Will

 [This article is part of a series about how to craft an intentional life using ideas and tools from Constantin Stanislavski’s acting system for working on our inner motive forces. Introduction: The Triumvirate of Consciousness]

Will is one of the three inner motive forces that drive us to action, the other two being emotion and intellect. Emotional and intellectual health create fertile ground for positive and effective action. But Will is the most direct driver to action of the three. If your Will is engaged, you are more likely to accomplish action. It often arises out of the other forces: it takes inputs from feelings, knowledge, plans and our circumstances and pushes us to do something with them. 

However, Will is also the most difficult of the three motive forces to grasp. We can understand emotions and intellect as what you feel and what you think, but what process or substance is Will? In this chapter, I grapple with that question.

Will = willpower

Will is about the mental power to make something desirable or intended happen. It is an internal force related to strength of character or personality, or perhaps just stubbornness. A related term that has a lot of modern interest is willpower. I will use them interchangeably. Willpower is synonymous with self-control, determination, drive, and self-discipline. It is the ability to control one’s own actions, emotions, thoughts, urges and behaviour; the ability to resist impulses; the strong determination to do something difficult.

Psychologists characterise willpower in more scientific terms. Here are three common descriptions:

1. The ability to delay gratification, resisting short-term temptations in order to meet long-term goals
2. The capacity to override an unwanted thought, feeling, or impulse
3. Conscious, effortful regulation of the self by the self

Although each of the above definitions emphasises control, they focus on different aspects of it: (1) is about resistance, abstinence and endurance; (2) is about defeating or overruling unwanted parts of ourselves; and (3) is about actively governing, monitoring, managing and adjusting ourselves. This speaks to the complexity of the concept of Will. And to the difficulty of improving it. At different times, using your Will intentionally requires working on each of these aspects. 

As well as control, the other thing the above definitions have in common is the strong idea of an end-goal. This may be explicit as in definition (1) or implicit as in the other two definitions. In (2) a thought, feeling or impulse is only unwanted if it conflicts with a personal belief or goal. In (3) we regulate the self towards a desirable goal.

The need for a goal

All definitions of willpower assume a goal, or at least a clear purpose from which a practical goal can be distilled. We need to consider how to strengthen and harness our Will even when we have no defined aim or goal. It is the first and most important step in creating an intentional life. Without this step, none of the others will be effective. Stanislavski speaks to the consequences of not having a goal here: “Until his goal is clear the direction of his activities will remain unformed. He will feel only individual moments in his role. It is not surprising that in this period the flow of his thoughts, desires and emotions appears and disappears. If we were to chart its course the pattern would be disjointed and broken. It is only when he comes to a deeper understanding of his part and a realization of its fundamental objective that a line gradually emerges as a continuous whole. Then we have the right to speak of the beginning of creative work.” (Constantin Stanislavski, An Actor Prepares) To achieve an intentional life, there are likely to be hard things that you have to make yourself do or you’ll have to resist doing things that part of you wants to do. It is much more difficult to engage the power of your Will to accomplish these things if you don’t have a compelling reason to drive it. Willpower pushes you to do and not do what is necessary to achieve a goal. However, if you don’t have a clear purpose, if your goal is uncertain, or you don’t really believe in the possibility of the end point, then it cannot be the fundamental north star that doing hard things requires. You must find a way to refine it, strengthen it and your belief in it.

How we can harness Intellect and Emotion to support Will

We can support and enhance our Will by using our emotions and intellect to create circumstances which make it more likely to flourish. As stated above, having a clear and compelling goal dramatically increases the chances of willpower succeeding consistently.

There are three actions that Intellect can provide to maximise the effectiveness of a goal:

1. Defining a clear purpose. Thoughts, actions and willpower are only effective if they are directed towards a clear purpose. If that is not clear, actions will be inconsistent and goals will lack the power to inspire you to commit to the work necessary to get there. E.g. ‘I want to be healthy’ is a clear purpose.
2. Creating achievable goals. Once you have a clear purpose, you can turn this into goals that can be achieved. If your purpose is complicated, philosophical or open to different methods of achievement, then this will require more exact, practical definition. E.g. ‘To be healthy, I want to become fit and eat in a proportional and well-balanced way. I will know I am fit when I can run up a flight of stairs without breathing heavily.’
3. Plan and implement a path towards your goals. Once you have one or more clear and achievable goals, you can plan the steps or sub-goals to be achieved to get there. SMART goals are best as it is explicit when they are reached, i.e. goals that are Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant and Time-based. E.g. ‘To become fit, I will start gym and attend at least twice a week, doing cardio, weight and flexibility exercises to get there.’ 

