Some people debate the idea of free will.
Well… I guess that’s their choice… 🤔🤣
OK… So, bad dad jokes aside…
What I’ve got for you today is something more practical than philosophical debate:
Volition.
Specifically: Getting good at getting good.
Or, as I put it after one of my patented ‘shower thoughts’ –
“It’s the targeted and intentional improvement of the targeted and intentional improvement of things.”
Let me explain…
Imagine you’re picking up a new habit.
We’ll go with something familiar: exercise.
I love exercise.
For about a month.
Then, inevitably, old habits creep back in.
My enthusiasm fades.
Other things start to feel more urgent.
And next thing I know, the gym feels like a chore again.
I’m sure I’m not the only one.
So, what’s going on here?
It’s not like I don’t know what I’m doing.
I’ve trained (on and off!) for decades.
Different sports. Different disciplines.
And when I do… I go hard.
So…
It’s not knowledge.
It’s not experience.
It’s not discipline.
But that’s where most people tend to look when they start falling off the wagon.
“I’m just not good at exercise.”
“I don’t really have the confidence.”
“I haven’t built that habit yet.”
But, what if these thoughts come from somewhere deeper?
Let’s dig…
What if the problem isn’t in the mind, or the body…
but underneath both?
I’m talking about something I’ve started calling the volition muscle.
It’s the part of you that’s activated when you make a decision.
And when it’s trained well, it does that consistently & shows up when you need it.
That’s because…
Strengthening your volition fortifies self-authorship and helps you develop:
- A stable “I” that sees itself as the author of choices
(Not ruled by mood, pressure, or habit, but moves on purpose.) - Trust in your own follow-through
(Each rep builds evidence. You start to believe yourself.) - Alignment between intention and action
(You stop living in conflict. Momentum kicks in.)
It’s literally training yourself to be good at training yourself.
Building the ability to make a decision and follow through, is the most powerful training you can do.
Bold statement, right? But consider this…
When Descartes said “I think, therefore I am.”
He was only refering to the abstract existence of mind, but…
Just thinking about it doesn’t get results.
If it did, we’d all be jacked and ripped like Adonis or Aphrodite!
Just like if we don’t use our muscles, they become weak.
Your volition muscle is the same.
Action builds – innaction decays.
Every time you decide something and follow through, you strengthen it.
Every time you decide and don’t, it shrinks.
When you follow through, it’s like a mental pump.
You feel clear. Capable. You’ve got momentum on your side.
You might even strut a little.
“Yep, I actually did what I said I would.”
But skip leg day decision day too many times, and that feeling fades.
No pump. No buzz. Momentum slows.
You shrink back into baggy mental clothes and start avoiding the stuff that would’ve moved you forward.
Just like in strength training… you don’t lift the heaviest weight on Day 1.
You add a little more each session.
You build confidence under the bar.
Volition works the same way.
This is why new years resolutions fail…
It’s why my training tends to look like: one month ON… three months OFF…
And just like the gym, progressive overload applies here too…
If you go too big, too fast, you burn out.
What works best is finding that just-right zone…
The one where you’re stretching yourself, but not snapping.
So, start wherever you’re at now so you can built trust with yourself…
If you take on too much, you’ll start avoiding it altogether.
- Pay attention.
- Alter the intensity as needed.
- Play the long game.
It’s funny though… I’ve never seen a fitness program start with this muscle.
But maybe it should?
Because without volition, no other muscle gets trained.
Whatever you’re looking for… It’s probably sitting on the other side of a decision.
~ Chris
P.S. Big thanks to everyone who replied last week and offered to be guinea pigs for the early version of ScriptBusters. I’m putting the finishing touches on it now, and I’d love your thoughts before I launch it as a paid introductory course. (yes, you reading this!)
It’s a quick read… but it digs into some pretty big ideas:
The Top 3 Most Malicious Scripts Running Autopilot in Your Brain (and How to Bust Them).
(Working title… it’s a little cringe but hey… it does what it says on the box!)
Just hit reply with: “Yep” if you’d like an advance review copy in exchange for just telling me briefly what you think. Doesn’t cost a cent 🙂