如何培养坚定的意志力How to Build Firm Willpower
尽管我们用判断力思考问题，但最终解决问题的还是意志，而不是才智
——沃勒
世上无难事，只畏有心人。有心之人，即立志之坚午也，志坚则不畏事之不成。
——任弼时
当你看到这个题目后，如果你打算继续阅读下去，那么请坚持着把这篇文章认真地读完，将它当作是你培养意志力所做的第一件事；看完这篇之后，如果你觉得我说得方法可行，那么请坚持着使用我说得方法进行训练，直到你认为你已经培养了自己坚定的意志力。
首先我们要搞清楚，什么是“意志力”呢？词典上将“意志力”解释成“控制人的冲动和行动的力量”，其中最关键的是“控制”和“力量”这两个词。我对它的理解是“人对自己行为的控制力”，这种“控制力”越强，你越是能更好得控制自己的行为，控制力强的人表现在：做事情有耐心，不急躁；一旦确定了目标，就要坚持不懈地把它完成；遇到挫折时，努力想办法解决，直到将它克服；每天都能够坚持做平凡枯燥但是又是必须做的事情。相反地，控制力弱的人，往往不能控制自己的行为，举几个例子：吸毒者不能在戒毒所中戒毒（我认识这是对人意志力真正的考验）；不能克服某些欲望，比如说吸烟、酗酒、手淫等等；经常给自己订计划，下决心，却总是不能坚持做下去；工作中遇到困难时，总是轻言放弃；对于自己的工作感到厌烦，不能坚持着做下去。
如果你是个意志力坚强的人，那么首先恭喜你，你拥有了一项成功的资本，希望你能够继续保持它；如果你是个意志力薄弱的人，你经常为自己的行为感到后悔，并且希望采取一定的方法来培养自己的意志力，那么请继续读下去，你会得到你想要的东西。
关于如何培养意志力，网上已经有很多这样的文章，为什么我还要在重复写这个话题呢？我在网上搜索了一下关于这个话题的文章，发现几乎所有的文章都有告诉你一些方法或者步骤，可是实施起来却又让你无从下手。其原因就在于它只是给出了方法或者步骤，而我觉得在实施这些方法或步骤之前，如果你没有足够坚定的意志力的话，你会发现更本不可能坚持下去。它没有明确地告诉你应该怎么去做，而我这篇文章就是要解决这个问题。请原谅我用这么多废话来告诉你我写这篇文章的目的，我觉得有必要让你知道，下面步入正题。
意志力并非是生来就有或者不可能改变的特性，它属于人性中后天的成分， 我们可以完全可以通过一些途径来培养它。这篇文章中我所推荐的三个方法是：长跑、洗凉水澡和俯卧撑（女生可以做仰卧起坐）。之所以选择这三个方法，一来是它们确实能够起到很好的作用，让你经过一段时间训练后，培养起坚强的意志力；二来它们也能够锻炼你的身体，何乐而不为呢？
方法一：长跑。
很多文章中都曾提到这个方法，看来它的确是一个非常有效的途径。我也提倡使用这个方法，可是我所说的长跑与以往的文章所不同的一点是：长跑不但要每天坚持，而且要逐渐的增加强度。
“坚持每天早上跑步”，这是大多数文章给的一句概括，我认为这个方法在培养意志力的初期效果会非常明显，可是随着身体的逐步适应，效果就会逐渐的减弱，所以我提出了在每天坚持的基础上，逐渐的增加强度。具体的方法如下：
制定一个合理的计划，包括目标和完成目标的期限。目标一定要明确，研究证明，越是明确、具体的目标，实现起来越是有动力，因此不要对自己说“我要每天跑步”、“我要在明天多跑段距离”，而应该这样告诉自己“我要坚持每天在晚上8点中跑三千米”、“我要在明天比今天多跑一千米”，只有这样的目标才是有说服力的；完成目标的期限一定要在实施计划前设定，而且也要明确、具体，比如说“我要在三个月内做到一次跑完一万米”。具体的计划要根据自己的情况来设定，第一个月你要给自己设定一个可以承受的目标（比如说每天跑两千米），这个目标不能设定的过高，最关键的是你要坚持下来。界上最简单的事情就是坚持，最困难的事情也是坚持，万事开头难，因此，第一个月能不能坚持下来，决定着你这个训练能否成功。因此目标不能设定的太高，太高的话不容易完成，就会让你失去信心，当然也不能太低（每天五百米 ），过低的话太容易完成，没有挑战性的工作对你的意志力培养是没有好处的。如果第一个月你能够坚持下来，那么恭喜你，你已经初步培养了意志力，接下来做的仍然是坚持下去，不过从这时候开始你要给自己增加强度了，强度也要根据自己的情况设定，标准和设定初期的目标一样，不能偏高也不能偏低，以每个月或每两个月为一个周期，每个周期内都增加一定的强度，直到这个强度到大你的极限为止。