. We have to fight our own battles. All the world
loves a fighter, while the coward is despised by all.
Every
person's problems are different, so I can only say "analyze your
opportunities and conditions and study your natural abilities." Form plans
for improvement and then put them into operation. Now, as I said before, don't
just say, "I am going to do so and so," but carry your plan into
execution. Don't make an indefinite plan, but a definite one, and then don't
give up until your object has been accomplished. Put these suggestions into
practice with true earnestness, and you will soon note astonishing results, and
your whole life will be completely changed. An excellent motto for one of pure
motives is: Through my will power I dare do what I want to. You will find this
affirmation has a very strengthening effect.
The
Spirit of Perseverance. The spirit of "sticktoitiveness" is the one
that wins. Many go just so far and then give up, whereas, if they had
persevered a little longer, they would have won out. Many have much initiative,
but instead of concentrating it into one channel, they diffuse it through
several, thereby dissipating it to such an extent that its effect is lost.
Develop
more determination, which is only the Will To Do, and when you start out to do
something stick to it until you get results. Of course, before starting
anything you must look ahead and see what the "finish leads to." You
must select a road that will lead to "somewhere," rather than
"nowhere." The journey must be productive of some kind of substantial
results. The trouble with so many young men is that they launch enterprises
without any end in sight. It is not so much the start as the finish of a journey
that counts. Each little move should bring you nearer the goal which you
planned to reach before the enterprise began.
Lack
of Perseverance is nothing but the lack of the Will To Do. It takes the same
energy to say, "I will continue," as to say, "I give up."
Just the moment you say the latter you shut off your dynamo, and your
determination is gone. Every time you allow your determination to be broken you
weaken it. Don't forget this. Just the instant you notice your determination
beginning to weaken, concentrate on it and by sheer Will Power make it continue
on the "job."
Never
try to make a decision when you are not in a calm state of mind. If in a
"quick temper," you are likely to say things you afterwards regret.
In anger, you follow impulse rather than reason. No one can expect to achieve
success if he makes decisions when not in full control of his mental forces.
Therefore
make it a fixed rule to make decisions only when at your best. If you have a
"quick temper," you can quickly gain control over it by simple rule of
counting backwards. To count backwards requires concentration, and you thus
quickly regain a calm state. In this way you can break the "temper
habit."
It
will do you a lot of good to think over what you said and thought the last time
you were angry. Persevere until you see yourself as others see you. It would do
no harm to write the scene out in story form and then sit in judgment of the
character that played your part.
Special
Instructions to Develop the Will To Do. This is a form of mental energy, but requires
the proper mental attitude to make it manifest. We hear of people having
wonderful will power, which really is wrong. It should be said that they use
their will power while with many it is a latent force. I want you to realize
that no one has a monopoly on will power. There is plenty for all. What we
speak of as will power is but the gathering together of mental energy, the
concentration power at one point. So never think of that person as having a
stronger will than yours. Each person will be supplied with just that amount of
will power that he demands. You don't have to develop will power if you
constantly make use of all you have, and remember the way in which you use it
determines your fate, for your life is moulded to great extent by the use you
make of your will. Unless you make proper use of it you have neither
independence nor firmness. You are unable to control yourself and become a mere
machine for others to use. It is more important to learn to use your will than
to develop your intellect. The man that has not learned how to use his will
rarely decides things for himself, but allows his resolutions to be changed by
others. He fluctuates from one opinion to another, and of course does not
accomplish anything out of the ordinary, while his brother with the trained
will takes his place among the world's leaders.
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