MAKING UNINTERESTING THINGS BECOME INTERESTING BY DEVELOPING VOLUNTARY ATTENTION

It is no longer news that the will power or burning desire is the secret to achieving greater things in life. So how do we develop this strong will? How do we create that burning desire to excel in our choice of ways? Or maybe we should ask this inspiring question instead; how do we pay attention to our choice of pain? By pain I meant;what we are willing to do in order to attain a certain goal. That goal how do we begin to enjoy it without getting discouraged,or get tired or bored while we are at it. What we actually need is to develop that "voluntary attention".

Now what is voluntary Attention? According to a psychologist,William Atkinson, he defined voluntary attention as "the attention directed by the will to some object of our own more or less deliberate selection. It requires a distinct effort of the will in order to focus the attention in this way, and many persons are scarcely aware of its existence, so seldom do they manifest it. Voluntary attention is the result of training and practice, and marks the man of strong will, concentration, and character." Atkinson emphasized further and said "By practice, interest may be given to objects previously uninteresting, and thus the use of the attention develops the interest which further holds it. Interest is the natural road over which attention travels easily, but interest itself may be induced by concentrated attention.

"By studying and examining an object, the attention brings to light many new and novel features regarding the object, and these produce a new interest which in turn attracts further and continued attention.There is no royal road to the development of voluntary attention. The only true method is work,practice, and use. You must practice on uninteresting things, the primary interest being your desire to develop the power of voluntary attention. But as you begin to attend to the uninteresting thing you will become interested in the task for its own sake.

Take some object and "place your mind upon it." Think of its nature, where it came from, its use, its associations, its probable future, of things related to it, etc., etc. Keep the attention firmly upon it, and shut out all outside ideas. Then, after a little practice of this kind, lay aside the object for the time being, and take it up again the next day, endeavoring to discover new points of interest in it. The main thing to be sought is to hold the thing in your mind, and this can be done only by discovering features of interest in it. The interest-loving attention may rebel at this task at first, and will seek to wander from the path into the green pastures which are found on each side thereof. But you must bring the mind back to the task, again and again."