这时候，你会惊奇的发现你已经拥有了对自己行为的“控制力”，你不必每天都跑那么长了，距离可以根据情况来订，但至少要保证每周一到两次最长距离的训练。关于长跑的计划如何设定，是一个比较难以界定的问题，我会继续查阅相关的资料，以后会专门写篇文章来详细介绍长跑这个方法。想使用这个方法进行训练的朋友不妨订阅我的博客，你能够在第一时间看到我的文章，欢迎使用抓虾、google或者其他订阅工具订阅。臭美一下，我在高中的时候进行了两年的长跑训练，高三时在全国无线电分区赛中拿了第二名，荣获“国家二级运动员”称号。在高中之前，我还是跑上几百米就喘的不行，经过两年的训练后，我轻松地就能拿下五千米。而我的意志力也在其中得到了加强，并且高中三年、大一期间我几乎没有得过任何疾病，这都得益于那两年的长跑。
告诉自己这样做的好处。如果你看不到实际好处而对长跑三心二意的话，光有计划是无法使你心甘情愿地穿上跑鞋的。长跑的好处你应该是知道的，在实施计划之前，你就要不断地告诉自己——“长跑将对我的身体起到很好的锻炼作用，长跑会使我培养成坚忍的意志力”，然后穿上你跑鞋，怀着坚定的信念，跑下去吧。在实施计划的过程中，你可以记录自己训练的成果，比如说：我的肌肉更有力量了，生活也充满了活力；我很少得病了，这为我节省了很多金钱；我做事情更有耐心了，这让我更容易将我的工作做好。用这些好处刺激你，会使你激发更多的动力去将这个计划坚持下去，最终培养起坚忍的意志力。
改变自我的一贯作风。光知道长跑的好处是不够的，最根本的动力产生于改变自己作风和把握自己生活的愿望。道理有时可以使人信服，但只有在感情因素被激发起来时，自己才能真正加以响应。如果你有这样的想法——“今天下雨了，就不去跑步了”、“我今天工作很累了，不跑步了，先去睡觉”，那么请改变自己的作风吧，今天的偷懒会为你明天偷懒准备理由，明天偷懒会为你今后偷懒准备理由，如果你真的想培养坚定的意志力，就要不间断的进行这个训练。或者这需要很强的意志力才能做到，你所要做的就是将这种意志力激发起来，可行的办法就是改变你的作风，如果今天下雨了，你要告诉你“今天下雨了，我要在室内跑三千米”、“今天太累了，我可以慢慢跑完，然后在美美的睡上一觉”。
完不成任务的惩罚。对，就是这样，完不成任务就要给自己一定的惩罚，以此来督促自己按照计划上的规定进行训练。比如说，你可以这样写在你的长跑计划上：“如果我今天晚上没有坚持跑步的话，我就坚决不吃晚饭”、“如果我今天不能比昨天多跑五百米的话，我就绝对不上网（或者不看电视）”。而且这个惩罚一定要由某个人但监督，比如说你的父母、妻子或者同学。这样如果你想偷懒的话，你的监督人就会警告你，而你也会因为不去兑现自己的承诺而感到羞愧，继而产生动力去完成任务。
不要一口吃个胖子。心急吃不了热豆腐，意志力的培养不是一天两天能够实现的，这需要一个长期的过程。长跑的目的不在于你能够跑多长，而在于它是否能够帮助你养成坚强的意志力，增加强度的目的也在于此，因此，训练的标准不是我非要跑多长多长路程，而是我要坚持多长多长时间。即使你增加的强度很小，但只要你能够长期坚持下来，就能够帮助你培养坚忍的意志力。
找个人和你一起跑。一个人跑起来会感到很无聊，你可以找个与你有着共同兴趣的朋友一起来跑，这样会更有趣一些。但是这样会有一个问题，比如说你的朋友告诉你说：“今天我有点事情，不想去跑了。”你是不是动摇了，你可能会告诉自己“他不跑了，我也不跑吧。”真正考验你的时候到了，是自己一个人去跑呢？还是和他一样给自己放假呢？选择了前者，说明你的意志力已经足够坚定地去抵制懒惰的诱惑了，选择了后者，说明你的意志还不够坚定，没人能够帮助你，想想你给自己设定的计划，想想你要对自己实施的惩罚，激发起你的动力吧。如果你的朋友经常不能坚持下去，那么不要和他一起跑步了，这时候他已经不在是你坚持长跑的动力，而是使你动摇决心的诱惑了，你要学会对朋友说不字。
坚持到底才是胜利。长跑是一项比较枯燥的运动，能坚持到底才是最终的胜利。而坚持是需要意志力的，如果你能够按照自己设定的计划来训练，你就能逐步地培养起意志力，而培养地意志力又为长期坚持下去提供动力，因此这是一个良性循环的过程，按照计划长期的训练下去，你一定能够坚持到培养起坚定的意志力。
