Scientists have recently discovered that willpower is a completely measurable resource. It becomes depleted during use. When you eat certain foods, it increases. And you can also pump it up!

Katya Chekushina

Have you ever wondered how many desires the average resident of a big city experiences during the day? Scientists from the University of Würzburg recently answered this question with thorough precision. For a week, two hundred people carried specially programmed smartphones with them, which periodically made a sharp sound, after which the experiment participants had to tell the scientists whether they wanted something at that moment and what exactly.

It turned out that approximately three quarters of the time a modern resident of a metropolis is awake experiences desires, and, alas, the most primitive ones. Most often people want to eat something. In second place is sleep. On the third - take a break from work by playing some computer toy or checking a social network. Finally, in non-prize fourth place are sexual fantasies. No, of course, even without German scientists we know very well that we are all very far from nirvana. And to hell with her! We are interested in another curious fact: a modern person recognizes a third of all desires experienced as harmful and tries to resist them (at the same time, we are best at giving up sleep, sex and random purchases, and worst of all - procrastination at work). It turns out that a quarter of our time we resist temptations using that same willpower.

The will to win

What is it? American professor Roy Baumeister argues that willpower is a fundamental quality in the fate of modern man. Career, health, family, savings for old age and the number of friends - all this in your life is determined by her. In principle, it sounds logical, since sheer willpower forces you to work hard and not be rude to your boss; she takes you to the gym; helps to soberly assess the consequences of a family scandal and forgive when you really want to get into the car and leave this hell forever; finally, it is with her help that on a rainy evening you throw away dinner and a freshly downloaded season of your favorite TV series to go to a less strong-willed friend who yelled at the boss, sent his wife and is going to drink away all his savings.

Of course, it is possible that when you, all so positive, rich and family-oriented, get ready to retire, you will understand that life has simply passed you by. However, we are not talking about this now. Let's return to American scientists, who receive their considerable salaries precisely because they are not content with logical reasoning, but conduct all sorts of interesting experiments. Just recently, the results of a 30-year study were published that measured the influence of willpower on a person’s destiny. The experiment began at Stanford University, California, in 1972.

Professor Walter Michell decided to determine the age at which willpower first appears in children. He gathered a large group of sweet-toothed children from 4 to 6 years old and sent each test subject in turn into an empty room, in the middle of which there was a table, and on the table there was a plate with a piece of marshmallow marshmallow.

The child was told that the delicacy could be eaten at any time, however, if he waited for the scientist uncle to return, he would receive a second one of the same kind. Many people put marshmallows in their mouths as soon as the adult left the door, but there were also those who waited a long 15 minutes to receive their well-deserved reward (among 6-year-olds, as Professor Michell suspected, there were more of them).

This would have been the end of the experiment if random children had participated. However, among the test subjects were the professor’s daughters, as well as their friends, neighbors and classmates. The daughters discussed the successes of other children with their dad, and Michell noticed a clear pattern: those who once received a reward in the experiment did better in school, they had more friends, and they were less likely to get into trouble.

After 34 years, the professor again gathered his subjects and confirmed these observations statistically: the “strong-willed” were healthier, achieved greater success in life, were less likely to become single parents and end up in prison.

So, the theorem is proven. Will leads us to success. However, what should weak-willed people do, for example, those who are already eating their third marshmallow, instead of writing a necessary and useful article? The previously mentioned Dr. Baumeister comes to our aid, claiming that you can regulate your willpower yourself. And abstaining from marshmallows, by the way, is not the worst way!

First, find out how bad things are for you.

Test: Is your willpower strong?

Test

Is your strength strong?

1/15

Can you complete tedious work in one sitting if you have the opportunity to take a painless break?

Continue

Dr. Baumeister's experiment

At the very beginning of the 2000s, Professor Baumeister conducted a fairly simple experiment. He gathered student volunteers who were told not to eat for several hours before the test.

The subjects were divided into two groups. One of them was left alone, and the other was led into a room where there was a tray of chocolate chip cookies and a bowl of washed radishes on the table. Half of those who entered the room were allowed to help themselves to cookies, and the other half were offered radishes. After this, Dr. Baumeister left the room and, with the help of cameras, watched as the radish eaters became extremely jealous of those who got the chocolate delicacy. However, no one broke the rules. After this, all the students, including those who did not even suspect the temptation of cookies, were gathered in one classroom, where they were asked to solve quite complex mathematical problems - “as much as they have the patience for.” As a result, those who ate the cookies and those who ate nothing at all spent about the same amount of time on the tasks. But the offended radish eaters left the audience almost twice as early!

