Willful personality traits: definition, types, ways of development

Surely many are familiar with the situation when people, justifying their weak-willedness or lack of will, try to laugh it off, saying that they have strength and will, but there is no will power. Let's look at what will is, whether it is given to everyone, whether it can be developed and how.

Specialists in the field of human psychology pay great attention to the study and diagnosis of personality traits, including giving a detailed description of such an individual’s quality as will. The strong-willed qualities of a personality are a combination of many diverse characteristic features that define a person as emotionally, morally and spiritually strong. To be strong-willed means to show such features:

• purposefulness;
• determination;
• shutter speed;
• patience;
• courage;
• energy;
• initiative;
• persistence;
• adherence to principles;
• organization;
• discipline;
• self control.

If such qualities of character are absent in a person or their opposites are present, then this indicates a weakly developed volitional side of the personality and a negative character. Volitional qualities are most often acquired and developed in the process of obtaining life experience.. Of course, the basis for the development of personality is laid genetically in the human psyche, but this or that character appearance is nurtured during the upbringing of a person in childhood and adolescence. Over the years, to a certain age, it is already possible to judge and evaluate the existing personality image.

If the process of personality formation had favorable conditions for the development of volitional qualities, then throughout life they will be stable and steady, and their manifestation will not depend on any particular situation. That is, people who have a strong and persistent will always possess it under any circumstances, and not from case to case. A person can have both individual volitional qualities, and their combination. In the latter case, we are talking about a special strength of character and the presence of complete power over his personality.

The willful qualities of a person are usually divided into basic or primary (they are also emotional-volitional) and systemic (moral-volitional or moral-volitional). Primary qualities, as a rule, are laid genetically in the human psyche and are the basis for the development of systemic qualities.

Their list is quite extensive and includes not only positive, but also negative qualities. Consider the main positive qualities, which include energy, patience, self-control and courage.

An energetic person is able to immediately make decisions and act quickly. At the same time, he puts the maximum amount of physical and emotional forces into the process. He is always positively tuned, no difficulties can stop him, on the contrary, they only stir up excitement in him.

Similar people constantly make plans, set new goals, attracting and dragging other people along with them. They always strive to materialize their thoughts, their whole essence can turn into an inexhaustible stream of energy and at the same time infect others. In this case, energy, as a quality of personality, is not associated with physiological energy or with the energy of temperament. These are different concepts.

People with patience achieve the result of strong-willed efforts no matter what, even poor health, malaise, fatigue or headache can not stop them or make them slow down their activities. A weak-willed person, as a rule, surrenders to the power of such negative states and transfers the execution of all cases to a later date.

Patience can in some cases be the opposite of energy, as the latter calls for a quick reaction and action. And patience is determined by the ability to wait a long time, to approach the goal stubbornly and methodically, even if it is far, while maintaining composure and calm, when the results of activity are still not noticeable. But patience cannot be equated with the passive character of a person.

Feelings and emotions are not able to take power over a person who has self-control. Constant control over oneself makes it possible to think things over, weigh and not commit impulsive actions, which, as a rule, lead to the destruction of existing performance results. A person with a high level of self-control remains emotionally balanced, even if plans for some unforeseen reason fail, and the path deviates from the set course. Aggression, panic or apathy is not about those who have self-control.

Courage is the conscious work of overcoming various fears. It makes it possible not to succumb to fear, obstructing the path to goals. At the same time, a person is aware of all the possible risks and dangers, but still retains his mental stability and the level of quality of his activity. But do not confuse courage with stupid recklessness, which exposes health and life to meaningless risk. This behavior does not cause courage, but the desire to receive the delight and praise of others.

Volitional qualities, which will be described below, were called "systemic" because each of them is the result of a complex combination of several unidirectional character traits. For example, courage can be seen as a combination of courage, energy and self-control. These qualities incorporate the emotional side of the personality, both intellectual and spiritual. If primary volitional qualities are poorly developed in a person, then it is very difficult to develop systemic qualities on their basis.

Already from the name it is clear that the main thing in this capacity is the pursuit of a goal. This desire must be conscious and active and lead to certain results. No internal or external obstacles can stop a purposeful person on the path to achieving his cherished goal. There are goals of a strategic nature, the achievement of which may take a long time.

Such goals define the principles and ideals of the individual. To achieve them, discipline is required, the ability to steadily follow the plan. But there are tactical goals, daily, monthly, etc. The ability to achieve them shows the person’s ability to quickly and correctly set up for work, to gather his thoughts and forces and meet the set short deadlines, despite the possibility of any obstacles and difficulties.

