Training the Will

This section is under construction.

Adapted from The Training of the Will by Roberto Assagioli.

Keep in mind the stages of the act of will, as your training is an act of will.

The Purpose, Aim, or Goal, based on Evaluation, Motivation, and Intention.
Deliberation.
Choice and Decision.
Affirmation: the Command, or “Fiat,” of the Will.
Planning and Working Out a Program.
Direction of the Execution.

Preparation for strengthening the will

Everyone can develop their will power. Strengthening the will can be achieved through perseverance and effort, just like the development of any other mental or physical ability. Everyone has sufficient will power, even if it is only in an embryonic state, for beginning the work.

The first step for developing a strong will is the earnest resolve to devote to its attainment whatever time, energy, and means are necessary. You will create the initial urge and impetus, arousing a passionate desire to develop your will, leading to the firm decision to do all that is necessary for achieving this goal.

The qualities of the strong will can be summed up as:

Energy—When performing difficult tasks or resisting strong impulses, more energy is required

Persistence—The capacity to repeat the decided actions regularly and for a long time. For tasks of great length, tenacity of purpose is needed more than energy.

Concentration—The capacity to focus on one task at a time.

Ideal model – Strong-willed future self

This is the technique of the “Ideal Model”. The whole exercise makes use of the technique of visualization because of its value and effectiveness in any creative process.

Picture to yourself, as vividly as possible, the harm, to yourself and to others, which has actually occurred, and which might occur, as a result of the present weakness of your will. Examine these occasions, one by one, formulating them clearly; then make a list of them in your journal. Allow the feelings, which these recollections and forecasts arouse, to affect you intensely: shame, dissatisfaction with yourself, revulsion against the repetition of such conduct and an earnest desire to change this condition.
Picture to yourself, as vividly as possible, all the advantages the training of your will can bring to you; all the benefits and satisfactions that will come from it to yourself and to others. Examine them carefully, one by one, formulate them with clarity, and write them down in your journal. Allow the feelings aroused by these anticipations to have full sway: the joy of the splendid possibilities that open up before you; the intense desire to realize them; the strong urge to begin at once.
Picture yourself vividly as being in possession of a strong will; see yourself walking with a firm and decided step, acting in every situation with full self-control; see yourself successfully resisting any attempt at intimidation or enticement; visualize yourself as you will be when you have attained inner and outer mastery. Send some time writing about this in your journal.

Inspirational Reading

Find some reading material particularly suited to the cultivation and reinforcement of the feelings and determinations aroused by the mental visualization of the previous exercise. The material should be encouraging, optimistic and dynamic in character, apt to arouse self-reliance and to incite to action.

Biographies of outstanding personalities who have possessed great willpower, and books and articles intended to awaken the inner energies are very suitable for this purpose.

In order to get full benefit, read slowly with undivided attention, marking the passages that impress you and copying those that are most striking or which seem specially adapted to your case. It is well to re-read these passages several times, absorbing their full meaning. You can also spend some time writing about your thoughts and feelings in your journal.

As a starting point, see Examples of the Use of the Will.

Gymnastics of the Will

You can follow a systematic training to protect, cultivate, and exercise the will.

Every organ of our body and every function can be developed by exercise. Muscles become stronger by a series of contractions. To strengthen a specific muscle, or group of muscles, there are exercises arranged in such a way as to put into motion only that weak part of the body. In the same way, our will grows by willing. To strengthen the will, it is best to exercise it independently of every other psychological function. This can be accomplished by performing deliberate acts which have no other purpose than the training of the will.

This method of will training involves carrying out a number of simple and easy little tasks, with precision, regularity and persistence. These exercises, often referred to as “useless exercises,” can be performed by anyone. Find a place to be alone and undisturbed for five to ten minutes every day. Each task or exercise has to be carried out for a week, and then replaced by another in order to avoid monotony and the formation of a habit leading to automatic performance. At the end of the task, write down the sensations and the mental states you have experienced. Perform the same task for seven consecutive days.

Exercise examples:

Stand on a chair in the center of your room for ten minutes. Aim to perform this exercise contentedly.
Repeat quietly and aloud: “I will do this,” keeping time with rhythmic movements of a stick or ruler for five minutes.
Walk to and fro in a room, touching in turn, say, a door and a particular pane of glass for five minutes.
Listen to the ticking of a clock or watch, making some definite movements at every fifth tick.
Get up and down from a chair thirty times. Do this slowly and deliberately.
Replace in a box, very slowly and deliberately, one hundred matches or bits of paper.

You can easily create similar exercises. For more examples, see Useless Exercises.

Exercises of the Will in Daily Life

Daily life presents countless opportunities for developing the will. Through our purposes, our inner attitude, and the way in which we accomplish them, our activities can become definite exercises of the will.

Begin with only a few exercises, spread over the day. When you have succeeded with these, increase their number, varying and alternating the exercises. Perform exercises cheerfully and with interest. Use your journal to keep track of successes and failures, setting oneself records, and trying to meet them in a competitive sporting attitude. The idea is to make tiresome activities interesting and colorful.

Morning:

Get up ten or fifteen minutes earlier than usual.
Get dressed, moving with attention and precision, rapidly yet not hurriedly.

During the day:

Learn how to “make haste slowly.”
- Overcome the habit of hurry.
- For efficiency and productiveness, without tension and exhaustion.
- Requires us to be both the one who acts and who observes.
Learn serenity or “self-recollectedness” during work, no matter how tedious the task.
Control emotions and acts of impatience when confronted with minor difficulties and annoyances.
Control the impulse to give vent to your bad temper.
Bearing serenely whatever comes our way and trying to adjust any disharmonies in the home.
Control the desire or impulse to eat quickly. Chew well and enjoy your meal with a relaxed and calm mind.
Resist or avoid distractions from people or things that divert us from our chosen tasks.
Resolutely cease working when tired, controlling the desire to hurry just to get a job finished.
Give yourself wise rest and recreation; a short rest taken in time, at the outset of fatigue, is of greater value than a long rest necessitated by exhaustion.
During rest periods, perform a few muscular exercises or relax with your eyes closed.

Evening:

Go to bed at a fixed hour, resolutely interrupting your reading, conversation, or other activities.

Interacting with others:

Everyone become our training partners. For example, a dogmatic superior or an exacting partner becomes, become the mental parallel bars on which our will — the will to right human relations — can develop its force and proficiency.

Delays and disruptions give us the opportunity to exercise patience and serenity.
Talkative friends or time-wasters give us the chance to control speech or to practice the art of courteous but firm refusal to engage in unnecessary conversations.
To be able to say “no” is a very useful discipline.

Physical Exercises in the Training of the Will

Physical Exercises are a very effective technique when used with the specific intention and purpose of developing the will. Every physical movement is an act of will, a command given to the body, and the deliberate repetition of such acts—with attention, effort and endurance—exercise and invigorate the will. It is necessary that exercises are performed with the main objective of training the will.
Perform exercises with measured precision and attention. Exercises must not be too violent or too fatiguing; every single movement or group of movements must be executed with liveliness and decision. The best exercises or sports for this purpose are not violent or exciting, but rather those that call for endurance, calmness, dexterity, courage, permitting interruption, and variety of movement.

Outdoor sports and activities: golf, tennis, archery, skating, walking, climbing, hiking, parkour, running

Other activities: Tai Chi (Taijiquan), Chi Gong (Qigong), yoga, calisthenics, Pilates, dance, mobility workouts