From this, Professor Baumeister concluded that willpower tends to be depleted from active use: those who had to give up cookies did not have the persistence to struggle with tasks for a long time.

This conclusion was subsequently confirmed by numerous similar experiments. In particular, the professor discovered that having to make a choice depletes willpower in the same way as having to abstain from something. Experimental students, who, before solving problems, were asked to answer questions for an hour about what gift they would prefer at the end of the experiment (a T-shirt or scented candles? What color T-shirt? Or maybe a diary?), left the classroom much earlier than the control students group. Perhaps this is due to the fact that we psychologically perceive choices as missed opportunities, so students who chose a gift had to consistently give up a whole list of desires, albeit small ones. By the way, this explains the psychological fatigue from shopping, when in the end you are absolutely weak-willed and ready to buy even a fur coat, even curtains, even someone else’s child along with colored balls from the children’s room, just to quickly get out of this damned shopping center.

Hard day's Night

Shopping in the modern world is generally one of the main tests of will. For example, there is a theory by Dr. Dan Spears, an economist from Princeton, who argues that for the poor, even going to the grocery store is a time of critical decisions, because every purchase in their basket eats up a significant portion of their budget. As a result, the poor find themselves caught in a vicious circle: every day they are forced to make so many vital decisions about the purchase of the most basic things that they simply have no willpower left to spend on education, work, abstinence from alcohol and other opportunities for social growth .

Dr. Spears may be going too far, but it is clear that grocery lists and weekly shopping, for example, will help you save not only time, but also willpower.

In general, treating your willpower (that is, the ability to make informed decisions with a reserve for the future and resist temptations) as a limited resource makes you look at things completely differently. For example, you begin to understand how important it is to never leave important decisions until after you have dealt with all the little things. And also, no matter how much of a night owl you are, it is better to refrain from evening meetings where you are the one who has to decide something. After all, your exhausted will is most easily broken at the end of the day, a quarter of which, as you know, is spent on resisting all sorts of petty desires. Although there may be a bias in a completely different direction.

For example, Israeli statistics show that requests for clemency considered in the morning hours are granted in 70% of cases, and in the evening hours - in only 10%.

For a judge, the depletion of willpower is expressed in the refusal to make a decision at all and the desire to leave everything as it is.

In any case, evening is not the time for informed decisions. Which, however, can play in your favor if, for example, a girl has to make a decision...

Glucose dose

Meanwhile, Professor Baumeister did not stop there and in 2006 conceived another experiment, which, however, ended in failure, but made it possible to draw completely unexpected conclusions. By this time, Baumeister had come up with the “Mardi Gras theory” *, which stated that short-term immersion in uncontrolled pleasures can strengthen a person’s willpower.

* - Note Phacochoerus "a Funtik: « Mardi Gras, or Fat Tuesday, is a week of carnivals and gluttony that occurs in North and South America before spring Lent and, in fact, resembles the Russian Maslenitsa »

The professor decided to test his new theory using old technology - with the help of dull mathematical problems and hungry students who had to solve them as long as they had enough strength. A third of the test subjects received a high-fat milkshake with whipped cream and a cherry before the experiment, another third received a tasteless protein drink that resembled clear mucus, and the control group suffered through the tasks on an empty stomach. As we have already said, the experiment failed miserably: those who drank the cocktail and those who drank the tasteless drink showed exactly the same result, which, however, differed from the control group for the better.

Thus, it turned out that satisfying desires and immersing in pleasure does not increase willpower in any way, but a full stomach clearly increases it.

Several more experiments by Dr. Nathan De Wall, when test subjects were given lemonade with sugar or a sweetener, confirmed that a dose of glucose taken before the test significantly increases a person's willpower and helps him make effective decisions for a longer time. A little later, similar experiments were carried out at the Todd Heatherton Center, accompanied by brain scans. It showed that glucose reduces activity in the brain's so-called reward centers, which are responsible for a person's predisposition to receive immediate rewards, and increases activity in centers that control impulsive behavior. That is, glucose helps us put off receiving quick and obvious, but small benefits for the sake of a more profitable long-term strategy, which, in fact, is what willpower is for.

