WILLPOWER AND HOW TO TRAIN IT
Many people fail to get ahead because they have no willpower to do what they know they should be doing. Nor can they help themselves to avoid the things which they know will ruin them. We can have goals and action plans but without willpower they are unlikely to happen. Some people have habits like smoking, doing drugs, drinking alcohol that they would like to give up, but struggle. As Muslims we have to balance all aspects of life and try and increase our Iman every day.
There are some strong-willed people who seem to be able to do what they know is right and avoid what they know is wrong. Such people experience peace of mind knowing that they are doing the right thing with the right intention. Their willpower is obviously working for them. But how do they do it? What is the secret? The secret is that you can train your willpower, your nafs. So how do you do it?
Suppose you made a resolution to skip lunch for a month and actually stuck to your decision. You may save your lunch money, lose a few pounds, develop sympathy for the poor, and give your digestive system a much-needed rest. More importantly, you will strengthen your willpower. The reason this works is that you teach yourself to avoid lunch even when you know you could have it if you decide. Your stomach may growl, but you won't listen. Thus, you train yourself to ignore the calling of your lower physical self and reach for the higher goals of real human achievement. Doing the right thing even when your desires are calling for something else! Every year, for one month, as Muslims we go through a similar fasting exercise. We observe the fast as a compulsory practice which Allah Subhana wa Ta’ala prescribed in His revealed messages especially in the final revealed book, the Qu’ran. One of the many benefits we experience from fasting is its training aspect.
The great people we read about in history who were strong willed people obeyed their minds and not their fancies. They built up their willpower by working hard and overcoming the obstacles that faced them. Great people take pleasure in resisting temptation and in the sense of power and self-control that doing so gives them. Our history testifies to a great number of such people.
Take Abû Bakr radiAllahu anhu, after the death of Prophet Muhammad sallAllahu alaihi wasallam some of the Arab tribe refused to pay Zakâh. Many people advised Abû Bakr radiAllahu anhu to be lenient on them. However, he rejected their advice and demanded that the Arabs accept Islam wholeheartedly without subtracting anything from it. We can see in this his determination, his strength of will, and his ability to stand up in the face of the most trying of circumstances.
Consider Ibn Taymiyah’s rahimahullah stance when the ruler wanted him to abandon the opinions that he had arrived at through careful study. When Ibn Taymiyah rahimahullah refused to do so, he was imprisoned and tortured but he still refused to recant. Instead, he spent his time in prison writing books in which he explained and defended his principles and teachings. When they took away his pens and paper, he took up pieces of coal and began writing on the walls. His determination in the face of imprisonment and torture is a great example of the triumph of the human will over adversity and his writings are an enduring legacy of this triumph.
Willpower is one of the greatest secrets of success. By cultivating our willpower and strengthening it, we can stand up to the trials that face us. A strong-willed person is someone who can improve himself and someone who can benefit from the advice and guidance of others. By contrast, a weak-willed person cannot improve himself and will not be availed of the efforts of others to better him. Before anything else, he needs to strengthen himself. He needs to treat his weakness as if it were a disease and be patient during the healing process. So now you know your goals, your intention and how to have willpower. InshaAllah the next step is to try and look at how you can develop willpower.
All willpower is not conscious. In other words, willpower is both conscious and unconscious. We can improve conscious willpower easily. To develop your willpower, you should develop those skills and attitudes that are conducive to the development of willpower and at the same time remove blockages and negative parameters that hinder the development of your will.
Believe You Can
If you believe you can, you can, inshaAllah. Believe you can become a successful person and have balance. YES! You are actually a successful person. What is needed to make it a reality is to believe in yourself and work for it. So tell yourself that you can achieve what you want, can do what you want, and can become immensely successful.
Auto Suggestion
The power of Auto Suggestion is tremendous. All of us use it knowingly or unknowingly. If you can use it knowingly, you can work wonders. By suggesting to yourself that you can achieve what you want you really can achieve that.
Here are some statements you can suggest to yourself :
- ‘I can do this and I will do this’
- ‘I am OK and I will stay OK’
- ‘I will become successful’
‘If you think you can do it, or you think you can’t do it, either way you are right’
NB : Th i s r e s o u r c e i s t o b e u s e d w i t h Wo r k Fa i t h Ba l a n c e , b y S a i y y i d a h Za i d i , wh i c h
c a n b e d o w n l o a d e d f r om www .wo r k f a i t h b a l a n c e . c om f o r f r e e .