罗罗嗦嗦了这么多，把长跑的具体方法告诉了你，我知道要真的去按照这个方法进行训练需要很大的勇气和毅力，但是一旦你能够坚持下去，你会惊奇的发现它为你带来的好处。
方法二：洗凉水澡
这个方法有人曾经用过，而且我们大家都知道，那就是我们伟大的毛主席。毛泽东在一师上学的时候，坚持每天都用从井里打出来的凉水擦身、冲澡，也正因为如此，他老人家的身体一直很健康，而我觉得，他在革命期间艰苦的条件下所表现出来的坚强的意志力与他坚持洗凉水澡有着很大的关系。邓小平一生坚持冲凉水澡，就是在十二月寒冷的北京，他依然坚持用凉水冲澡。目前我也在每天坚持冲凉水澡，不过现在是夏天，冲凉水澡还很舒服，就看我能不能坚持到冬天了，大家给我做个监督。
洗凉水澡关键也是个坚持的问题，不过在进行这个训练的过程中需要注意许多事项：
一定要循序渐进。刚开始训练时，要遵循洗浴的部位“由局部到全身”、水的温度“由高渐低”以及洗浴的时间“由短渐长”三个规则。第一次洗的时候可以选用温水，洗的时候先洗双手及胳膊，然后是双腿，接着是胸部，最后是背，先把局部都洗过之后，然后全身范围内冲洗，第一次洗的时间不易过长，十分钟之内即可。接着就要坚持一段时间，这个期间内，不降低水的温度，只增加洗浴的时间，这称为第一个阶段。过后，就要开始降低水温，然后重复第一个阶段，直到完全适应了这个温度，继续降低水温直到不需要添加热水为止。训练也应该有季节性，应该是从夏天开始训练，然后逐步过渡到秋季，最后过渡到冬季。如果从秋季或者春季就开始的话，会由于不适应而得病。
体质差的朋友不宜洗冷水澡。洗冷水澡时因水温过低，人体会感到寒冷，产生一系列应激反应，如心跳加快，血压升高，肌肉收缩，神经紧张等，对于那些身体体质较差的朋友不，但不能消除疲劳，还会因冷的刺激，引发感冒、发热等疾病。洗凉水澡的目的是为了强身健体，锻炼坚强的意志力，可是如果因此而得病，还是劝君莫试为好。
女性不要洗冷水澡。女性因其特殊的生理原因，特别是在经期，哺乳期，怀孕期间的女性朋友，遇到冷水的刺激会引起女性内分泌失调，闭经，腹痛，而且许多细菌也会进入阴道引 发阴道炎等妇科疾病，严重的对女性以后怀孕、生理健康都有一定的影响。
冠心病人切忌洗冷水澡，夏炼出汗后慎洗冷水澡，性生活后别洗冷水澡，劳动后慎洗冷水澡。以上四点是我在网上找的，理由不再详述，切记就好。
总之我觉得洗凉水澡是一项很好的训练方法，而且现在大多数人都具备这个条件，科学证明，洗凉水澡确实对身体有很多好处，而且能够坚持下去一定可以锻炼你坚忍的意志力，何不去试试呢？
方法三：俯卧撑（女生也可以做仰卧起坐）
方法类似于长跑和洗冷水早，并且需要的条件也非常少，具体的做法只举个例子说明一下：
如何才能锻炼一个人的意志力呢？我个人的经验是每天练习俯卧撑，记得2003年刚开始练的时候，因为从学校出来一直没有练过，一次做25个就气喘，30个 不到就撑不下去了，后来的日子每天坚持，一开始每两天增加一个，不到一个月，我就能一次做50个了，为了锻炼我的意志力，我每天晚上洗澡睡觉前坚持做俯卧 撑，顺便锻炼身体。一年后和其他同事比试，撑了80多个，同事说我的不够标准，硬是要按最标准的来算，只能撑50个，后来接着每天练习，现在已经能按非常 标准的姿势撑80个了。我有个目标，今年内能撑100个，中国的特种部队好象也是一次撑100个，我要向他们看齐。练习俯卧撑使我身体越来越强健，而且身 材标准，身体没有多余的脂肪，只有健美的肌肉，更重要的是使我锻炼了坚强的意志。
除了以上所说的三种方法之外，还有许多其他的方法可以帮助你养成坚定的意志力，所有的方法都贵在坚持，而坚持正需要意志力的支持，你一定要有一个坚定的信念，才能够最终成功。
当你培养了坚定的意志力，你会惊奇的发现它对你人生产生的重大意义。我的博客旨在帮助你更好的发展自我，而所有的方法都要你亲自动手去做才会有效果。这就需要你首先有坚定的意志力，才能够让你使用本博的方法更好的发展自我都需要你有坚定的意志力才能够真正做到。因此我认为培养你的意志力是你发展自我的第一步，有了坚定的意志力，就能够坚定不移地做自己认为正确的事情，而成功也就离你不远了。希望我的这篇文章能够对你有用，文章很唠叨，如果你能够坚持看完，说明你的意志力已经比较坚强了 仍需继续努力。
Although we think through problems with our judgment, what finally solves them is the will, not the intellect