If we return to the analogy with shopping fatigue, glucose is exactly what our brain needs at the end of a long shopping trip. Candy manufacturers who place their products at checkout counters figured this out without any experiments with brain scanning.

So here's another rule for making responsible decisions or otherwise exercising willpower: make sure you're not doing it on an empty stomach. The rule, however, is as old as time: everyone knows the aggressiveness and unresponsiveness of hungry bosses, who in fact simply do not want to make a choice in favor of a long-term but risky strategy and prefer, like Israeli judges, to quickly and safely refuse in order to quickly satisfy more pressing desires .

Monitoring stable “will nutrition” is quite simple: our brain, as a rule, itself signals a lack of glucose with a feeling of hunger or a desire to eat a chocolate bar. However, those who do not like sweets or are accustomed to not noticing hunger will have to engage in deeper introspection. There are other signs of “will fatigue” - for example, increased irritability, a desire to escalate conflicts, a more acute perception of failures, a desire to buy something unnecessary. All this may indicate that your will is not in the best shape. And you will regret very much later about impulsive decisions made at the moment.

Pump up your will

Dr. Baumeister eventually came to the conclusion that willpower, like muscles, not only is subject to fatigue and requires nutrition, but also needs training. Any primitive self-control exercises help to pump up the will. For example, the experimental group, which was asked to constantly monitor their posture and not hunch over for a week (a classic willpower exercise known to all our mothers), after this period showed better results in tests of perseverance than people who lived that week in your pleasure. It is also known that canonically religious people, accustomed to performing regular rituals such as prayer or meditation, generally pass willpower tests much better than non-believers. Although canonically believers in our world of temptations are generally special people. You can expect everything from them.

For that matter, among the endless modern gadgets there are even special willpower trainers. For example, all kinds of pedometers, calorie counters and programs that monitor how much time you spend on non-core sites, so that the moment you go over your limit, they kick you off the Internet. A kind of substitute for conscience that reminds you to regularly use willpower.

By the way, since we are your friends and, in some way, substitutes for conscience, we will be frank: the limit on procrastination with our site has been exhausted. During this time, you should have accumulated a fair amount of willpower, and great achievements await you!

Kelly McGonigal, Ph.D., psychologist, professor at Stanford University, author of Willpower. How to develop and strengthen? (The Willpower Instinct), says that the ability to self-control is the response of the human brain and body to sudden impulses and desires:

“Willpower is a person’s reaction to internal conflict. For example, you are overcome by the desire to smoke another cigarette or eat a larger portion for lunch, but you understand that this cannot be done, and with all your might you resist momentary weakness. Or you know you need to go to the gym and pay the utility bills that are collecting dust on the coffee table, but you’d rather be lazy.”

It took evolution millions of years to form the prefrontal cortex (the area of ​​the brain located just behind the frontal bone of the skull), which controls absolutely all the processes that distinguish humans from animals. If we assume that the human brain is inherently strong in decision-making and self-control, then how to train self-control and what can be done to improve its “standard equipment”?

For many years it was believed that the structure of the brain was unchanged. However, the results of research conducted by neuroscientists over the past decade have shown that the brain, like a student thirsting for knowledge, is very sensitive to any experience gained: force yourself to solve calculation problems every day - and your brain will become stronger in mathematics; Learn and recite long poems - and you will significantly speed up the processes of memorizing and reproducing information.

For example, adults, learning to juggle, accumulate gray matter in the parietal lobe of the brain, which is responsible for coordinating movements, and children playing musical instruments have much better developed fine and gross motor skills than their peers.

Self-control is no exception to the rule. Today, scientists know a huge number of ways to strengthen willpower. Some of you, dear readers, are probably now thinking about temptation traps, such as chocolate bars in the dressing room or the minibar near the exercise bike. It is obvious that by resorting to such methods, you can not only develop the ability to self-control, but also strengthen the nervous system. :)

Today we invite you to familiarize yourself with simpler, but no less effective ways to develop willpower, proposed by Kelly McGonigal and other psychologists.

Willpower depletes throughout the day

A characteristic quality of willpower, according to McGonigal, is its limitation, because every successful manifestation of endurance and self-control depletes a person’s energy reserves:

“When we try to control our bad temper or ignore irritating factors, we draw strength from the same resource.”

