How to Develop and Harness Compulsions

by Dr. Richard C. Myers

WWW.THINKANDREACHPAR.COM

In order to become skillful at anything, the great requirement is persistence. In order for persistence to maintain itself, emotional drive is necessary. Some people have more of this drive than others. Some have it so highly developed that they are possessed by the drive instead of possessing it. One form this takes is that of the compulsion. 

A compulsion can become pathological and senseless when patients feel that they can ward off evil by not stepping on the cracks in the sidewalk or when golfers become superstitious, or it can be harnessed into productive channels. A harnessed compulsion often leads to spectacular achievement. I have seen compulsive people who were only passably bright make straight "A's" in school.

Whenever I have wanted to complete a task that appeared to be arduous, I have deliberately made a compulsion out of it. This is the simplest way I know to provide maximum insurance for success. A compulsion is not difficult to understand if we think of it as a very powerful interest. Any interest can become compulsive. The more we do something, the more interested we are in continuing it. This is true of the hardest and most menial of tasks. I read once of a barber who had become nationally famous and wealthy as an after-dinner speaker. He still continues to barber!!

A proper compulsion can be generated by first overcoming inertia, then establishing correct habits of practice, and finally making these habits so strong that they drive us automatically to learning. It is said that Ben Hogan often practiced in bad weather. By this manner he prepared himself to handle the special variables that surround play in rain, wind, or cold. It is also likely that his habits were so strong that he could not keep from practicing even when the weather was bad.

Fixed ideas-no matter what the source-often lead to persistent errors. There is only one good fixed idea: do what the situation calls for. The problem is to develop a useful compulsion to improve but to guard against trying to solve all problems with one solution.