One of the components of human character is will , which is present to one degree or another in every person.
Will is considered to be a character trait with the help of which a person is able to overcome life’s difficulties, make decisions and implement them, and lead a correct and proper lifestyle.
This character trait does not belong to the category of innate , each person independently educates and develops willpower, therefore, it does not manifest itself in people to the same extent. For example, one individual may have a stronger and stronger-willed character than another.
What is self-education? Find out about this from our article.
Concept
Will is a person’s conscious control of his actions, which help him solve external and internal problems. In psychology, it is believed that this quality is not an isolated property of the human psyche. The structure of a volitional act can be traced in many behavioral reactions. For example, when resisting temptations, when a person moves towards a set goal, denying himself something.
It is volitional action that helps him achieve the result that he has consciously outlined. To do this, the individual performs certain actions, consciously strains mentally and physically in order to make what he wants into reality. Thus, we can safely say that this quality is extremely important; it is what allows a person to carry out any activity.
What you need to know about will
Lack of will is the highest barrier that prevents a person from changing. The problem is that it needs to be used on a daily basis, not every now and then to create a good habit or break a bad one. All our serious goals and plans collapse precisely because of our inability to control our will.
The concept of delayed gratification is closely related to will. In simple terms, it is the ability to focus on a long-term goal so as not to notice instant gratification that can interfere with plans. A week of intense training at the gym won't matter if we have a wild weekend of eating nothing but pizza and drinking.
Will is a limited resource. If we try to change, for example, stop acting impulsively, then by the evening we may experience depression and frustration. This threatens to return to an old habit. However, two points should be taken into account. First: the will can be trained - and thus we will be able to exercise it much longer during the day. Second: willpower can be wasted if you do not do what you need.
Since will is a limited resource, you need to plan your day in such a way as not to waste it. For example, avoiding places that may trigger a bad habit.
A high level of willpower almost always means high self-esteem (after all, we have something to be proud of), the ability to resist temptations in the form of alcohol, cigarettes and overeating, and improved mental and physical health.
Depleted willpower makes a person impulsive. This means that if you feel that your will is at zero, you need to do everything possible to remove temptations out of sight.
If you are convinced of the exceptional importance of developing the will, let's see exactly how this can be done. Remember that you have a long journey ahead, perhaps life-long.
1
Develop moral qualities
Researcher Kurt Gray, a doctorate in psychology at Harvard, explains this effect as a self-fulfilling prophecy: “People around them consider highly moral people to be more strong-willed and disciplined, able to endure discomfort without losing their heads.”
The researcher is confident that Gandhi or Mother Teresa were most likely not born strong-willed people, but became such by trying to help others. He introduces the concept of “moral transformation” because he suggests that moral actions can transform people from being lazy and procrastinating to strong-willed.
2
Don't waste your will
If you try really hard, you can completely exhaust your will by noon, which will have a catastrophic effect on the rest of the day and those important decisions that you will never be able to make.
For example, you set a goal to change your character, as Franklin did: allocate one or two weeks to one quality. It's a long marathon, so there's a lot to plan for.
Make not very important decisions in advance, which usually “suck” your energy. Create a menu for the coming months and stick to it. Buy the same shirts, trousers and shoes so as not to waste mental resources constantly thinking about what to wear and wear. Here and now you need to make only those decisions that concern your character. Take care of the rest in advance.
The same tips apply to other areas of life: losing weight, getting rid of bad habits, achieving the Advanced level in learning English and much more. Make all the non-important decisions in advance and focus only on the most important ones. Don't waste your will.
3
Have a self-reflection session
For this you will need a diary. Write down all the actions that you perform unconsciously (they have become habitual), but which you want to get rid of. For example:
- While working, I am constantly distracted by news sites.
- While reading, I like to be distracted by my phone.
- During a conversation, I focus on what I want to say, and not on the words of the interlocutor.
If you make a list of at least ten points, this can already be called a good self-reflection session. Now choose your two most destructive habits.
Write down what sequential actions these unwanted habits consist of. Actions should also be understood as thoughts and emotions associated with them. For example, if you tend not to listen when you're talking to someone, notice what thoughts or beliefs pop into your head. Probably, they are the ones that prevent you from concentrating on productive dialogue. Examine the nature of these thoughts.
Think about how you can stop this behavior. Remember that you can be conscious in every action you take. It's about habit, the main thing is to recognize the sequence of steps.
Over the next month, take full control of these two habits.
4
Stop for three seconds
Our life is a kilometer-long chain of habits. Some of them help, others hinder.
Throughout the day, stop in the middle of any activity (unless you're driving, of course) and think about what stage of which habit you are currently in. If we are talking about consuming bad food, then even pleasant thoughts about Coca-Cola are already part of the habit. Think for three seconds: what will this thought lead to? Of course, to the hype: “without cola I will be an unhappy person, but with cola I will be the happiest person on the planet.” Then go and buy it. Remember further: after you drank this soda, how do you feel? And in half an hour? It can be revealed that in fact you were deceiving yourself, becoming a victim of advertising and habit.
Try to be aware of yourself for three seconds as often as possible throughout the day. Using this method, you can get rid of the irresistible desire to criticize, get angry and be offended. Once “three seconds” becomes a habit, you will no longer exhaust your willpower with this exercise (it will begin to be performed automatically) and you will be able to change, motivate yourself to work, or stop unwanted actions much faster and more effectively.