(Waller)
Nothing in the world is difficult; it yields only to those with resolve. A person of resolve is one whose will is firmly set, and when the will is firm, one does not fear that a thing cannot be done.
(Ren Bishi)
When you see this title, if you intend to keep reading, then please persist and read this article carefully to the end; treat it as the first thing you do toward building your willpower. When you have finished, if you think the methods I describe are workable, then please persist in training with them until you believe you have built a firm willpower of your own.
First we need to get clear on what “willpower” actually is. The dictionary explains “willpower” as “the power to control one’s impulses and actions,” and the two key words there are “control” and “power.” My understanding of it is “a person’s power of control over their own behavior.” The stronger this “control,” the better you can govern what you do. People with strong control show it like this: they are patient in what they do, never rash; once a goal is set, they see it through without letting up; when they hit setbacks, they work at solutions until the obstacle is overcome; and every day they can keep doing the ordinary, tedious things that must nevertheless be done. Conversely, people with weak control often cannot govern their own behavior. A few examples: addicts who cannot kick the habit even in a rehabilitation center (I recognize this as the true test of a person’s willpower); those who cannot overcome certain cravings, say smoking, heavy drinking, masturbation, and so on; those who keep making plans and resolutions for themselves yet can never stick to them; those who give up at the first difficulty at work; those who grow sick of their work and cannot keep at it.
