怎样才能不辜负你的决心？

 　　你的新年计划是什么？你能坚持多久？这是我们每年都会遇到的尴尬问题。不少人认为，延长你的计划实施时间靠的是毅力；而今天的英语文摘告诉我们，与其寻找虚无缥缈的“毅力”，不如关注生活本身。和普特君一起看看吧~

　　It’s hard to think of a situation in which it wouldn’t be extremely useful to have more willpower. For a start, your New Year’s resolutions would no longer be laughably short-lived. You could stop yourself spending all day on social media, spiralling into despair at the state of the world, yet also summon the self-discipline to do something about it by volunteering or donating to charity. And with more “political will”, which is really just willpower writ¹ large, we could forestall² the worst consequences of climate change, or stop quasi-fascist confidence tricksters from getting elected president. In short, if psychologists could figure out how to reliably build and sustain willpower, we’d be laughing.

　　基本上不存在毅力没用的场合。有了它，你能更长久地坚持你的新年计划，你也不会成天刷朋友圈，陷入对世界状态的绝望，同时会通过志愿者活动以及慈善活动召唤起你做事的自律精神。有了来自意念的政治信念，我们就能阻止气候变化最坏的结果，或者阻止法西斯大骗子当上总统。总之，如果心理学家能够找出如何长久地建设和保持毅力的办法，我们会大笑的。

　　resolution

　　Unfortunately, though, 2016 was the year in which psychologists had to admit they’d figured out no such thing, and that much of what they thought they knew about willpower was probably wrong. Changing your habits is certainly doable, but “more willpower” may not be the answer after all.

　　然而，不幸的是，2016年心理学家不得不承认他们没发现这个东西，而且他们自以为对毅力的了解很可能都是错的。改变你的喜好当然是可行的，但是让你有更多的毅力怕是难办。

　　Thus was born the theory of “ego depletion”, which holds that willpower is a limited resource. Pick your New Year resolutions sparingly, otherwise they’ll undermine each other. Your plan to meditate³ for 20 minutes each morning may actively⁴ obstruct⁵ your plan to learn Spanish, and vice⁶ versa, so you end up achieving neither.

　　因此“自我损耗”的理论诞生了：毅力是一个有限的资源。少列几条新年计划，否则他们会削弱彼此的。计划每天早上用20分钟时间来做治疗也许会阻碍你学西班牙语的计划，反之亦然；因此你两个都做不成。

　　The willpower probably isn’t like a muscle after all. It's not emotion, either.

　　毅力不像是肌肉，也不像是情感。

　　Lurking⁷ behind all this, though, is a more unsettling question: does willpower even exist?McGonigal defines people with willpower as those who demonstrate “the ability to do what matters most, even when it’s difficult, or when some part of [them] doesn’t want to”. Willpower, then, is a word ascribed to people who manage to do what they said they were going to do: it’s a judgment⁸ about their behaviour. But it doesn’t follow that willpower is a thing in itself, a substance or resource you either possess or you don’t, like money or muscle strength. Rather than “How can I build my willpower?”, it may be better to ask: “How can I make it more likely that I’ll do what I plan to do?”

　　潜伏在背后的，是一个更让人心神难安的问题：毅力真的存在吗？McGonigal将毅力定义为“一种做最重要的事——即使它很困难，或者有一部分是我们不想做的——的能力”。因而毅力就是一个归因于那些说到做到的人的词，它是对这些人的行为的判断，但这并不意味着毅力是一种像金钱或者肌力一样的你拥有或不拥有的物质或者资源。与其问：“我能构建自己的毅力吗？”不如问：“我怎样才更可能做我计划要做的事情？”

　　The most important boost to your habit-changing plans, though, may lie not in any individual strategy, but in letting go of the idea of “willpower” altogether. If the word doesn’t really refer to an identifiable thing, there’s no need to devote energy to fretting⁹ over your lack of it. Behaviour change becomes a far more straightforward¹⁰ matter of assembling a toolbox of tricks that, in combination, should steer¹¹ you well. Best of all, you’ll no longer be engaged in a battle with your own psyche¹²: you can stop trying to “find the willpower” to live a healthier/kinder/less stressful/more high-achieving life – and just focus on living it instead.

　　尽管对提升你的改变兴趣的计划最重要的不仅是个人的策略，而且是集体摆脱“毅力”这个观念。如果这个词真的是虚无缥缈的，你就不必焦虑自己缺少它了。行为习惯上的改变成为了一个关于能够很好地操纵你的小把戏工具箱的更加直接的问题。最好的是，你将不会再忙于与自己的心灵作战了：只需要关心生活本身，你可以停下寻找“毅力”的步伐，过上更健康/善良/高成就而压力更小的生活了。

1 writ   

n.命令状，书面命令

参考例句：

• This is a copy of a writ I received this morning.这是今早我收到的书面命令副本。
• You shouldn't treat the newspapers as if they were Holy Writ. 你不应该把报上说的话奉若神明。

2 forestall   

vt.抢在…之前采取行动；预先阻止

参考例句：

• I left the room to forestall involvements.我抢先离开了这房间以免受牵累。
• He followed this rule in order to forestall rumors.他遵守这条规矩是为了杜绝流言蜚语。

3 meditate   

v.想，考虑，（尤指宗教上的）沉思，冥想

参考例句：

• It is important to meditate on the meaning of life.思考人生的意义很重要。
• I was meditating,and reached a higher state of consciousness.我在冥想，并进入了一个更高的意识境界。

4 actively   

adv.积极地，勤奋地

参考例句：

• During this period all the students were actively participating.在这节课中所有的学生都积极参加。
• We are actively intervening to settle a quarrel.我们正在积极调解争执。

5 obstruct   

v.阻隔，阻塞(道路、通道等)；n.阻碍物，障碍物

参考例句：

• He became still more dissatisfied with it and secretly did everything in his power to obstruct it.他对此更不满意，尽在暗里使绊子。
• The fallen trees obstruct the road.倒下的树将路堵住了。

6 vice   

n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的

参考例句：

• He guarded himself against vice.他避免染上坏习惯。
• They are sunk in the depth of vice.他们堕入了罪恶的深渊。

7 lurking   

潜在

参考例句：

• Why are you lurking around outside my house? 你在我房子外面鬼鬼祟祟的，想干什么？
• There is a suspicious man lurking in the shadows. 有一可疑的人躲在阴暗中。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

8 judgment   

n.审判；判断力，识别力，看法，意见

参考例句：

• The chairman flatters himself on his judgment of people.主席自认为他审视人比别人高明。
• He's a man of excellent judgment.他眼力过人。

9 fretting   

n. 微振磨损 adj. 烦躁的, 焦虑的

参考例句：

• Fretting about it won't help. 苦恼于事无补。
• The old lady is always fretting over something unimportant. 那位老妇人总是为一些小事焦虑不安。

10 straightforward   

adj.正直的，坦率的；易懂的，简单的

参考例句：

• A straightforward talk is better than a flowery speech.巧言不如直说。
• I must insist on your giving me a straightforward answer.我一定要你给我一个直截了当的回答。

11 steer   

vt.驾驶，为…操舵；引导；vi.驾驶

参考例句：

• If you push the car, I'll steer it.如果你来推车，我就来驾车。
• It's no use trying to steer the boy into a course of action that suits you.想说服这孩子按你的方式行事是徒劳的。

12 psyche   

n.精神；灵魂

参考例句：

• His exploration of the myth brings insight into the American psyche.他对这个神话的探讨揭示了美国人的心理。
• She spent her life plumbing the mysteries of the human psyche.她毕生探索人类心灵的奥秘。