In the book "Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions" (commonly referred to as the 12&12), it states on pg. 40, in the essay about the 3rd Step:
"... it appears that there are certain things which only the individual can do. All by himself, and in the light of his own circumstances, he needs to develop the quality of willingness."
A good sponsor can help motivate you, but motivation just makes being willing easier -- I would suggest that it is not actually willingness itself.
I have to say, on this point the 12&12 just sort of leaves you hanging -- so many other places in AA literature offer clear cut instructions as to not only what needs to be done (as in this particular case, the need for the individual to become willing) but also how to do it.
Involving the help of a Higher Power -- whatever that may mean to you -- is likely a critical component in this process -- and the discussion of the 3rd Step in the 12&12 is all about giving yourself over in that way. But in reading this essay recently with someone, when we got to this paragraph they asked the very pointed question, "how, then, if I'm supposed to do it all on my own, am I supposed to 'develop the quality of willingness?'"
I started to make a flip answer along the lines of, "Well, you need to start doing things differently. If you want different feelings you have to take different actions." And yes, that's true -- very true, in fact. To put it in Fischer Price terms, healthy actions bring healthy thoughts and feelings, sick actions ... you get it.
And over the years I've heard this truism expressed in a number of ways: "Esteemable acts bring self esteem" is one of my favorites, for example. You might even extrapolate this point out to a cornerstone of how AA itself heals me. As I've both heard and shared in meetings, I have never been able to substantively change my thinking with other thoughts -- I've only been able to change my thinking with actions. In fact, trying to change my problem thinking with more thinking is trying to use the problem to fix the problem -- not generally a successful strategy.
But it struck me that in some ways the willingness to do something often sort of precedes the new action. And from what we just read in the 12&12, it sort of felt like the literature was, in this passage anyway, saying, "Ok, kid, this part is key. Critical! But you're on your own. Good luck with that!"
So I gave it some thought, and sipped my coffee (ah, caffeine, boon to my inspiration!)
I think that for me, developing the quality of willingness has been predicated on developing an open mind. I have to sort of be open to the idea that this new thing/behavior is going to work, before I become willing to give it a go. It's not wholly a mental exercise of course, there is a "just do it" element, an "if you want what we've got, do what we did" thread running through this when we're new to AA. But still, for me, an open mind has I think been hand-in-hand with my willingness.
Now, the good news is, developing an open mind is actually really easy. There's only one word I've ever needed to do so, and even if I use the word grudgingly, or dripping with scorn, or laced with sarcasm, it still seems to work.
The word is: Maybe.
If I try to embrace that word, however falteringly, it can allow a slender, needle-thin shaft of light to penetrate the tightly shuttered darkness of my closed mind. (Oooh, how writerly! Metaphors. Images. Fancy!)
Embarrassingly, in those times in my head, it can look like this:
Maybe I'll feel a little better if I try -- God knows, I couldn't feel much worse.
Maybe this won't completely suck.
Maybe at least one thing here can help me.
Maybe one of these people will say something useful.
(In that last one, the word "people" is not the word I probably used.)
If I can get to maybe, I have opened the door a crack. And once I open the door a crack, I can reach through and grab hold of a tiny piece of willing.
From there, for me, that's how it builds.
My life has been transformed not with blinding white light experiences, although I believe some people have had such things. No, for me, my life has been transformed most often by these tiny, infinitesimal, almost grudging, shifts in attitude and then eventually, consciousness.
Words shape my thoughts, my thoughts start my actions, then my actions reach back and change my feelings and my thinking. It's a powerful process, and as with anything powerful, I can use it to help or harm.
But I don't have to be fully motivated at the outset. When I start, I don't have to believe 100% in the power of this process to change me.
To begin, I just have to get to "maybe."