If you are a person of strong willpower, then first of all congratulations: you hold one of the assets of success, and I hope you keep it. If your willpower is weak, if you often regret your own behavior and hope to take up some method for building your willpower, then read on; you will find what you are looking for.
On how to build willpower, the internet already has plenty of articles, so why am I writing on this topic yet again? I searched around online for articles on it and found that nearly all of them tell you some methods or steps, yet when it comes to carrying them out you have no idea where to start. The reason is that they only hand you methods or steps, and it seems to me that before you can carry out those methods or steps, if you lack sufficiently firm willpower, you will find it simply impossible to keep going. They never clearly tell you what to actually do, and that is exactly the problem this article means to solve. Forgive me for spending so many wasted words explaining why I wrote this piece; I felt you needed to know. Now, down to business.
Willpower is not some trait you are born with or that cannot be changed; it belongs to the acquired side of human nature, and we can absolutely cultivate it through certain channels. The three methods I recommend in this article are: long-distance running, cold showers, and push-ups (girls can do sit-ups instead). I chose these three because, for one, they genuinely work well, and after a period of training they will build you a strong willpower; and for another, they also exercise your body, so why not?
Method one: long-distance running.
Many articles have mentioned this method, so it does seem to be a very effective route. I advocate it too, but where my version of long-distance running differs from previous articles is this: you must not only keep at it every day, you must also gradually increase the intensity.
”Keep running every morning” is the one-line summary most articles give. I think this works very visibly in the early stage of building willpower, but as the body gradually adapts, the effect gradually weakens, which is why I propose gradually raising the intensity on top of the daily commitment. The specifics are as follows:
Draw up a reasonable plan, including a goal and a deadline for reaching it. The goal must be definite. Research shows that the more definite and concrete a goal is, the more motivating it is to pursue, so do not tell yourself “I’m going to run every day” or “I’ll run a bit farther tomorrow”; tell yourself instead “I will run three thousand meters at 8 p.m. every evening” or “tomorrow I will run one thousand meters more than today.” Only goals like these carry any force. The deadline must be set before the plan begins, and it too must be definite and concrete, for instance “within three months I will be able to run ten thousand meters in one go.” The specific plan should be set according to your own situation. In the first month, set yourself a goal you can bear (say, two thousand meters a day); it must not be set too high, because the crucial thing is that you hold out. The simplest thing in the world is persistence, and the hardest thing is also persistence. Everything is hardest at the start, so whether you can hold out through the first month decides whether this training succeeds at all. The goal therefore cannot be set too high; too high and it is hard to reach, and you will lose confidence. Of course it cannot be too low either (five hundred meters a day); too low and it is too easily done, and work without challenge does your willpower no good. If you make it through the first month, then congratulations: you have laid the first stones of willpower. What follows is still persistence, but from this point on you must raise the intensity, which should also be set according to your own situation, by the same standard as the early goal, neither too high nor too low. Take each month or every two months as a cycle, add a certain amount of intensity within each cycle, and continue until the intensity approaches your limit. At that point you will be amazed to find you now possess “control” over your own behavior. You no longer need to run so far every day; the distance can be set as circumstances allow, but make sure you do your longest distance at least once or twice a week. How exactly to set a long-distance running plan is a rather hard question to pin down; I will keep consulting the relevant material and later write a dedicated article introducing this method in detail. Friends who want to train this way might subscribe to my blog, so you can see my articles the moment they appear; feel free to subscribe with Zhuaxia, google, or any other feed reader. Allow me to preen for a moment: in high school I trained at long-distance running for two years, took second place in the national radio-sports divisional meet in my senior year, and was awarded the title of “National Level-Two Athlete.” Before high school, a few hundred meters would leave me gasping; after two years of training I could knock out five thousand meters with ease. My willpower was strengthened along the way, and through three years of high school and my first year of college I caught hardly a single illness, all thanks to those two years of running.
