How to strengthen your willpower

如何加強意志力

Sometimes people found it difficult to slog through difficult tasks when their willpower had been depleted. But willpower can also be strengthened. Here’s how.

人們在意志力薄弱的時候發(fā)現(xiàn)自己難以攻克難關(guān)。但是意志力是可以得到加強的，看看怎么做吧！

1. Don’t keep yourself in a constant state of willpower depletion

不要讓自己停留在意志力低下的狀態(tài)里

Weight-lifting is a great way to build muscle. But you wouldn’t spend half an hour lifting weights just before helping a friend move his furniture because you know that your muscles would be too fatigued to do a good job. Neither would you spend hours daily lifting weights with no recovery time. The same holds for willpower. While wisely exercising self-control is a great way to build willpower, never giving yourself a break is a good way to deplete your resolve.

舉重是鍛煉肌肉的好方法。但是，你不會在幫朋友搬家具之前花半小時舉重，因為你知道你的肌肉會因為太疲勞而難以使上勁，你也不會每天不停歇地連續(xù)幾小時舉重。意志力也是如此，雖然明智地進行自我控制是加強意志力的好方法，但不好好休息也會消耗你的意志力。

2. Think about something else

轉(zhuǎn)移思緒

You can even use your imagination to keep unwanted thoughts at bay. How do you avoid thinking about a white bear (or any other situation that tempts you or fills you with dread)? Train yourself to think about something else: Every time that white bear begins to lurk about in your consciousness, think about a black bear instead. Every time that unwanted thought threatens to intrude on your consciousness, think about something pleasant instead. That puts you in the driver’s seat of your thoughts.

你甚至可以利用自己的想象力來摒除不必要的想法。比如如何避免想到白熊（或任何其他誘惑你或充滿恐懼的情況）？ 訓練自己去思考其他事情：每當白熊開始潛伏在你的意識中時，想想一只黑熊。每每會有不必要的想法侵入你的意識時，請思考一些令人愉快的事情，這能讓你控制住自己的思路。

3. One step at a time?

一步一步來

Oftentimes, people give up not because they lack willpower, but because they feel overwhelmed by the enormity of the goal they must accomplish. A good way to deal with this feeling of overwhelm is to break the goal down into manageable pieces, and line them up in a sequence that guarantees success.

通常，人們放棄并不是因為他們?nèi)狈σ庵玖Γ且驗樗麄兏械讲豢爸刎?，他們被壓迫著必須完成某些目標?處理這種壓倒性感覺的好方法是將目標進行可控化拆解，并將它們排序以一步步完成。