Many people fail to get ahead because they have no willpower to do what they know they should be doing. Nor can they help themselves to avoid the things which they know will ruin them. We can have goals and action plans but without willpower they are unlikely to happen. Some people have habits like smoking, doing drugs, drinking alcohol that they would like to give up, but struggle. As Muslims we have to balance all aspects of life and try and increase our Iman every day.
There are some strong-willed people who seem to be able to do what they know is right and avoid what they know is wrong. Such people experience peace of mind knowing that they are doing the right thing with the right intention. Their willpower is obviously working for them. But how do they do it? What is the secret? The secret is that you can train your willpower, your nafs. So how do you do it?
Suppose you made a resolution to skip lunch for a month and actually stuck to your decision. You may save your lunch money, lose a few pounds, develop sympathy for the poor, and give your digestive system a much-needed rest. More importantly, you will strengthen your willpower. The reason this works is that you teach yourself to avoid lunch even when you know you could have it if you decide. Your stomach may growl, but you won't listen. Thus, you train yourself to ignore the calling of your lower physical self and reach for the higher goals of real human achievement. Doing the right thing even when your desires are calling for something else! Every year, for one month, as Muslims we go through a similar fasting exercise. We observe the fast as a compulsory practice which Allah Subhana wa Ta’ala prescribed in His revealed messages especially in the final revealed book, the Qu’ran. One of the many benefits we experience from fasting is its training aspect.
The great people we read about in history who were strong willed people obeyed their minds and not their fancies. They built up their willpower by working hard and overcoming the obstacles that faced them. Great people take pleasure in resisting temptation and in the sense of power and self-control that doing so gives them. Our history testifies to a great number of such people.
Take Abû Bakr radiAllahu anhu, after the death of Prophet Muhammad sallAllahu alaihi wasallam some of the Arab tribe refused to pay Zakâh. Many people advised Abû Bakr radiAllahu anhu to be lenient on them. However, he rejected their advice and demanded that the Arabs accept Islam wholeheartedly without subtracting anything from it. We can see in this his determination, his strength of will, and his ability to stand up in the face of the most trying of circumstances.
Consider Ibn Taymiyah’s rahimahullah stance when the ruler wanted him to abandon the opinions that he had arrived at through careful study. When Ibn Taymiyah rahimahullah refused to do so, he was imprisoned and tortured but he still refused to recant. Instead, he spent his time in prison writing books in which he explained and defended his principles and teachings. When they took away his pens and paper, he took up pieces of coal and began writing on the walls. His determination in the face of imprisonment and torture is a great example of the triumph of the human will over adversity and his writings are an enduring legacy of this triumph.
Willpower is one of the greatest secrets of success. By cultivating our willpower and strengthening it, we can stand up to the trials that face us. A strong-willed person is someone who can improve himself and someone who can benefit from the advice and guidance of others. By contrast, a weak-willed person cannot improve himself and will not be availed of the efforts of others to better him. Before anything else, he needs to strengthen himself. He needs to treat his weakness as if it were a disease and be patient during the healing process. So now you know your goals, your intention and how to have willpower. InshaAllah the next step is to try and look at how you can develop willpower.
All willpower is not conscious. In other words, willpower is both conscious and unconscious. We can improve conscious willpower easily. To develop your willpower, you should develop those skills and attitudes that are conducive to the development of willpower and at the same time remove blockages and negative parameters that hinder the development of your will.
Believe You Can
If you believe you can, you can, inshaAllah. Believe you can become a successful person and have balance. YES! You are actually a successful person. What is needed to make it a reality is to believe in yourself and work for it. So tell yourself that you can achieve what you want, can do what you want, and can become immensely successful.
Auto Suggestion
The power of Auto Suggestion is tremendous. All of us use it knowingly or unknowingly. If you can use it knowingly, you can work wonders. By suggesting to yourself that you can achieve what you want you really can achieve that.
Here are some statements you can suggest to yourself :
- ‘I can do this and I will do this’
- ‘I am OK and I will stay OK’
- ‘I will become successful’
‘If you think you can do it, or you think you can’t do it, either way you are right’
NB : Th i s r e s o u r c e i s t o b e u s e d w i t h Wo r k Fa i t h Ba l a n c e , b y S a i y y i d a h Za i d i , wh i c h
c a n b e d o w n l o a d e d f r om www .wo r k f a i t h b a l a n c e . c om f o r f r e e .
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