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How Flexible Is Your Will?

  • Writer: Deric Hollings
    Deric Hollings
  • 22 hours ago
  • 6 min read

 

As Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy (REBT) is informed by Stoic philosophy, this blog entry is part of an ongoing series regarding a book entitled The Daily Stoic: 366 Meditations on Wisdom, Perseverance, and the Art of Living by Ryan Holiday and Stephen Hanselman.

 

Marcus Aurelius stated, “Remember that to change your mind and to follow someone’s correction are consistent with a free will. For the action is yours alone—to fulfill its purpose in keeping with your impulse and judgment, and yes, with your intelligence” (page 287).

 

For clarity, the American Psychological Association defines will as “the capacity or faculty by which a human being is able to make choices and determine their own behaviors in spite of influences external to the person” and “a determined and persistent purpose or intent.”

 

Although I’m aware that some people don’t believe that human beings have free well, I’m not convinced by their arguments. I maintain that we have personal agency, as well as personal responsibility and accountability (collectively “ownership”) to exercise our evident free will.

 

Of this, authors of The Daily Stoic state, “When you set your mind to a task, do you always follow through? It’s an impressive feat if you do. But don’t let yourself become a prisoner of that kind of determination. That asset might become a liability someday” (page 287).

 

When practicing REBT in my personal and professional life, I bear in mind – to inform how I exercise my free will – that flexibility versus rigidity is helpful with the agency and ownership I wield. Using a similar approach to rational living, authors of The Daily Stoic state (page 287):

 

Conditions change. New facts come in. Circumstances arise. If you can’t adapt to them—if you simply proceed onward, unable to adjust according to this additional information—you are no better than a robot.

 

The point is not to have an iron will, but an adaptable will—a will that makes full use of reason to clarify perception, impulse, and judgment to act effectively for the right purpose.

 

To expand upon this view, I ask that you forgive me a personal anecdote. Within my blog, I’ve noted that I maintain small-l libertarian views. Specifically, I favor a fiscally conservative and socially liberal perspective. Thus, I generally haven’t supported welfare measures (financial aid).

 

Nevertheless, as I’ve watched how United States politicians – both Democrat and Republican – have supported war for as long as I’ve been alive, I’ve adapted my worldview. If involuntary taxes are to be used for something, I’d rather my money go to welfare instead of warfighting.

 

All the same, even with this flexible perspective, I maintain a malleable approach. This is because an inflexible view wouldn’t serve my interests and goals when the government does whatever it will do anyway. Given this example of free will, how flexible is your will?

 

In closing, authors of The Daily Stoic state, “It’s not weak to change and adapt. Flexibility is its own kind of strength. In fact, this flexibility combined with strength is what will make us resilient and unstoppable” (page 287). I think “unstoppable” is a bit hyperbolic.

 

In any event, I invite you to flexibly use free will – rather than to inflexibly demand that things must go according to your will – by exercising agency and ownership. As well, if you’d like to know more about how free will is used in REBT, then I look forward to hearing from you.

 

If you’re looking for a provider who tries to work to help understand how thinking impacts physical, mental, emotional, and behavioral elements of your life—helping you to sharpen your critical thinking skills, I invite you to reach out today by using the contact widget on my website.

 

As a psychotherapist, I’m pleased to try to help people with an assortment of issues ranging from anger (hostility, rage, and aggression) to relational issues, adjustment matters, trauma experience, justice involvement, attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, anxiety and depression, and other mood or personality-related matters.

 

At Hollings Therapy, LLC, serving all of Texas, I aim to treat clients with dignity and respect while offering a multi-lensed approach to the practice of psychotherapy and life coaching. My mission includes: Prioritizing the cognitive and emotive needs of clients, an overall reduction in client suffering, and supporting sustainable growth for the clients I serve. Rather than simply trying to help you to feel better, I want to try to help you get better!

 

 

Deric Hollings, LPC, LCSW


 

References:

 

APA Dictionary of Psychology. (2018, April 19). Intention. American Psychological Association. Retrieved from https://dictionary.apa.org/intention

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Holiday, R. and Hanselman, S. (2016). The daily stoic: 366 meditations on wisdom, perseverance, and the art of living. Penguin Random House LLC. Retrieved from https://www.pdfdrive.com/the-daily-stoic-366-meditations-on-wisdom-perseverance-and-the-art-of-living-d61378067.html

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