A series of experiments described by psychologist Roy Baumeister in his book Willpower: Rediscovering Man's Greatest Strength led him to come up with the intriguing hypothesis that self-control is like a muscle: if you don't give it rest, you'll lose control. Over time, you will completely lose your strength, like an athlete who has brought himself to exhaustion. Some researchers, including Kelly McGonigal, believe that willpower, just like the human body, can be developed through special training, which will be discussed below.

How to learn self-control and strengthen willpower?

The first step towards self-control is stress management, since their biological basis is completely incompatible. Being under the influence of prolonged nervous tension, a person uses his energy resources irrationally, which negatively affects the functioning of the prefrontal cortex and aggravates the fight-or-flight state. In stressful situations, we act instinctively and make decisions based on immediate conclusions, while self-control requires in-depth consideration and analysis of the current situation.

In this case, how to achieve self-control in a stressful situation? When you feel stressed and tired, take a couple of deep breaths and try to distract yourself from your thoughts - this practice, according to McGonigal, will be a great start in the fight against chronic stress.

2. “I can’t” vs. "I don't"

According to a study published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, one way to gain self-control and strengthen willpower is through self-affirmation. A great example is the difference between the impact on a person of using the phrases “I can’t” and “I don’t.”

In the above-mentioned experiment, 120 students were divided into 2 groups, one of which had to refuse a sentence using the phrase “I can’t”, while the second had to say “no” by starting a sentence with the words “I don’t”. For example, “I can’t eat ice cream” or “I don’t eat ice cream.” After completing the study, participants were offered a free treat: a chocolate bar or a muesli and walnut bar. The students, unaware that the experiment had not yet reached its logical conclusion, made a choice and received the desired snack. As a result, 61% of students who answered “I can’t” chose a chocolate bar over a granola bar, while students who answered “I don’t” chose a cereal bar 64% of the time.

“Every time you tell yourself, ‘I can’t,’ you create a feedback loop as a reminder of your limitations. This phrase once again emphasizes that you are forcing yourself to do something that you don’t like.”

How to gain self-control? The next time you have to give up something, use the wording “I don’t” so as not to remember once again that you can’t do something. :)

3. Healthy sleep

McGonigal notes that chronic sleep deprivation has a profound effect on the efficient functioning of the prefrontal cortex:

“Lack of sleep—even if you sleep less than 6 hours a day—is a stressor on the body, affecting how your body and brain deplete available energy resources. As a result, the prefrontal cortex loses control over other areas of the nervous system and cannot protect you from stress.”

Fortunately, the psychologist also says that all this is reversible:

“Once a person gets enough sleep, repeat brain scans will no longer show any damage to the prefrontal cortex.”

How to increase self-control through healthy sleep? Professor of psychiatry Dr. Daniel Kripke, who has devoted a number of scientific papers to sleep problems, writes that people who sleep about 7 hours daily work much more productively, feel happier and live longer. :)

4. Meditation (at least 8 weeks)

How to maintain self-control? According to a study conducted by Kelly McGonigal, eight weeks of daily meditation practice led to increased self-awareness in everyday life, improved attention and increased gray matter in the corresponding areas of the brain.

“You don’t have to meditate your whole life—you can see positive changes in brain function after just 8 weeks of practice.”

5. Sports and healthy eating

How to improve self-control and your physical fitness? Another great way to develop willpower is sports, and it doesn’t matter what level of exercise we are talking about - be it a walk in the fresh air or a full-fledged workout in the gym. For the brain, it makes no difference what kind of activity you choose: gardening, yoga, dancing, team sports, swimming or weightlifting - in this case, anything that goes beyond the typical sedentary lifestyle increases your willpower reserve.

The second independent measure that also needs to be taken is a healthy diet:

“It’s best to eat foods that can provide you with long-term energy. Most psychologists and nutritionists advise giving preference to foods that help maintain blood sugar levels at the same level. It will likely take some self-control to start moving in this direction, but any effort you make will improve your brain function.”

Sports and healthy eating not only strengthen willpower, but also have a positive impact on a person’s overall well-being. In particular, during physical activity, the hormone endorphin is released in our body:

“Endorphins minimize discomfort during exercise, block pain and promote feelings of euphoria.”

6. Healthy procrastination

How to train self-control while being lazy? :) In the previously mentioned book “Willpower: Rediscovering Man's Greatest Strength,” Roy Baumeister explains that repeating to yourself “not now, later” frees you from internal torment, especially when it comes to trying to get rid of bad habits (to for example, eating sweets while watching movies).

