At one end of the scale, the infant screams and cries out for what it wants, at the other end we have the psychologically mature individual who silently wills for what is good or necessary and the universe responds to that silent aspiration. In between there are a great many stages.The more we grow psychologically, the greater our capacity to influence external events and other people to respond to our thoughts, feelings and aspirations. The more you can move up the ladder of silence and the more your grow ,the greater is your power for accomplishment and fulfillment.
Here are a few powerful methods to increase your effectiveness as well as your harmony with other people.
An Author's Dilemma[]
The Vice President of the American Management Association decided at age 55 to fulfill his childhood dream of becoming a successful author. Part of his plan was to interview senior executives at a dozen Fortune 100 companies. The author approached 20 companies in the hope that at least 12 would consent. Among them was Sears, the largest retailer in the world at the time. When no company came forward to commit itself, he requested a meeting with the VP of Corporate Communications at Sears. The VP whom the author met greeted him politely then explained in detail why Sears could not participate in his book project. The company simply received too many requests and its executives were too busy. Besides, leading magazines with huge circulation such as Fortune and Business Week were eager to do stories that were likely to reach a far larger population.
When the would-be-author heard the Sears VP's reply he felt disheartened but not defeated. He had prepared a presentation citing many advantages of his proposal. Although he had a strong urge to interrupt the VP and aggressively present his own case, he made a conscious decision to restrain his eagerness and practice silent will.
After poking holes in his proposal for 20 minutes, the Sears executive suddenly and inexplicably began to change his tune. In the next 20 minutes he listed out all the advantages of the book proposal -- which the author had in mind but had never spoken! Again the author felt a powerful urge to chime in with his own points, but he refrained.
At the end of that time, the VP said he was thoroughly convinced about the proposal and would recommend it to the Management Team. He stood up, walked the author to the door and commented, "You really are a persuasive person." The author had not said a single thing in his own favor during the meeting! The following week Sears officially accepted the proposal. In the following month, another 15 companies including Apple, Intel, Coke, and IBM did too. The book, The Vital Difference, became a success in America and was translated into five foreign languages.
Silent Will works in various ways--
- When we consciously practise it.
- When circumstances prevent us from speaking our thoughts;
- As we wait for another to finish his speech, we see the silent will working when he speaks out the ideas we wanted to voice later.
- Out of politeness or reticence, we often refrain from speaking and then we witness this phenomenon.
- Out of pride, we decide not to ask for what is our due. There also, the other person takes initiative to speak our thoughts.
Conserve your energy[]
Accomplishment depends on energy. Each time we speak out we consume energy both physical energy and vital or emotional energy. If people disagree with us and start to quarrel, then much more energy is consumed in responding and countering their views. Silent will is a means to increase our effectiveness by reducing the wasteful expenditure of energy. How many times have we seen the over enthusiastic individual endlessly running on about a project or idea, only to accomplish nothing. However, great accomplishment can often be seen by the calm individual who quietly goes about "getting it done"!
In a work situation, the efficiency and quality will improve dramatically if the people involved agree to
- speak only the minimum words necessary to convey their meaning
- speak in the softest voice possible so that people can clearly hear
- avoid gossip of all descriptions
If these three guidelines are followed, you will feel an atmosphere of peace and concentration building up. Work will go more smoothly. You may also feel a quiet happy feeling. Other people who enter the place will feel something special is going on.
Think rather than speak[]
All of us confront situations in which we think we know exactly what should be done, but when we express our idea other people immediately start to disagree with it. This negative tendency is natural to the human mind and ego which feels the urge to dominate over others and does not enjoy submitting to the views of other people. Every boss knows that employees respond more enthusiastically and work more effectively when they think they are carrying out their own ideas, rather than orders or instructions from above. Every parent knows that children like to question and pick wholes in what they are told. So what is the solution to this dilemma? Silent will is a method to overcome the opposition that is generated when we voice our ideas or intentions to others. According to The Secret, when we formulate a clear and powerful intention, the universe will respond and create the conditions for us to fulfill it. Silent will is based on a similar principle. When we formulate a clear thought or will, but do not express it, we find other people giving expression to the very same intention as if it were their own. Why does silent thought work? It works because thoughts are universal. When we refrain from expressing our thoughts in words, the vibration of thought reaches other people directly. Often they receive it as their own thought. All of us have a tendency to give more weight and credence to our own thoughts than to those of other people.
Will rather than demand[]
Silent thought is more powerful than spoken thought. So also silent will is more powerful than speaking out and demanding what we want of others. It works because it eliminates the ego’s sense of competition. Instead of resisting an idea because it comes from another person, people become advocates of the idea because they think they have thought of it themselves. To those who have not discovered the power of silent will, this method may seem far-fetched or fantastic. But once you start practicing it, you will find it definitely works and works far better than speaking out.
When silence may not work[]
The power of silence comes from the energy of our mind and will. When we strongly believe in something and strongly aspire for it, not expressing it, is more powerful than expressing it. However, there are times when we are afraid to speak out or doubt our own convictions or hesitate because we are not sure we are right, etc. In these instances, we lack the clarity and strength of will, so remaining silent is not likely to evoke a response. Silent will is not a remedy for lack of strength. It is a way to make the strength we have more effective.
Don’t insist[]
Clashes with other people often arise when we strongly believe something and think we are right, when we very much want to do something different than other people, or when we feel an urgent need to get a particular result. But if you examine your own experiences and those of other people, you will discover a great truth of life:
- When we insist on getting our way and prevail over other people, most often the result is very different than we anticipated.
- Even when things go the way we wanted them to, later on we find other people insisting in a manner very similar to the way we did.
- If other people do not make similar demands on us, then we find life itself creates circumstances that are very demanding!
The truth is that insisting on our way or our preferences is usually to insist on ego. Growth of personality means to outgrow the ego. Happiness comes in the measure when we learn not to demand and insist. This is a truth of life that is valid even when other people are willing to go along with us. Just because people are willing to submit to our preferences, our insistence, our demands, does not mean it is right or good for us to exercise the power they give us. Remember, everything we do comes back to us from life. If we insist now and life obliges, later on we will have to oblige life in just the same way. It is better to do the right thing, than the things we like.
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