Training the Will: 4

Let's talk some more about training the will.  

Over the last three weeks, we've covered some of the basics of will training. We've discussed the two basic tooks of the will, conscious action and conscious attention; we've discussed the two great barriers to the will, conflicts of will and habits of will; and we've explored three exercises -- one to start the process of learning conscious action, one to start the process of learning conscious attention, and one to survey the events of your day and notice when you made conscious choices of action and attention, and when you coasted along on the basis of habit.  

Now let's move deeper into the training. 

Habits can be your friends as well as your enemies. They make lousy masters, but good servants. Thus the paired arts of creating the habits you want and dismissing the habits you don't want are among the core skills of using the will. We're going to start work on the first half of the equation this week -- or, more precisely, we're going to start conscious work on the first half of the equation this week. If you've followed the exercises so far, you've actually been working hard at it for three weeks now. 

The habits I'm going to suggest that you create are, as you may have just guessed, the ones you've practiced so far -- more or less. What I'm proposing is that you choose an exercise in conscious action, like the one that involved touching your nose, and an exercise in conscious attention, like the one that involved noticing colors. Choose one of each, do them for a week, then choose different exercises and do those for a week, and so on.  Meanwhile, once each day, take a few minutes to look back over the 24 hours just past and review them in terms of whether you used your will consciously or simply cruised along on autopilot. (Don't pass judgment, and especially don't berate yourself -- just notice.)

The exercises you choose should be things you know you can do. We'll go after bigger challenges later; the goal for the time being is to give yourself the habit of success -- the most important of the habits you can develop. It's exactly the same logic as learning to lift weights by starting with a weight you know you can lift.  Every week, you'll be making your own choice about what you want to do that week, doing it, and succeeding in it. That's crucial.  A great many people have been taught the habit of failure, and so undercutting that habit and replacing it with the opposite habit is an essential step. 

And if you can't think of anything? Well, one of the advantages of doing this as a virtual group is that those who have plenty of suggestions can offer them. I'm going to ask everyone who feels inspired to do so, to suggest some exercises of the sort needed here simple, convenient, and not emotionally challenging.  The one thing I'll ask in addition is that anyone who contributes any such exercises should commit to doing one of them, and say which one. 

So there's your assignment for this week, and the weeks to come:  one exercise in conscious action, one exercise in conscious attention, and a few minutes of reflection and review, done every day.  That will build on the foundations we've already laid down, and prepare you for the more strenuous work ahead.  Next week, we'll start exploring how to get rid of habits you don't want, and the fun will really begin. 

Got it?  Good. We'll go further next week.