Marshmallow Test

Finally, I would like to talk about one fascinating experiment conducted for the first time in 1970 by Stanford University professor, author of the cognitive-affective theory of personality Walter Mischel.

The test is carried out to measure the willpower of children aged 4 to 6 years. The essence of the experiment is as follows: a child is taken into a room with a hidden camera and seated at a table on which lies one marshmallow. The examiner tells the child that he can eat it now or wait a while without touching the treat and receive another marshmallow as a reward.

In the original version of the experiment, out of 653 participants, more than half succumbed to temptation and did not put off the opportunity to eat marshmallows.

Watch the video to see how this happens. :)

The experiment was last conducted in 2012 by psychologists at the University of Rochester.

Despite the rapid development of new technologies, magic is still as popular as it was thousands of years ago. If you are a beginner magician and are looking for magical knowledge, you will find this article very useful.

What should a novice magician pay attention to?

It is important to note that the beginning of any magic¹ should consist of general concepts and advice on how to learn to control it.

Usually, a novice magician is more focused on technique - it seems to him that success is primarily determined by knowledge of the techniques and subtleties of some magical actions. This is not true!

A novice magician must understand that the power of magic is not in gestures or words. The power lies in the person who performs magical actions.

He just needs to believe in what he says and does.

How is magic created?

Magic should be built on the principle of a pyramid. Any magical action is based on several principles, the observance of which is extremely important for the success of your research. For centuries, people have collated information in search of these essential principles.

There is a concept of a fundamental “Pyramid of Magic”, which is necessary for successful magical operations! The pyramid of magic is triangular. This must be accepted as an axiom, because the very concept of “Pyramid” came to us after many centuries and was suffered through more than one generation of magicians.

What is the basis of the magic pyramid?

It is known that the basis of a trihedral pyramid is a triangle! The triangle is an upward desire - the path to perfect development.

Each of the vertices of the triangle represents one of the principles of magic:

• Maga (directive force),
• knowledge of the magician (generating self-confidence),
• the power of the magician's imagination (creative power)!

These are the three most important principles of magic.

The fourth peak of the magic pyramid!

The most interesting thing is that the pyramid has another peak, which is not at the base, but is its peak. This is Vera! The faith of the most novice magician in magic, in the fact that nothing is impossible! The faith of the people around us, which contributes to the creation of a special “field of expectation for a miracle”!

Why should a novice magician develop willpower?

Willpower is a very effective and significant tool of magic. The stronger a person’s will, the less danger the evil eye and damage, love spells, curses of varying degrees pose to him, the less impact all kinds of energy pests have...

But willpower is not only a defense mechanism. It’s not called “the guiding force” for nothing!

Chemical processes constantly occur in the human body that release a certain amount of energy! You can learn to transform and use this energy according to your needs. Energy management occurs using waves produced by the brain. But the strength of these waves depends on the willpower of the magician.

Also, the accuracy of directed influence, the success of concentration and much more, which is necessary to obtain the best result, depend on willpower.

Therefore, a novice magician must first of all develop and strengthen his willpower!

Constant exercise allows you not only to increase your willpower, but also to constantly keep yourself in a “fighting” state, preventing your willpower from weakening!

Knowledge is the cornerstone of magic!

The second fundamental factor is the magician's knowledge of what he is doing. Without knowledge about the subject, there is no confidence in the successful outcome of actions. Lack of confidence can weaken concentration, undermine faith, and in general can destroy many things!

That is why a novice magician must memorize texts and sequences of actions, symbols and methods of reproducing them. It is especially recommended not just to memorize, but also to understand the meaning of all magical actions and words.

How to work with spells?

It is not enough to learn a spell in Latin and clearly reproduce the text. To master magic, you need to know the Latin language well! That is why magicians are the smartest and most well-read people.

The magician's knowledge must be extensive and limitless, because the slightest mistake can not only destroy a spell or ritual, but also lead to serious, sometimes irreversible, consequences!

What is the role of imagination in magic?

The third important principle that a novice magician must master is imagination. Or rather, the creative power of imagination.

Many treatises on magic call on the magician to be sure to “see” the ultimate goal of his influence in order for the influence to work successfully. Without a strong, trained imagination, many magical attempts will not be effective.