As for Emotions, we must work to make these positive and replenishing, rather than a drain on our resources. Stanislavski has this to say about the power of Emotion:  “Remember to devote the greatest possible attention to the slightest sign of depression in yourself! For if you let despondency steal into your heart today, you can be sure that your work will never thrive, either today or tomorrow or the day after.” (Constantin Stanislavski, On the Art of the Stage)

Theories about willpower

In order to understand how to support and strengthen willpower, we must understand it more clearly. Below I describe three common theories about how willpower works. Each of these provides insights into how to support your Will. They are: the hot-and-cool system; the limited resource; and the muscle.

The hot-and-cool system

Walter Mischel et al. of Stanford University proposed the hot-and-cool framework after their famous marshmallow experiment. Willpower is defined as the ability to use a ‘cool’, rational, cognitive system of behaviour rather than a ‘hot’, impulsive, emotional system. The cool system is reflective and thinks about your goals to keep you on track. The hot system is reactive and responds to triggers without slowing down to think. In the original experiment, children were promised two marshmallows later if they could resist eating one now. Follow on experiments showed those who had more self-control as children continued to show higher willpower later in life. Brain imaging also showed different patterns: the prefrontal cortex, which plays a key role in decision making, attention control, problem solving and memory, was more active in those with more self-control; the ventral striatum, which is activated when we anticipate or process rewards and react to motivation, was more active in those with less self-control. Mischel et al concluded that some people are more susceptible to the hot system, so it overrides or outpaces the cool system, resulting in a failure of willpower. Strengthening methods in this structure would include more reward-based and motivational interventions for those struggling with Will.

Willpower as a limited resource

Roy Baumeister et al from Florida State University proposed the theory of willpower or ego depletion. This suggests that we use willpower for many activities and have a limited amount of it. Think of all the decisions you make, the urges you resist, and the chores, interactions and tasks that you engage in each day. Consider that most of these require some degree of willpower. Depleting events are very common and different for everyone. At some point we run out of willpower if we do not take the time to replenish it. A rationale for the limited resource theory is the brain as a high-energy organ, which is powered by glucose or blood sugar. Some researchers suggest that brain cells working harder to maintain self-control consume glucose faster than it is replenished. Obedient dogs and humans made to resist temptation had lower subsequent blood-glucose than others. In one study, drinking sweetened lemonade restored willpower strength where sugar-free lemonade did not. Many studies have shown that after a task that requires willpower, participants are more likely to fail at a follow-on willpower-based task. For example:

• Participants who resisted cookies gave up earlier in a difficult puzzle.
• Participants who suppressed feelings while watching an emotional movie gave up sooner in a test of physical stamina.
• Participants who suppressed thoughts were less able to stifle laugher later.
• Participants who were asked to convince a hostile audience that they were likeable were more depleted than those who were told to act naturally.

Strengthening methods in this system would include minimising arbitrary acts that require willpower so it is available for the important actions, and finding ways to replenish depleted willpower.

Willpower as a muscle

This is a refinement of the limited resource theory. If willpower is something that can be fatigued, like a muscle, perhaps other aspects of muscles apply. Muscles are exhausted by exercise in the short term, but strengthened long term. So, perhaps Will is a muscle that can be trained through regular exercise. Some studies in this area include:

• Muraven et al asked subjects to follow a 2 week regimen to track food intake, improve moods or improve posture. Compared to a control group, they were less vulnerable to willpower depletion in lab tests.
• Muraven et al found smokers who practiced self-control for 2 weeks by avoiding sweets or squeezing a handgrip were more successful at stopping smoking.
• Oaten, Cheng et al gave subjects a 2 month long program of physical exercise. Participants who stuck with the program did better at lab measures of self-control than those who did no program. They also reported less smoking and drinking, eating healthier, monitoring spending and improving study habits. Applying willpower successfully to one area of life led to improving it in other areas.

