How to increase willpower

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How to increase willpower
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Post # 1
How to increase willpower and eliminate laziness
In this article I will explain the reasons for "lack of willpower", "lack of self control" or laziness, and how to eliminate them and get a better control over yourself.

It's a common mistake in the western philosophy to ignore the plurality of the I. If you divide your personality into a several subpersonalities, you'll notice that it's a far better way to analyze yourself. So let's take such a look at our personalities.
For a moment, think of yourself not as an "I", but as a sum of many I's, each with its own will. So you wanting to play video games is one I, while you wanting to read philosophy is another I, both independent of each other.
The problem here is that there's a chaos among our I's, each I is selfish, and wants to rule the body. Usually the stronger I's are in charge most of the time, even when another I could do the job better. The result is you wanting to play video games when you're at school, wanting to read about philosophy while solving math problems, wanting to post on this forum while doing your homework, and so on.

That creates laziness. You know you're supposed to do one thing, but your current I wants to do something else. If you somehow manage to force yourself to do what you're supposed to instead of what your current I wants you to, you'll end up doing it with less than half of your abilities. Rare are the people with naturally ordered I's, and they're always excellent at whatever they do.

The solution is to make an order among your I's, but as I said, every I is selfish, and an egoist, and will not let another I rule with it. So how could such an order be created? By using all of your I's to build a super I which will rule with them all. Every other I has to work in its creation, so that every one of them feels it is their creation that rules.

How to do that?
In order to create the super I, we should first take a look at two major things:
1. What the super I should do.
2. How are I's created.

1. The super I should have the qualities of a perfect leader:
-Not to have his own ego.
-To know well all of his subjects.
-His only will to be to satisfy the will of as many of his subjects as possible.
So the super I's only concern would be to control when each I is on scene. It shouldn't have any characteristics on its own. Its job is to always be there, observe what each I wants, and which I would be the most appropriate for the situation.

2. Remember that the different I's are just a point of view at your personality, which changes constantly. So I's get created all the time, depending on what you're doing. With every new experience, a new I is created.

So what new experience do you need in order to create a super I? Self observation. Observe your thoughts and emotions all the time, be aware of them at every moment, while doing your every day activities. Do not try yet to control your eyes. Simply observe each of them for a while. Do not judge your actions, but accept everything equally, with understanding. You will find yourself forgetting to observe yourself at times. Again, do not judge yourself or think anything you do is bad. Simply observe yourself, try to learn about your motivations of everything you do, and how you feel while doing those things. With time your I's will grow less selfish as the super I will be there all the time, understanding each one of their will. Remember not to identify yourself with your super I, or any other I you have, cause you're all of them combined. The super I must not have wishes on its own, it should only serve as an understanding point between I's, and with its help, all other I's will be able to recognize when some other I would do the job better, and retreat until the right time has come. When studying time will come, the I who loves studying will trigger, when gaming time comes, the gamer will be triggered, when philosophy time comes, the philosopher gets triggered, and so on. You'll be able to do everything you do with full concentration and dedication. In other words, you'd never be lazy, or have a lack of self control.

If you would like to learn more in depth about this, I suggest you read "The Fourth Way" by Ouspensky. This article is a mixture of a fracture of what I've learned from that book, and personal experience.
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Re: How to increase willpower
By: / Knowledgeable
Post # 2
Not bad.

My biography from day one urges people to observe. Observation is key. If you want to learn even more about what you're discussing, you should read the original source--Sigmund Freud and his theory of "id", "ego" and "super ego" which are the three main components of the human psyche. Its always good to read the origin as well as the offshoots. ;-)

I don't agree with a lot of Freud because he was an opium addict with an obsession with genitalia. BUT his theory on the psyche's divisions is highly respected in psychology and is one of the very first things you are taught.

It's good stuff and definitely a helpful view that can teach one to alter their perspective so that they can put order into their own thoughts and feelings.
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Re: How to increase willpower
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Post # 3

Oh, come on! Atleast comment that you copy and pasted this! Why do people not give credit and just go around saying it's theres?

Does it make you smarter? More popular? More respected? Well, your not gaining any knowledge from copy and pasting. You may become a popular user for a while, but it'll eventually die out. More respected?! You just lost my respect.

Hey folks, here's the original and the one that should have been credited instead of shamelessly copied. Technically it's plagiarism, is it not?

http://wizardforums.com/showthread.php?tid=243

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Re: How to increase willpower
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Post # 4
credit was given to the book if you read all of it.
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Re: How to increase willpower
By: / Knowledgeable
Post # 5
Suggesting that one should read something is not the same as giving credit to that same thing.

You have a curious way of thinking you have been quite clear while otherwise spouting nonsense. Rest of the post was interesting though.
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