It is necessary to train not only your abilities, imagination and innovative thinking, but also to develop your “inner eye” and other necessary skills. Remember, you can never have too much knowledge! A real magician always has something to strive for!!!

Faith is the top of the magic pyramid!

Faith was identified as the top of the pyramid. Not faith in God or gods, but faith in “the possibility of everything.”

The magician himself must sincerely believe that his actions will lead to success. Lack of readiness to receive a result can prevent you from getting it!

If a magician works in a team, then it is important that a unified field of faith in success is created around this team! The so-called “field of waiting for a miracle.” The fluids of faith are also saturated with human energy, which means they are effective assistants in carrying out magical effects.

How to develop willpower?

Exercise:

The easiest way to develop an iron magical will is to simply stand at attention. Just stand there and not move as long as you can. The time of such standing depends on how much you will develop your magical will.

The more developed your will, the more successful your magical effects on the surrounding reality will be. Start with a short period of time. The first day, stand for only one minute and add a minute each day. Soon you will notice that your will and strength are growing, and you really like the exercise.

How to accumulate energy?

Any magical effect will require a lot of energy; you can accumulate it by practicing holding your breath. Fresh air contains a large amount of free cosmic energy.

This energy is omnipotent and alive, it will help you in solving many of your issues. The main thing is to treat her as a living entity.

The more energy accumulated in a person, the more fulfilling his life will be. It's practically magic.

The presence of a large amount of energy in a person contributes to the immediate fulfillment of all his desires. Any thoughts of an energetic person are realized quite quickly, since cosmic power is present in these thoughts.

Exercise:

The exercise must be performed in the fresh air or in front of an open window, just be careful so that you don’t get blown out.

You need to sit up straight in a normal relaxed position, exhale strongly, and then inhale in the following three phases:

1. Lowering the diaphragm, we slowly protrude our stomach, without taking a special breath, but giving the air the opportunity to penetrate into the lungs on its own.
2. We expand the lower ribs, and the middle part of the lungs is filled with air due to the expansion of the chest to the sides in the intercostal region. This phase corresponds to middle breathing. It is very good to put your hands on your stomach and chest to feel the movement of your stomach.
3. The inhalation phase is a complete expansion, protrusion of the chest and in one movement we draw in as much air as can fit in our inflated lungs. In this last phase we tighten our abdomen a little and it serves as a support for the respiratory expansion of the chest and lungs that takes place in the upper lobe.

Thus, the last phase is also the execution of upper breathing. At a superficial glance, it will seem that complete breathing consists of separate breathing phases, but this is only theoretical. When performing full breathing, you need to slowly and smoothly move from one phase to another, connecting them into one deep, continuous breath.

Looking at the body performing full breathing from the side, we will see a single wave-like, calm movement from the stomach up to the shoulders and collarbones.

Exhale air slowly through the nose. First, we exhale by drawing in the abdomen and squeezing the lower ribs, and then lower the shoulders and collarbones. When exhaling, we squeeze the muscles of the abdomen and ribs so as to leave as little air as possible in the lungs, but without forcing ourselves excessively.

We practice this simplest and most basic form of breathing half an hour before meals, at least one minute on the first day. Every five days you should increase the time you perform the exercise by one minute. You should practice this type of breathing until it becomes your main way of breathing.

Do you follow your destiny in life and receive gifts from fate, or do you follow the path of trial and error? Find out about your innate gift, inherent superpowers and those areas of activity that will enrich you in the shortest possible time >>>

Notes and feature articles for deeper understanding of the material

¹ Magic is a concept used to describe a system of thinking in which a person turns to secret forces in order to influence events, as well as real or apparent influence on the state of matter; symbolic action (rite) or inaction aimed at achieving a certain goal by supernatural means (Wikipedia).

² A curse is a verbal formula containing a wish for evil against someone or something, curses (

Will and imagination

The existence of free will does not raise questions. You are a thinking being, capable of making choices. Moreover, your entire life is a continuous process of conscious choice. The issue is not free will versus destiny, but how what you choose fits into your ability to move forward toward achieving your desires. In this book, by intention we mean more than just a strong desire backed by a strong determination. Trying to achieve your goals through sheer will and determination is to make the ego your guiding force. “I will achieve my goal, I will never give up.” Great, but it doesn't reconnect you with intention. Your willpower is significantly less effective than your imagination, which is the link that connects you with the power of intention. Imagination is the movement of the universal mind within you. Your imagination creates an internal image that allows you participate in the act of creation. This is the invisible link that connects you to the manifestation of your destiny.

