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The Law

Habit - VI

The one habit which each one of us needs to cultivate is the habit of perseverance or habit of will power. Both are synonymous to me as one can not persevere unless one has the will to back it up. It is one stand alone quality which takes care of lots of issues pulling us down. It is the lack of will power which causes us to fall prey to bad habits.

A person with healthy dose of will is most likely to succeed irrespective of external environment, pressures and stresses. When the conditions are favorable, every one succeeds. Under tough conditions few succeed. The difference is will power and belief in self. Everyone exercises some amount of will power on and off. few are the persons who can apply will power consistently on a sustainable basis.

Is the habit of will power a learnable? The answer is a resounding "Yes". Is the will power like any other skill? A skill, once learnt remains with us whether we use it continuously or intermittently or at larger gaps. For example, once we learn to cycle, we can do it after five years also even if we have not practised it in the intervening period. Will power does not meet this criteria of a skill. Researchers compare will power to a muscle.

Our body muscles remain weak if they are not exercised. A weak muscle tires after some strain. How do we make our muscles stronger?. By exercising them regularly and raising the strain level with time. A stronger muscle can sustain longer periods of strain. The same applies to will power. Will power, if not exercised, will tire after some time. One with a weak will power, may succeed in the first assignment requiring will power, but is likely to give up if the next assignment also requires will power. Will power also requires regular exercising to make it stronger.

In one of the previous posts we had discussed that when we try to internalise a new habit, the new habit works well till something happens and we relapse back into the old habit. That something, we said, was a point of high stress level - physical or emotional - when we tip back to the old habit. We also discussed with examples that we need to have a plan for neutralising the high stress point. Having a strong will power makes it much easier to survive these high stress behaviors and therefore helps in internalising a new habit.

Khuda Hafiz

Prabir