Life 101: Willpower
Willpower is an interesting thing. To quote the Oxford New Desk Dictionary and Thesaurus Third Edition, willpower is a noun that means “control exercised by deliberate purpose over impulse”. This means that instead of caving in to your base instincts, you do not give in. However, that is only the tip of the iceberg. Realistically, willpower can mean overcoming not only your base instincts, but your first impressions, your complex emotions, and even your own humanity. That too is a form of willpower. And why is this so important? Well, it is because willpower can be broken down into three words that encompass it in its entirety. Those three words are patience, perseverance, and personality.
The first word is patience. Patience, as related to willpower, is the ability to wait and overcome through tolerance of one’s desires and base instincts. That incredible “I am so full of myself” sentence just means that it is the ability to wait. You wait and see how things will pan out. You wait for something to end. You wait until it, whatever it is, is obtainable. That is patience. Patience would be akin to finding out that your favorite anime series has a release date set for next year and then waiting without exploding from excitement for that full year. That would be patience.
The next word is perseverance. Perseverance, as related to willpower, is the ability to achieve the desired outcome, regardless of the other circumstances. Simple ways of looking at this is the ability to overcome extreme duress or torture. A video game example would be to grind the same spot for a rare item that rarely drops until you obtain said item. Perseverance is similar to patience, but patience is the wait, and perseverance is the conclusion of the story. It is truly obtaining the desired result, despite the setbacks. You need patience to do so, but you need to persevere in the end with it for results.
The last word is personality. Personality, as related to willpower, has no relation to personality stereotypes… kinda. Specifically, there are a few personality types that will greatly increase the likelihood that you will persevere. It helps to be stubborn. This one is the vast majority of those with the willpower to see things through. They refuse to yield, sometimes foolishly so, because their mind has already been made up from the get-go. These people do not yield because they have decided not to, for whatever reason. Stubborn personalities as I just described them can also be considered foolish, decisive, strong in spirit, among other things. And just because you have a stubborn personality, does not mean that is a negative trait. It can actually be a good thing to not yield. The next personality type is leadership. This type of personality is one that remains ahead or above the crowd. They do not let the dissent of those around them or below them affect their firm resolve to see things through to the end. Other words for them include authority, judgement, and for the greater good. A leadership type can lose their standing in a group, however, if they are too callous to those they are making the decisions for, while one who is too sympathetic may do the opposite and make choices based on popularity rather than the “correct” path. Finally, the last is loner. This one stands out because it is specifically for the lone wolf types and the antisocial types. They have no regard for those around them. They make their decision and forge their own path despite what others say. They have the easiest type making their decisions because they are unaffected by others. However, if they tread the wrong path or make a mistake, they have the greatest challenge when it comes to undoing their mistakes.
Patience, perseverance, and personality all roll into willpower. And it is these three P words that gives you a taste of what willpower really is about. And people may individually demonstrate patience, perseverance, or personality on their own naturally, but it does take a “deliberate purpose over impulse” to display true willpower.
An "Anime's" Point of View 
Leave a comment