Strengthening methods in this system would include regularly exerting self control and practicing to resist small temptations to strengthen willpower in the long term.

What you believe is more important than what it is

Some evidence suggests that what you believe about willpower affects how you respond to temptation. Job et al found that subjects who believed that willpower was a limited resource were more likely to have their willpower depleted. Subjects who did not believe that willpower was limited did not show signs of depletion after they applied their willpower. How you draw on your willpower is also a factor: effortful negative resistance vs effortless positive attraction. Effortful willpower involves suppression of urges and temptations. Effortless willpower is the resolve to stick to a plan by using rewards, expecting temptations and making adjustments. We are more likely to be depleted by blocking urges than when we use positive reinforcement.

Strengthening willpower

Roy Baumeister and June Tangney in their studies on self-discipline defined three necessary components for achieving objectives:

1. Establish the motivation for change and set a clear goal.
2. Monitor your behavior toward that goal.
3. Willpower.

It feels like a cheat to label the last item willpower and consider it at the same level as the other two items. I refuse to believe, as so much of the research suggests, that willpower is an innate capability that cannot be substantially changed. Yes, there will be others who are naturally much better at it than you - this is usually the case in any pursuit. This doesn’t mean that the characteristic is not something we can address in ourselves and train successfully. I would change the statement above to say that willpower is a necessary quality for achieving objectives. Items 1 and 2 are two strategies, amongst many others, which we can use to improve willpower. Willpower is mental control. There are many ideas about how to enhance willpower from diverse fields, from religion to sports to psychology. I will briefly look at two sources of wisdom on how to improve self-control and discipline: American Navy SEAL training and the Jewish Tanya. Both of these sources are not meant for non-adherents: they are meant to support and strengthen those who are engaged in Navy SEAL training or follow the Jewish faith, respectively. However, that does not mean that we can’t learn from them and use these techniques ourselves. In trying to live and act more consciously we are the same as these two groups; the main difference is that we are not necessarily led by devotion to a god or a country. We are led by a need within ourselves for improvement.

American Navy SEAL training

American navy SEAL training is famously challenging, with a pass rate of less than 50%. SEAL recruits are taught various techniques to develop the mental fortitude and control necessary to push through and reach their ultimate goal, which is to complete the course. Associated with SEALS is the 40% rule. This states that when you feel that you’ve given your all and are exhausted, you’re only 40% done. If you have the persistence and drive, you can push through to do more. Four of the most commonly described techniques for getting to the next 60% in SEAL training are:

1. Goal setting - short term planning, where recruits aim for extremely short term goals, such as making it to lunch, then making it to dinner. This gives them regular rewards of successful action to inspire them.
2. Mental rehearsal - recruits visualise themselves working towards their goals and succeeding. They imagine themselves doing the actions and completing them.
3. Self talk - recruits talk to themselves positively. As humans, we have an ongoing internal monologue, which can easily become fearful or anxious. Positive self-talk overrides this monologue, pushing it in more positive directions.
4. Arousal control - recruits use breathing techniques to mitigate negative emotions and fears so that they can push through them to accomplish difficult tasks.

