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Lesson VI -
The
Training of the Will to Do
By Theron
Q. Dumont
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 "stick-to-itiveness" 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 molded 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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