We wish you good luck!
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We also recommend reading:
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- Mental processes: types and brief description
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Key words:1Psychoregulation, 4Psychoregulation
How did the will come into being?
The structure of the volitional act was improved and developed in the processes of development of society and history. It was necessary for work. A variety of volitional qualities arose when people fought for their existence, exerted strength to survive, restrained themselves in order to become part of society. And the more important the goal a person set for himself, the more effort he put into achieving it, the faster the will as a quality of the psyche improved. Only by being aware of himself and his actions can a person achieve the desired result.
Volitional action
It can be characterized by the presence of conscious goals, as well as difficulties and obstacles, the so-called tension, at the moment of overcoming them to obtain a result. The structure of a volitional act can be simple or complex.
The first can have two phases: a person sets a goal for himself, not always clearly realizing it, and motivates himself to action. The second phase is the direct implementation of the action itself, which is most often familiar and familiar to the individual. He does this at the same moment the impulse arrives. The difference between this act of will is that there is no struggle of motives, a person does not have internal contradictions, and he does not fight with himself.
Functions of the will
The will has two functions: incentive and inhibitory.
A driving will is an action or set of actions that you need to take (instilling a good habit). Inhibitory - an action that does not need to be performed (eradicating a bad habit).
Will is manifested to one degree or another in all people. However, many, despite the fact that they rationally understand that bad behavior or habit destroys life and can be very expensive (sedentary lifestyle, alcohol consumption, smoking), change their lifestyle and behavior only for a short period of time. After a few days, weeks or months, habit takes over and the will becomes overwhelmed. Until the hour when sufficiently strong fear or self-loathing arises again.
There is a certain threshold of desire that separates motivation and will: when the desire lies below this threshold, it is motivation, and when it crosses it, the action becomes volitional.
Complex act of will
But a complex act of will is characterized by the presence of three phases. The first is called preparatory. It involves the emergence of desire. A person is attracted to something, he begins to want it, and therefore there is a subsequent urge to action aimed at getting what he wants. The second phase, which contains the structure of a volitional act in psychology, is the struggle of motives. A person decides whether he really needs it, or whether it can be replaced with something. Is the work worth the result? At this moment a person must make a conscious choice. After this, a person develops a sense of responsibility for his actions. And only then does he begin to plan, calculate the ways and means that will help him achieve what he wants.
The main phase of acts of will is the implementation of decisions made. When considering a complex volitional action, we can say that it also includes overcoming difficulties of an objective and subjective nature. External circumstances do not depend on a person; his volitional qualities cannot influence them. This is essentially any difficulty that comes from outside, for example, resistance from outsiders. But internal problems directly depend on the individual. His mental and physical state is taken into account. His habits, lack of experience or knowledge may interfere.
Some effort is simply necessary for a person to make a decision and carry it out. This is a mental phenomenon that determines the specifics of an act of will, which ensures the mobilization of internal human resources and creates motivation to carry out actions that can lead to results. These efforts directly depend on a person’s worldview, his moral qualities, attitudes, self-organization and the presence of goals that are significant for society.
The final phase, which contains the structure of a volitional act, is summing up. Depending on whether a person has achieved success or, on the contrary, he will experience a range of emotions. Among them are the main ones: annoyance, joy, calmness, shame, repentance. This is how a person gains experience so that next time he can carry out a more complex, deliberate action. The most significant act of will is considered to be one that is carried out instantly. Usually a person is able to manifest it only in particularly difficult situations, for example, during a disaster, during an accident or on the battlefield.
What is volitional effort?
This concept consists of fulfilling certain intentions aimed at overcoming obstacles and obstacles on the way to the desired effect . This is willpower, an ability that is formed in a person throughout his life.
This process is influenced by many factors, in particular, habits, social living conditions, perception of the surrounding world (positive or negative), the speed of mental reactions (the ability to quickly make decisions).
A person has intelligence, which means he understands that it is necessary to make efforts only when it is really necessary.
This understanding is considered a kind of protective mechanism that protects the individual from doing meaningless things that will lead nowhere.
This means that this aspect has 2 important features :
- The presence of a goal , that is, the need to act, arises only when a person really needs to achieve one or another result.
- Life problems . A person is capable of exerting volitional efforts not only of his own free will, but also in order to overcome the troubles that arise in life.
Is there a place for volitional efforts in the integral interaction of a person with a group:
Qualities
There are strong-willed qualities that allow a person to achieve what he wants. Among the most important, the following should be highlighted:
- Willpower, that is, the degree of effort that a person can exert to achieve a goal.
- Persistence. Represents a long-term mobilization of internal reserves to complete a task.
- Excerpt. Allows you to slow down feelings and desires that can prevent you from performing the actions necessary to achieve results.
- Energy.
These qualities are considered basic; the psychology of will considers them basic for not very complex volitional decisions. Over time, a person develops in himself the secondary qualities necessary for making a serious choice. This is determination, courage, self-control, self-confidence. They relate not only to willpower, but also to a person’s character. There is also a third type of volitional qualities: discipline, responsibility, duty, discipline and determination.
