"Impose your will on your opponent/impose my will on my opponent", and its many variations is one of the most used terms getting around. It’s assumed we all know what it means, but can anyone define this concept?

What does it really mean?

Among the many ways it is used, below are two of the most common insinuations:

*It is having a strategy and successfully carrying it out

*It is having heart, spirit, courage and being able to persevere through adversity

If it is either, or both, of the above statements, every fighter is going in with that intention, or else they would not be competing, or they wouldn’t be there in the first place. This would make it a rather meaningless statement.

Does it mean something else? Is it really saying anything specific at all?

(Personally I think it’d be a bit sad to categorise this as another overused and dried out cliché, as it is attributed to one of the greatest fighters, Randy Couture.)

If it be can defined, do we know:

*How does one go about "imposing your will"?

*Is it that important? If so, is it more important than other factors, such as physical abilities and skills?

I want answers.