Week 5 – Lesson 1

Willpower – Life’s greatest force

This week we delve into the topic of willpower – life’s greatest force. In this
video you will learn the importance of willpower and the three ways to
develop it. When you are done watching Video 1, answer the worksheet
questions for Video 1 before watching Video 2.

Worksheets

1. In order to move awareness to any area of the mind that you want it to go to, you must
develop your___________. (Type your answer in the text box below)

2. True or False: Willpower is the channeling of all energies toward one given point for a
given length of time.
True

False

3. True or false: We are all born with the same amount of willpower?
True

False

4. True or false: We cannot develop more willpower than we are born with?
True

False

5. In your own words, explain why willpower is one of the greatest tools you can develop
in life?

6. True or false: The more you use willpower, the less you have.
True

False

7. Describe a situation in your life when you can use willpower to move your awareness
in your mind.
8. Can you use your willpower to hold your awareness in one area of the mind for an
extended period of time?
Yes

No

9. Select all the correct answers: What are the 3 ways to develop willpower as taught by
Gurudeva?
Finish what you begin.

Do a little more than you think you can.

Do it a little bit better than you think you can.

You only need to practice it for 30 minutes in the morning.

10. True or False: It takes effort to do a little bit more than you think you can, and this
effort is willpower.
True

False

11. True or False: Every time you apply effort you are developing your willpower.
True

False

12. True or False: The willpower that you develop can be used in every aspect of your
life such as in your relationships, personal and family life, work, meditation, etc.
True

False

13. Which of these does NOT help you to develop your willpower:
Finish what you begin.

Beginning many projects, but never finishing them.

Doing a little more than you think you can.

Doing things a little bit better than you think you can.

14. What is wrong with this statement: You can use your willpower to control and direct
where your mind goes.
Daily Exercise

Find five opportunities in your average day where you can practice developing your willpower.
Apply the three techniques of developing willpower in each of these opportunities to truly benefit
from the practice. These opportunities should be something that is part of your daily routine and
not a new practice that you create in your life.

Here are some examples:

Opportunity 1: Every morning when you wake up finish the process of sleep by making the bed.
We’ve covered this opportunity extensively in the video lesson and it’s a great way to develop
willpower each day.

Opportunity 2: Every time you finish using a cup, bowl or plate, wash it and put it away as opposed
to leaving it in the sink.

Opportunity 3: When you finish doing your laundry fold your clothes and put them all away in their
appropriate places.

Opportunity 4: …

Opportunity 5: …

Gurudeva, my guru, once said to me that willpower is the most important thing you can develop in
life. With will you can accomplish anything you want in life.

On the worksheet, you will be asked to create 5 opportunities to develop your willpower. You are
welcome to use the above examples and create two additional ones, or you are free to create your
own list of five opportunities. It is really important to integrate the 3 techniques of developing
willpower into our daily routines so that we can create habit patterns that consistently develop our
will throughout the day.

What I would like you to do is to integrate the first opportunity on your list into your life in the first
month of practice. Ignore the other opportunites for now. After a month of practice if you find that
you can, for example in the case above, make your bed every morning then in the second month
integrate the second opportunity with the first one.

Practice developing willpower in both of these daily opportunities until you can consistently perform
them before integrating the third opportunity. By approaching learning and developing willpower in
this small incremental way it does not become overwhelming to us and allows us to become good
at it over a period of time. Before long you will find that you have cultivated lots of willpower which
you can then use in every aspect of your life most especially in controlling where your awareness
goes in your mind.
The self-evaluation worksheet is for you to assess each day how well you’ve practiced the art of
developing willpower. At the end of each day evaluate how well you you’ve done that day by rating
yourself based on the rating system given on the worksheet. Strive to improve a little bit more each
month. Use your will to develop your will. Strive! “The rewards are far greater than the efforts put
into it.” ~ Gurudeva.
Worksheets – Answers

Question
1. In order to move awareness to any area of the mind that you want it to go to, you must develop
your___________. (Type your answer in the text box below)
Answer
willpower

Question
2. True or False: Willpower is the channeling of all energies toward one given point for a given
length of time.
Answer(s)
True

Question
3. True or false: We are all born with the same amount of willpower?
Answer(s)
False

Question
4. True or false: We cannot develop more willpower than we are born with?
Answer(s)
False

Question
5. In your own words, explain why willpower is one of the greatest tools you can develop in life?
Answer
With willpower, you can accomplish anything you want in life, and you can use willpower to move
your awareness to any area of the mind that you choose to go to.

Question
6. True or false: The more you use willpower, the less you have.
Answer(s)
False

Question
7. Describe a situation in your life when you can use willpower to move your awareness in your
mind.
Answer

Question
8. Can you use your willpower to hold your awareness in one area of the mind for an extended
period of time?
Answer(s)
Yes
Question
9. Select all the correct answers: What are the 3 ways to develop willpower as taught by
Gurudeva?
Answer(s)
Finish what you begin.
Do a little more than you think you can.
Do it a little bit better than you think you can.

Question
10. True or False: It takes effort to do a little bit more than you think you can, and this effort is
willpower.
Answer(s)
True

Question
11. True or False: Every time you apply effort you are developing your willpower.
Answer(s)
True

Question
12. True or False: The willpower that you develop can be used in every aspect of your life such
as in your relationships, personal and family life, work, meditation, etc.
Answer(s)
True

Question
13. Which of these does NOT help you to develop your willpower:
Answer(s)
Beginning many projects, but never finishing them.

Question
14. What is wrong with this statement: You can use your willpower to control and direct where
your mind goes.
Answer
You can use your willpower to control where your AWARENESS goes, not where you MIND
goes.