Try to imagine that you are forcing yourself to do something that your imagination resists. Your will is part of your ego and believes that you are separate from other people, separate from your goals and desires, and separate from God. She also believes that your possessions, your achievements, your reputation make up who you are. The will of the ego wants you to constantly acquire new evidence of your importance. It pushes you to constantly prove your superiority and acquire things that you are willing to hunt for with all your determination, forgetting about everything else. On the other hand, your imagination is a concept of the Spirit within you. This is God within you. Read what William Blake wrote about this in his poem “Jerusalem.” He believed that through imagination we can have everything we want.

I struggle without rest on a great task!

Open the Eternal World,

Turn the human gaze

To the World of Thought,

Ever Expanding

In the Bosom of the Lord,

Into the world of Human Imagination.

Now back to the idea of ​​forcing yourself to do what your imagination resists. An example that comes to mind is walking on hot coals. You can force yourself to walk on them by willpower, but if you rely only on willpower, you will end up with severe burns. But when you imagine yourself protected by God's power - in Blake's words, feeling yourself in the Bosom of God - and see something in yourself beyond the body, you can walk on the coals without harming yourself. By imagining yourself immune to the heat of hot coals, you begin to feel disembodied. You imagine yourself stronger than fire. Your inner image of purity and security allows you to walk on coals without getting burned. It is your imagination that keeps you safe. Without it, you would inevitably get burned!

I remember how I ran a marathon for the first time in my life – 42 kilometers. It was not willpower alone that helped me run nonstop for three and a half hours. Imagination played the main role. I tuned in to the inner image and then, through an effort of will, I forced my body to demonstrate its capabilities to the limit. Without this image, I would not have had any willpower to withstand this test.

And so it is in everything. When you force yourself by willful decision to be happy, successful, rich, famous, these ideas are born from the ego, being a manifestation of excessive pride. In the name of this willpower, people run over the heads of those who meet on their way, they cheat, steal, deceive, trying to realize their intention. This practice ultimately leads to failure. You can achieve the physical goal you have set for yourself. However, your imagination, the place in you where your true life takes place, will not allow you to achieve peace of mind.

In my work, I always put the power of imagination above the power of will. For example, I see myself finishing this book. This outcome mindset encourages me to act as if I have already achieved everything I would like to achieve. My credo is what you imagine yourself to be is what you will become, and this image helps me in any situation. I finish the book I started not thanks to colossal willpower. This would mean that everything is done by me, a body called Wayne Dyer, while my imagination has neither body nor name. My imagination is my own version of the power of intention. It provides me with everything I need, allows me to sit and write at this very moment, guides the pen in my hand, fills all the voids. It is not I, Wayne Dyer, who makes this book a reality by my own will. My inner image is so clear and precise that it materializes itself. In ancient times, the divine Hermes wrote:

What IS is revealed;

What was and what will be is not revealed,

but not dead either;

Because the soul, God's eternal providence,

brings everything to life.

These are important words to meditate on if you want to reconnect with the power of intention and gain the ability to manifest whatever you create in your imagination. You, your body and your ego are not capable of creating or bringing anything to life. Put your ego aside. Do not misunderstand me. A goal in life and the determination to achieve it are necessary, but get rid of the illusion that you make your desires come true through willpower. I want to focus your attention on the imagination so that you see all your goals and all your activities with the help of the imagination, which guides, supports, even pushes you in the direction of what was intended for you while you were still in the unmanifest state. You must strive to match the energy frequencies of your imagination and the Source of Creation.

Your imagination allows you the fabulous luxury of thinking from the result. Nothing can stop someone who thinks like this. You yourself create the conditions for the fulfillment of your desires and overcome all restrictions and barriers. Imagine your goal and be absolutely sure that it already exists in the material world and that you have the opportunity to use any resources of the almighty Source to make your desire tangible. Since the Source has seven beautiful faces, you must also try on these faces for yourself: only in this way can you become a co-creator of what is destined for you.

Remain indifferent to doubts and the call of the will. Be sure that, relying entirely on your imagination, you will be able to materialize your images. Reconnecting with intention involves manifesting the same seven qualities that the Source that creates all things uses to transform the unseen into the revealed. If imagination helps God, it will help you too. What God imagines to be real becomes reality. This should be your strategy too.