The first Developing Willpower exercise that we would like to present sounds extremely simple – and from a technical perspective it really is – but most people find it a lot more difficult than they first imagine. The instructions for this exercise are as follows:
Developing Willpower Exercise #1
For the next seven days, get out of bed one hour earlier than usual and spend the first thirty minutes of this time sitting in the same spot with your eyes closed and your mental focus only on your own inhalation and exhalation.
We all know that meditation is good for us, but how many people actually take the time to do it? This first exercise requires you to do just that, for the first thirty minutes of the next seven days. If you already meditate then that is good, but you must now get out of bed an hour earlier than usual to meditate. If you normally get up at 7am and meditate, you now need to get up at 6am and meditate.
The earlier time of rising is important, because it is at that time that you will most clearly witness an internal struggle between your base self, which usually wants you to do what feels good, and your Higher Self, which usually wants you to do what is right even if that thing doesn’t feel good.
Your mission here is to resist doing what feels good, and to instead do what you know you ought to do. This is a training exercise, and as such it does not require you to make a life-long commitment to getting up a whole hour earlier than usual. It only requires that you demonstrate your ability to do so for the next seven days.
Some students – especially the ‘early risers’ among you – will find this exercise relatively easy. But many more will find it very difficult. We make no apology for this. In order to raise yourself to the next level of ability you first need to face and do battle with your base self. Conquer it’s desire for sleep, or to move around the home when you should be sat with your eyes closed in meditation, and you will be surprised at how strong you suddenly feel. After seven consecutive days of such victory it seems as if your willpower has multiplied ten-fold. And in truth, that’s exactly what it has done. At that stage – after seven days of success – you may proceed to Exercise #2.