Perseverance is usually compulsory companion of determination. Thanks to this quality, the path to success is paved. But this happens if perseverance is supported by rationality and a clear understanding of why this or that goal should be achieved and how to correctly calculate forces and actions to achieve it, so as not to waste energy. Persistence allows you to achieve long-term strategic goals, preventing a person from losing faith and mood.

A principled person always has his own views, opinions and beliefs. It is they who are guided in their activities and in achieving goals. He is not afraid to demonstrate his position on a particular issue, he can defend his point of view and remains true to her under any circumstances. Often, integrity is paired with honesty or justice. The arguments of principled people, as a rule, are reasonable, objective and expedient.

An initiative person possesses energy, courage, integrity, independence. Such a person is always ready to take responsibility for their actions and actions. Initiators want, as a rule, to achieve not only personal goals, but also public ones, acting for the benefit of others. They strive for transformations, to create better conditions for life, to tidy up what requires it. Most often, initiative people achieve success in social activities and in creativity. These are active, ideological and creative people.

The adoption of deliberate and balanced decisions and their phased implementation - this is what underlies decisiveness. If you encounter any problems and obstacles on the way to achieving goals, a decisive person does not get lost and does not wait for everything to form by itself, on the contrary, acts promptly and without hesitation, quickly building a new plan of action and thereby avoiding or eliminating obstacles that have arisen. Decisiveness implies the presence of logic in actions and an immediate transition from thought to action. Therefore, one must not confuse decisiveness with impulsiveness; it is not the same thing.

A person with such a strong-willed quality clearly sees the desired goal and knows how to consistently go to her. He analyzes all his actions, relying on the final result, which should be obtained according to his understanding. The strategist not only draws up a detailed plan of his actions, but also sets priorities correctly. And skillfully adapts to the goal and changing conditions, as well as the emergence of unforeseen circumstances.

A self-sufficient person is distinguished by independence and the ability to do without outside support in solving his problems and in achieving his goals. Such people do not fear loneliness and do not need anyone's help. Their activities depend only on them. They do not lend themselves to outside influence if it is contrary to sanity and their deep convictions. But at the same time, they are able to soberly and critically evaluate their actions.

The formation and development of the volitional qualities of a person goes on throughout life when confronted with various problems, obstacles, difficulties and difficulties, if necessary, make some decisions when setting and achieving various goals. They train the will and instincts of self-preservation and survival, laid down by nature, and the genetic heritage of mental and physical abilities and opportunities transmitted by ancestors, and the educational base of childhood and adolescence. But the most important and important motive for the development of willpower is the desire for self-improvement of the personality and the desire to achieve success in life.

Ways to develop and strengthen willpower:

• start instilling in yourself a love for a healthy lifestyle and try to get rid of bad habits, if any;
• engage in any sport (athletes have always been considered one of the most volitional personalities);
• enroll in a hobby club and regularly attend classes;
• no matter what you do, try to complicate the process, the development of the volitional qualities of a professional is determined by the fact that he constantly directs the vector of his actions upwards so that over time the result of advanced training in a particular activity and an increase in the effectiveness of his actions become noticeable;
• Submit all your plans and actions to the analysis, as well as the results - both successful and unsuccessful.

Ideally, one should begin to train the will in childhood. If you did not have time to do this, then, as they say, it's never too late, just doing it will be more difficult. As for the upbringing of children, the same advice is relevant here as for adults.

If you want to develop strong-willed qualities in yourself, then psychologists advise the following.

• First you need to learn how to reasonably set goals. You cannot immediately load yourself with overwhelming tasks. This will not lead to positive results. If you manage to achieve the first small result, it will cause joy and satisfaction, which will be an incentive to achieve the next goal. That is, learn to gradually move from simple to complex.
• Determine for yourself the area that will serve as the basis for the development of volitional qualities. This may be a profession, a hobby, some other interests. It is better to choose a sphere that you will begin to master from scratch. This will help you see how quickly and efficiently the development process is going.
• Keep a diary of successes and failures. Success will stimulate the pursuit of new successes. A failure analysis will help to draw experience from mistakes and take this into account in the future, but you should try to treat failures calmly, perceiving them as “teachers”.
• Praise Yourself For Success (if you are working on raising the will of your children, then do not forget to praise them).
• Be persistent and consistent in your actions. Do not forget that, will training, like any others, should be regular.