To choose is necessary because there are many goals it would be possible for us to pursue - goals towards which we have some urge. We cannot pursue them all.
We need to deliberate, to consider the possibilities rather than impulsively decide or act. The consequences of not deliberating can be harmful. Deliberation requires thinking, and, Assagioli says, "Thinking is uncomfortable and tiring; it demands concentration and requires a persistent use of the will." We must learn to think, reflect and meditate. We need to take time to think and deliberate, not let ourselves be rushed into decision/action by our drives and urges. We must actually inhibit such impulses. This, too, requires will.
Inhibiting Function of the Will
Assagioli distinguishes between inhibition of impulses and repression of impulses. Inhibition recognizes the impulse, examines it, analyzes it and determines how to deal with it, through expression at another time, transmuting it, or directing it another way.
Deliberation
Deliberation is an important process that requires seeing the issue clearly, forming alternatives and assessing likely outcomes of the various alternatives. Then, an analysis of feasibility and the timing for carrying out an alternative is made. It is also necessary to consider the possible consequences of a proposed action. This requires a sense of the way different people could respond to our words and actions. We need to be able to take the perspective of others, see from their point of view what we do or propose to do.
Inspiration and Intuition
Assagioli says that we sometimes receive ideas for actions from the higher unconscious "in the form of illuminations, inspirations, and urges to action both inner and outer." We should welcome them and also scrutinize them to be clear about their origin. We need to assess both the prompting itself and a correct way of proceeding. However, we need not be "excessively critical" which would "stifle the inspiration." Wisdom is called for. And, if we need inspiration, Assagioli says, there are "available methods for activating the superconscious and for linking it with the conscious personality." He cites receptive and reflective meditation, and dialog with the Higher Self.
Consulting with Others
When we consult with others we have to clearly formulate what we want to say about our problem or issue. The person with whom we consult will questions for us as well, which induce us to think more about the issue(s). The listener becomes a catalyst for us, their listening presence seems to make it easier to arrive at solutions or to eliminate blocks in our thinking process.
Yet their can also be difficulties when we consult others, particularly if we have not done our own part, expect too much of the person(s) we consult or rely on them without exercising critical thinking. And, if we consult with a number of people, their advice can conflict.
A consultant can help in several ways:
- to help define the problem
- to remind us to take multiple perspectives and keep them in mind when an issue is one of relationship(s)
- to fully consider the material and psychological consequences - the causes and effects - of our (proposed) actions
- to sort out and interpret "impressions and indications...received from the unconscious and especially superconscious urges and intuitions."
Collective Deliberation
Assagioli clearly indicates that collective decision-making is preferable to undemocratic, authoritarian decision-making. However, he also names some pitfalls of collective deliberations: individuals' preconceptions, individual and group prejudices, and "not least, the obstinacy and pique aroused by pride ... induce some to attempt to impose their personal opinions without truly listening to the ideas of others."
He suggests that the fewest possible people be involved in actual decision-making, but that they consult with others. Another help is to put time limits on both discussion and making the decision. And, finally, decision-makers should observe a rule that "demands that those who make the decisions assume all responsibility for them, as a group no less than as individuals."
Individual Differences
Assagioli describes two kinds of personality tendencies related to decision: the impulsive and the indecisive. He offers remedies for the impulsive: calm deliberation, inhibition, and meditation. Indecisive people are often introverted people who have feelings of inferiority. Other causes for indecisiveness include fear of making mistakes and "unwillingness to assume responsibility." Assagioli states, "...to decide is inevitable" and those who are indecisive have to develop the courage to make mistakes. Two other psychological types are those who are obstinate and those who are changeable. Obstinacy is a result of rigidity and is sometimes confused with having a strong will. Those who are changeable need to recognize that there "are unchanging laws governing the evolution of life, and our decisions can be taken and upheld in harmony with them."
Choice
When we decide we choose. We prefer one thing/way/course over another, which means we must relinquish others. We often dislike having to give up one alternative even though we decided to choose another. Or, we may try to refuse to choose so we can "have our cake and eat it too." That, of course, never works. The remedy is to "foresee in the clearest possible manner what effects the choice will have..." both immediately and in the future. And, then, we courageously make our decision.
We can train ourselves to choose well and wisely by practicing with smaller and less important decisions. We can go on to practice with matters of greater importance. Assagioli cautions, "It is also important to realize that if one wants to accomplish an aim to which a value is attributed, one must also will the means of pursuing it, however unpleasant and painful they may be." We can affirm, moreover, that "It is worth the effort."
Chapter 14: Affirmation
This chapter begins with a consideration of times when we can benefit from working through all the stages of the act of will. Assagioli urges us to examine ourselves in relation to each stage of the act of will to see if we typically get stuck in one or another stage. He writes, "From a study and understanding of the six stages we can learn how to use our will, where we typically fail, and what exercises to use to overcome our deficiencies."
"Affirmation is a pivotal stage in the act of willing." It gives power to our movement into achievement of our goal. "The word 'power' should be well-noted; it means two things: power in the sense of capacity, and power as potency, or energy."
"Volitional affirmation" is, he says, a synthesis of faith and conviction. Faith perceives intuitively the reality of what is not yet manifested. It is also "faith in oneself" - that is to say, the real Self, "what we are essentially." Conviction is mental, conscious, a recognition that the willed action/goal is rational, in harmony with truth. The combination or synthesis of faith and conviction "results in certainty."
Affirmation needs to have a high 'psychological voltage,' to be powerful and intense. Affirmation must take on the quality of "command," an "inner knowing," an "authority" that will be exercised. Such authority is to "be exercised particularly on the psychological energies and functions within us that we need to use to achieve our purpose."
The Techniques of Affirmation
- Use "words of power." They should be short, clear, 'pithy' words or phrases, written and/or said aloud. E.g. "think of the goal" or "it is worth it"
- Use images - "use the image or vision of what is wanted as if it were already accomplished." Or, use and images that is a "symbol of what we will to realize"
- Use gestures or body movements, or perform acts that "directly or symbolically express what is to be achieved"
- Use repetition of affirmations: at definite times; in a series; with variations in their form
There are some cautions to be observed in using affirmations. One is to make sure of our motives, that they are good. Another is to avoid sparking "contrary reactions on the part of others" by communicating calmly and without aggressiveness. Hurry and impatience about results will not be helpful. If resistances arise within us, we can learn from them and work through them.
Assagioli recommends that when we use inner affirmations directed towards our psychological functions, we disidentify from the particular psychological function and identify with the personal self - the center of consciousness and will. Two essential affirmations help us remember and act from a "distance," "above," from a higher perspective. They are:
I AM A WILL; I AM A CONSCIOUS, POTENT, DYNAMIC WILL.
I AM A LIVING, LOVING, WILLING SELF.
An important point is made at the close of this chapter. Assagioli writes, "much of what is said in this book faces two ways at once: one toward the use of the will to accomplish a variety of purposes, the other toward using the will to train the will itself. ... Every act of the will trains the will and each bit of training allows for further acts of will."