Tell yourself the benefits of doing this. If you see no real benefit and are half-hearted about running, a plan alone will never get you into your running shoes willingly. You presumably know the benefits of long-distance running; before the plan begins, keep telling yourself: “running will give my body excellent exercise, and running will build me a tenacious willpower.” Then put on your running shoes and, with firm conviction, run on. While the plan is under way, you can record the results of your training, for instance: my muscles have more strength and my life is full of energy; I rarely get sick, which saves me a great deal of money; I have more patience in what I do, which makes it easier to do my work well. Spurring yourself with these benefits will stir up more motivation to see the plan through, until at last a tenacious willpower is built.
Change your habitual ways. Knowing the benefits of running is not enough; the most fundamental motivation springs from the desire to change your own ways and take hold of your own life. Reason can sometimes convince a person, but only when the emotions are stirred does one truly respond. If thoughts like these occur to you: “it’s raining today, so no run” or “work wore me out today, I’ll skip the run and go to sleep first,” then please change your ways. Today’s slacking prepares the excuse for tomorrow’s slacking, and tomorrow’s slacking prepares the excuse for all the slacking after that. If you truly want to build firm willpower, this training must go on without interruption. Perhaps that itself takes great willpower; what you must do is rouse that willpower, and the workable way is to change your ways. If it rains today, tell yourself: “it’s raining today, so I’ll run three thousand meters indoors” or “I’m too tired today, so I can finish the run slowly and then sleep all the more sweetly.”
A penalty for failing the task. Yes, exactly that: if you fail the task, you must impose a certain penalty on yourself, to press yourself to train as the plan prescribes. For instance, you might write on your running plan: “if I do not run tonight, I absolutely will not eat dinner” or “if I cannot run five hundred meters more today than yesterday, I absolutely will not go online (or watch television).” And this penalty must be supervised by someone, say your parents, your wife, or a classmate. That way, if you feel like slacking, your supervisor will warn you, and you will feel ashamed of not honoring your own promise, and from that shame comes the drive to finish the task.
Do not try to grow fat on a single mouthful. The impatient burn their tongues on hot tofu; willpower is not built in a day or two, and it needs a long process. The point of running is not how far you can go, but whether it helps you form a strong will, and the point of raising the intensity is the same. So the standard of training is not “I absolutely must cover such-and-such a distance” but “I will keep at it for such-and-such a time.” Even if the intensity you add is small, so long as you can hold to it over the long run, it will help you build a tenacious willpower.
Find someone to run with you. Running alone gets very dull; you can find a friend who shares the interest and run together, which makes it more fun. But this brings a problem. Say your friend tells you, “I have something on today, I don’t feel like running.” Are you shaken? You may tell yourself, “he’s not running, so I won’t either.” The real test has arrived: do you go run alone, or give yourself the day off like him? Choose the former, and it shows your willpower is already firm enough to resist the temptation of laziness. Choose the latter, and it shows your will is not yet firm, and no one can help you; think of the plan you set yourself, think of the penalty you are due to impose on yourself, and rouse your motivation. If your friend often cannot keep it up, then stop running with him; by then he is no longer the force that keeps you running but the temptation that shakes your resolve, and you must learn to say no to a friend.
Only holding out to the end is victory. Long-distance running is a rather tedious sport, and only seeing it through to the end counts as final victory. And persistence takes willpower: if you can train according to the plan you set, you will build willpower step by step, and the willpower you build in turn supplies the drive to keep going long term. It is a virtuous circle: train on according to the plan, and you will surely hold out until a firm willpower is built.
After all this rambling I have told you the concrete method of long-distance running. I know that actually training this way takes great courage and perseverance, but once you can keep it up, you will be amazed at the benefits it brings you.
