For the past two months, we have been exploring our six mental faculties. First we looked at imagination, then intuition, and this month we delve into the will.

When President Kennedy asked Dr. Wernher Von Braun what it would take to build a rocket that could carry a man to the moon and bring him back safely to the Earth, Von Braun answered him in five words, “The will to do it.”

The will often gets confused with willpower. They are not the same. Willpower is about using mental strength to force something to happen. Using willpower, you can actually experience some results in the short run, but it lacks staying power because there is no power ‘within’ it or inherent to it. Those changes only happen as long as the force of willpower is present. It’s kind of like holding a beach ball under water. It requires a lot of effort, and as soon as you stop exerting force, the ball bounces to the surface.

The will however, is about focus not force. The will is the mental faculty that enables you to hold one idea on the screen of your mind to the exclusion of all outside distractions. It is about being able to focus, in a concentrated way, on the image of that which we would love to create or be or do or have. It requires, being able to, in your mind, move inside the thing – live in the house, do the work, have the body, feel the love. When we are able to focus in this way, we become a vibrational match to that imagined life and in so doing we magnetize its arrival. This kind of focus of the mind, rather than using force, is done with joy and confidence and ease as the power of that image pulls us forward.

Focus is a powerful thing. In fact, the only difference between incandescent light which lights a room and laser, which cuts through steel is one thing – focus. When we learn to focus our mind on a desired goal – to see it, feel it, stay focused on, and become one with it, the manifesting power is undeniable.

Abraham-Hicks actually quantified the manifesting power of focused thought. According to Abraham, a thought that is held for 17 seconds of undiluted focus – reaches a powerful point of charge, so that it will attract an equivalent thought, and increase its power exponentially… The charge increases in increments of 17 seconds, reaching the 51 seconds mark, and eventually, at 68 seconds the final thought is so powerful that it will produce actual manifestation.

Now here’s the fascinating thing… According to Abraham, if you are able to hold the pure thought for 17 seconds, the energy expansion is equivalent to 2,000 action hours or the equivalent of mini-miracle. At the end of another 17 seconds, the next thought combusts. You get 34 seconds. The energy expansion is 20,000 action hours. With 68 seconds, you get 2,000,000 action hours.

Pretty fascinating stuff!

Given the incredible power of the will, how do we strengthen it and in order to use it as a powerful manifesting force in our life? Here are some suggestions…

Notice what you’re noticing. An initial step is just to notice what you’re noticing. If your thoughts aren’t in harmony with what it is you want to create in your life, change them. Only allow those thoughts which are good, and true and life giving and in harmony with your vision for your life.

Candle Trick. Bob Proctor suggests that one of the ways to practice focus, is to light a candle, stare and the flame and focus your thoughts on the flame. Try it for just 30 seconds. If your thoughts wonder, go back to the flame again and only think about the flame. Continue practicing this until you are able to build up to 68 seconds of uninterrupted, concentrated thought.

Meditate. Meditation is a powerful tool for training the mind. There are many different forms of mediation, but one common thread is that meditation teaches us to focus on the breath. We go back to the breath as a central, grounding focus. Learning to focus on our breath exercises and strengthens our mental muscle called the will.

Focus over force, that’s the key when it comes to strengthening this commonly misunderstood mental faculty called the will. When we apply the focus of the will to the image of the life we have imagined, we create a powerful magnet for its manifestation.

So many of our dreams at first seem impossible, and then they seem improbable, and then we summon the will, and soon they become inevitable. ~ Christopher Reeve