Development and education of human volitional activity
The will, like the entire mental world, is not a supernatural force, but arises and develops in the process of life and upbringing. The development of volitional regulation of behavior is inextricably linked with the development of motives. Children are characterized by instability of motives, their dependence on the immediate situation, which causes impulsiveness and unsystematic actions. At subsequent age stages, situational motives are combined into more stable formations with a gradual transition to a single motivational system that determines the direction of behavior.
At the same time, the development of conscious volitional regulation of behavior and overall personality activity occurs. A person acquires the ability to evaluate himself in order to be guided in his behavior not by random impulses, but by a system of learned and accepted rules and norms of moral behavior. The activity of volitional self-affirmation begins in adolescence. For adolescents, the upbringing of a strong will often acts as an end in itself. This is a period of complex and contradictory formation of the willful qualities of the personality. Purposefulness, independence, determination, with which the teenager overcomes difficulties on the way to achieving the goal, indicate that he is gradually transforming from an object of the will of other people into a subject of his own will. But whether this process will take positive forms or whether perversions will begin to arise depends on upbringing.
Adolescence is characterized by further intensive development of willful qualities and, accordingly, the relative completeness of their formation. Willful qualities become components and traits of the personality's character. The behavior of high school students shows stability in the distribution of willful efforts in accordance with dominant interests. Volitional activity already meets social requirements. But what willful qualities and at what stage of completion are included in the structure of the personality's character - this depends on many circumstances, in particular on the course of the process of adolescent self-affirmation, on social choice and self-determination in youth, on the self-education of each individual.
Education of will is, in fact, the process of educating the personality as a whole, and not a certain quality. The starting points of educating the will of the younger generation are:
- the correct combination of conscious persuasion with exactingness to human behavior;
- ensuring the real impact of requirements on the individual's life relationships with others, as well as on his attitude towards himself;
- combining conscious persuasion with the organization of practical experience of the individual performing volitional actions and deeds.
Positive significance for the education of will is given to purposeful exercises associated with the conscious desire of the individual to learn to control himself, to master a volitional way of behavior. An important condition for the development of will is interest in self-education of will. There are many ways to educate volitional regulation of the individual's behavior in everyday life situations. Each action can be turned into an exercise if it is performed consciously, and not out of habit or out of a sense of duty. The purpose of the will is to direct, not to force something. Here are some techniques for exercising and educating the will according to R. Assagioli:
Do something that you have never done before.
Plan something, and then carry out your plan.
Continue doing what you were doing for another five minutes, even when you get tired and you begin to be attracted to something else.
Do something quite slowly.
When it is easier to say "yes", but more correct to say "no", say "no".
Do what you think is most important right now.
In the most insignificant situations of choice, make it without hesitation.
Act contrary to all expectations.
Resist saying what you are pushed to say.
Postpone what you prefer to do right now.
First do what you wanted to postpone.
Do one exercise every day for a month, even if it seems counterproductive to you.