Method two: cold showers
This method has been used before, by someone we all know: our great Chairman Mao. When Mao Zedong was studying at First Normal School, he made a point of rubbing down and bathing every day with cold water drawn from the well, and precisely because of this the old man’s health stayed sound. I believe the iron willpower he showed under the harsh conditions of the revolutionary years had a great deal to do with his cold baths. Deng Xiaoping kept up cold showers all his life; even in the December cold of Beijing, he still bathed in cold water. At present I too am keeping up a daily cold shower, though it is summer now and a cold shower still feels pleasant; the question is whether I can hold out to winter. Everyone, keep an eye on me.
With cold showers the key is likewise persistence, but there are many points to watch during this training:
Proceed step by step, without fail. When training begins, follow three rules: wash “from parts of the body to the whole,” take the water temperature “from warm gradually down to cold,” and let the washing time go “from short gradually to long.” The first time, you may use warm water; wash the hands and arms first, then the legs, then the chest, and last the back, and only after each part has been washed rinse the whole body. The first wash should not run too long; within ten minutes is fine. Then hold steady for a stretch of time, during which you do not lower the water temperature but only lengthen the washing time; call this the first stage. Afterward, begin lowering the temperature and repeat the first stage until you are fully used to that temperature, then lower it further until no hot water needs to be added at all. The training should also follow the seasons: start in summer, pass gradually into autumn, and finally into winter. Start in autumn or spring and the lack of adaptation will make you ill.
Friends in poor health should not take cold showers. In a cold shower the low water temperature chills the body and sets off a chain of stress responses, such as a quickened heartbeat, raised blood pressure, tightened muscles, and strained nerves. For friends whose constitution is weak, not only will it fail to wash away fatigue, the cold stimulus can bring on colds, fevers, and other illnesses. The point of cold showers is to strengthen the body and temper a strong will, but if they make you ill instead, I would advise you not to try.
Women should not take cold showers. For particular physiological reasons, and especially for those who are menstruating, nursing, or pregnant, the shock of cold water can bring on endocrine disorders, missed periods, and abdominal pain, and many bacteria can enter the vagina and cause vaginitis and other gynecological illnesses; in serious cases this can affect later pregnancy and physical health.
Those with coronary heart disease must never take cold showers; be careful about cold showers after sweating from summer exercise; do not take a cold shower after sex; be careful about cold showers after physical labor. These four points I found online; I will not spell out the reasons, just remember them.
All in all, I think the cold shower is an excellent training method, and these days most people have the means for it. Science has shown that cold showers really do bring the body many benefits, and if you can keep them up they will surely temper a tenacious willpower. Why not give it a try?
Method three: push-ups (girls can also do sit-ups)
The method resembles running and cold showers, and it requires very little; for the specifics, one example will do:
How does one train a person’s willpower? My personal experience is daily push-ups. I remember when I first started practicing in 2003: having never trained since leaving school, I was panting at 25 in one set and could not hold past 30. In the days that followed I kept at it daily, adding one every two days at first, and in less than a month I could do 50 in one go. To train my willpower I did push-ups every night before my shower and bed, exercising the body along the way. A year later I matched up against some colleagues and pushed out 80-odd; they said my form was not up to standard, and counting only the strictest form, I could manage just 50. I kept practicing daily after that, and now I can do 80 in perfectly standard form. I have a goal: to reach 100 within the year. China’s special forces, it seems, also do 100 in a set, and I mean to measure up to them. Practicing push-ups has made my body stronger and stronger, my figure trim, without an ounce of spare fat, only well-built muscle; more important, it has tempered a strong will in me.
Beyond the three methods above, there are many others that can help you form a firm willpower. With every method, the value lies in persistence, and persistence in turn needs willpower behind it; you must hold a firm conviction to succeed in the end.
Once you have built a firm willpower, you will be amazed at how much it means for your life. This blog aims to help you develop yourself better, and every method here works only if you put your own hands to it. That requires firm willpower first of all; only with firm willpower can you truly use the methods of this blog to develop yourself. So I hold that building your willpower is the first step of self-development: with a firm will, you can do what you believe is right without wavering, and success will not be far away. I hope this article proves useful to you. It is a long-winded piece, and if you have held out and read to the end, it shows your willpower is already fairly strong. Keep working at it.
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