The Jewish Tanya

The Tanya is a Jewish religious text from the late 1700s in the Hasidic philosophy, which delves into psychology and mysticism. The Tanya teaches that there are two souls within the individual: a Divine soul and an animal soul. The animal soul is ruled by desire and instinct while the Divine soul is rational and elevated. This is a similar concept to the hot-and-cool system theory of willpower. Many of the teachings are about how to develop and encourage the Divine soul, and restrain the animal soul. Even if we disagree with the beliefs behind the techniques, we can recognise the value and power of the techniques themselves. According to the Tanya, our thoughts are a powerful interface into our psyche. By learning to manipulate them more effectively through attention, observation and selection, we can gain more control over ourselves. This includes controlling our emotions. If we can guide our thoughts away from sadness and towards more joyful topics, we can change our mood. Much like breathing, thinking happens automatically, whether we want it to or not. When we are not paying attention, it is easy for negativity to enter our thoughts. So the more mindful we are of our thinking, the better we are able to steer it in positive directions and feel better about ourselves. Another Tanya perspective on thoughts is that they are not who we are. It feels natural to assume that if we are thinking things, they define who we are. However, our thoughts are actually a product of complex processes happening within us involving perceptions, our experiences and our environment. They only reflect part of who we are. So, when we are thinking negative thoughts, we can say to ourselves that these are not useful and don’t help us achieve anything, and we can exchange these thoughts for others that reflect more positive aspects of our inner selves - like putting on a blue shirt instead of a yellow one: you own both but can choose to wear either, even if you have to go searching for the blue one because you tucked it away at the back of your cupboard and forgot about it. This ability to change our thoughts and therefore ourselves is key to improving our lives. As Stanislavski focussed on action as important for making anything real, so do the teachings of the Tanya. When we react to things, we strengthen and give power to the experience. This can be good, but if we react badly to negative thoughts we lend them strength. We should rather observe and accept them impartially, and move towards positive thoughts (possibly a memorised inspirational text or experience that we have handy for times such as this). This relates to the meditation technique of keeping the mind clear by noticing and accepting thoughts and then gently moving past them. And, as with mediation, the more we practice this process, the easier it will become and the stronger our ability to think positively. We can also practice by focussing on easier changes. Changing thoughts when we are immersed in them is hard. We can practice by changing our actions or our words. For example, before you eat something, pause for a moment. Make sure that when you take that bite, it is done consciously and mindfully. Not only will you appreciate the taste and texture of the food more, you will be practicing control. The same with words: before blurting out information or edgy comments, take a moment to consider what you are about to say. Delaying gratification, even very briefly, is a well accepted method of enhancing control over instinct.

Will, Intellect and Emotion

After reading through the theories about willpower and advice from Navy SEAL and Jewish Tanya it should be clear that Will, Intellect and Emotion are entwined. I have described their relationship in the opening chapter and throughout this book. However, nowhere is this intimate connection more apparent than in efforts to support Will. A robust and persistent Will is difficult to train and completely essential for accomplishing non-trivial, difficult goals. The tips for training and improving it use four elements to support and nourish, in which Intellect and Emotion are key:

1. Intellectual techniques such as setting and managing goals;
2. Emotional techniques, such as exercises to elevate mood and manage fears;
3. A strong sense of the effect of current circumstances and context on Will, and how to manipulate that, for example being aware of the circumstances in which you are most tempted to give up; and
4. Action, as in you need to choose to do something to make any difference, for example practicing or training to improve willpower.

Because Will is so difficult to get a handle on, it requires a multifaceted approach and great self-awareness of one’s weaknesses. But most of all, it requires action.All through our discussions on the triumvirate of Will, Intellect and Emotion, Stanislavski makes clear that we must act first to be able to achieve anything - if we do nothing, then nothing happens. In addition, anything we do must be accomplished within the context of our given circumstances, as they influence where we start and what we are initially capable of. It seems circular to say that Will drives action, but that we need action to enhance Will. But think of it this way: action breeds action. When you are moving, it is easier to continue moving. The hardest thing is to start moving from a standstill. So, if we are always acting, even if it is only in small ways, we open the door to greater, more effective action.

Stanislavski’s Tools

There are many sources of wisdom about how to improve willpower. A lot of research has been conducted, and psychologists, coaches and mentors have provided excellent input on the subject. These tips are varied and wide-ranging. The Will tools from Stanislavski’s system organise and categorise tips so that they are easier to consider and implement as part of the coherent structure of the framework. In the next articles, I will describe five concepts from Stanislavski’s writings that we can use to group, define and enhance tips to help us strengthen our will.

• The super-objective and through line of actions: the power that a compelling purpose gives to will, and the effectiveness of planning a path of actions to the goal.
• Truth and belief: the importance of believing in the importance and validity of our goals and the steps that we are taking to reach them, and being truthful to ourselves about our plans and actions.
• Adaptation: the importance of adapting ourselves to changing circumstances and obstacles, with our goals as a guide.
• Relaxation of muscles: the importance of mental and physical resources to help us play the long game in reaching our goals and give us the strength to make hard choices and do difficult things.
• Combatting the nagging critic: the importance of being reflective and listening to our inner voice, but also preventing that voice from tearing us down.