Is a Too High Willpower Bad for You?
“Where there is a will, there is a way. If there is a chance in a million that you can do something, anything, to keep what you want from ending, do it. Pry the door open or, if need be, wedge your foot in that door and keep it open.” - Pauline Kael
Willpower is considered to be an internal force that lets you do the impossible! It is the carrier in the worst times of life and the most testing phases. Willpower refers to ‘a stupendous effort of will’. Will is defined as ‘the faculty by which a person decides on or initiates action’.
Despite all the positive words about what makes the world move, can there be any problems associated with willpower? Is a too high willpower bad for you? Let’s see some of the instances where it may indeed be harmful:
1. You Override Feelings of Others
Willpower is a good thing when you use it for some good deeds, be it for yourself or anyone else in society or the society itself. There are some beautiful examples of willpower literally moving the world. However, it can harm if you override the feelings of others and hurt them in the process. For example, for winning a race, a rider might be seen intentionally hurting the other riders to get to his victory.
It has happened in the past, and it is truly bad and shameful. Your will to succeed doesn’t have to be someone else’s hurt or even life in worst cases.
2. You Don’t Feel the Emotions
Willpower can also be where you fail to see your own emotions. Think about someone ignoring important events of the family. While it is good to be spirited and focused, you still can’t miss all the important emotions and relations in life for the sake of success. In the end, even if you succeed riding on your willpower, you won’t have anyone to celebrate your victory with.
3. You Don’t See Right and Wrong
It is pretty easy to fall into unethical policies. There are so many easy options to get your work done or to make your tasks easier these days. These may include bribing, cheating, getting someone killed, and so on. These are practices so common, especially in the corporate world of the 21st century, the news is often filled with such scary incidents.
They are also a result of a high willpower- so high that it burns the humanity of the person doing the deeds and burns several others in the process.
Anything in its extreme form is bad and same is the case with will power. You may feel so possessed that you may not at all consider others, be it emotionally or physically. Hitler had a great will power. He committed so many atrocities by using that will power. Michael Phelps, on the other hand, also has a great will power. He has used that to delight the world instead of terrorizing it.
