"I Want" vs. "I Will"

We always WANT something. We don't always have the WILL to get it. Saying I WANT is easy, because no action is required. It's much harder to say I WILL, because that means you actually have to do something.

You will find that you could make more things happen by simply switching from "I Want" to "I Will."

Switch...
 

• "I want to lose weight" to "I will lose weight."
• "I want a better job" to "I will get a better job."
• "I want to write a book" to "I will write a book."
• "I want to get up earlier" to "I will get up earlier."
• "I want to be nicer" to "I will be nicer."
• "I want my house clean" to "I will clean my house."

When you simply say "I want," there is never any plan of action. When you say that you actually WILL do something, then that is when the magic starts to happen.

If you're struggling with a bad addiction, you usually keep wishing that you could stop. You say over and over, "Man, I WANT to stop this," "This addiction is ruining my life and I wish I could stop," "I hope that I could stop one day."

What do you see there? Nothing but wishful thinking. All dreams, but no actions.

One time, the great King Solomon of Israel once said, "Those who work their land will have abundant food, but those who chase fantasies have no sense" (Proverbs 12:11). Or in other words, those who actually have the WILL to do something will see changes, but those who simply WISH for something with no plan of action won't get anything. It's the difference between a farmer who plants seeds and a farmer who just wishes that something will grow from nothing!

When you get up in the morning, get into the habit of saying "This is what I am going to do" and actually do it. Don't end the day without accomplishing what you said you would do. And what you're planning to do doesn't have to be big. Simply saying "I will take out the garbage" is good enough! Simply saying "I will take a 5-minute walk around the neighborhood" is good enough! No, these aren't big actions, but these small actions WILL get you in the habit of saying "I will" and actually accomplishing what you willed to do.

When we were children, saying "I want" actually had meaning, because we had a plan of getting what we wanted: we would ask our parents if they could get it for us! As we get older, "I want" lost any impact on our lives because we rarely have a plan to get what we want. This is why we need to switch from saying "I want" to "I will." At least by saying "I will," we would be a bit more compelled to do something about it.

Before you say "I want," ask yourself, "Do I actually want to do something about it or am I just wishing?" It doesn't take much to wish. Anybody could wish. But could you actually DO SOMETHING about what you want?