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Evidence suggests that within a week, 25% of us have failed on our resolutions. A month later, half of us have.
有证据表明，在一周内，25%的人放弃了自己的计划。一个月后，有一半的人放弃了。
And then you've got those annoyingly persistent 25 or 30% that seem to carry it on for years.
另外，有25%或30%毅力可嘉的人似乎坚持了很多年，让人羡慕嫉妒恨。
And we've been doing this research for decades and the big revolution we have now is people tend to do what they enjoy and not what they don't enjoy.
这项研究我们已经做了几十年，现在得出的“重大”结论是，人们倾向于做他们喜欢做的事情，而不是他们不喜欢的事情。
You're welcome for decades of research for something as simple as that.
没错，这么简单问题，也可以研究好几十年。
I'm Dr.Amanda Rebar. I am Associate Professor of Psychology. I'm here to help you make sense of new year's resolutions.
我是阿曼达·里巴尔博士，一位心理学副教授。我来帮你理解新年计划吧。
Resolutions are really different from habits but they don't have to be.
计划的确不同于习惯，但它们可以是一样的。
Resolutions are self-initiated plan to change, whereas habits are how we do things day to day.
计划是人主动制定的方案，意图改变自己，而习惯是我们每天做事的方式。
Habits tend to last the long term, whereas resolutions tend to fade out.
习惯往往会持续很长时间，而计划往往会慢慢被遗忘。
To make resolutions that work, you need to focus on the behavior rather than the outcome.
要制定有效的计划，你需要关注行为过程，而不是结果。
You need to make sure it fits within your life and you're not forcing yourself to do something.
你需要确保它适合你的生活，而不是强迫自己去做某事。
I mean, you need to find a way that it's satisfying, fun or easy, ideally all three.
我的意思是，你需要找到一种让自己满意、有趣或容易的方式，理想的情况是三者兼具。
So let's start here with behavior change.
那么让我们从行为变化开始谈起吧。
When we talk about behavior really we think about it in two different ways.
当提到行为时，其实我们会从两个不同的角度来考虑。
We think of the initiation so deciding to do that behavior and execution.
我们想到了引起行为的关键原因和行为本身。
So once you decide to do something, how do you do that?
那么，一旦你决定去做某事，你该怎么做呢？
My favorite example of that is getting in the car and deciding to go to work.
我最喜欢的例子是坐进车里，决定去上班。
That's the initiation and execution is maybe the route you take.
这就是行为的原因。而行为本身或许就是你选择的路线。
So the more we go through life, the more we go, okay, this is connected to this, or this makes me feel this way.
所以我们在生活中经历的越多，我们就越会发现，A与B有关，或者说A让我有B这种感觉。
And we reflect on those quite quickly within a quarter of a second to make decisions or to influence how we act or to how we feel.
我们会在很短时间内非常迅速地思考这些问题，然后做出决定、改变自己的行为或感受。
And that's all a habit is, associative learning.
这就是习惯，也可以叫做联想学习。
That's how we can change our own behaviors. Think what's the reward that continuing this link between me doing this behavior and whatever context I'm in.
这就是我们改变自己行为的方式。想一想，我在特定情况下做出特定行为会有什么好处。
Why does my mind think that this is a good thing to do? All that means is that we need to make new habits.
为什么我的大脑认为这是一件好事？这只是意味着我们需要养成新的习惯。
So how does science say that we do that? Rewards are really interesting because we're driven by them if we like it or not.
那么从科学的角度怎么证明这一点呢？奖励真的很有趣，因为无论我们喜欢与否，我们的行为都是由它驱动的。
So reward is kind of that catalyst or the helper between doing a behavior once and making sure we do it over and over again to the point where these habits form.
因此，奖励算是催化剂或是助手，引导我们从实施一次行为到反复实施再到形成习惯。
When you're trying to form a habit, it seems really tempting to reward yourself for doing the behavior, having a reward day after you diet for seven days.
当你试图养成一种习惯时，你会尝试在行为后奖赏自己，比如在节食七天后奖励自己放肆吃喝一天。
The problem with that is then you're shifting from habit to goal-directed behavior or to an achievement.
这样做的问题是，你正在从养成习惯转变为追求目标或成就。
You're doing it for something external from the actual behavior, which makes it more about self-control than about just going through your day-to-day life.
你这样做是为了一些与行为本身无关的东西，这使得它更多的是训练自制力，而不是仅仅改变生活习惯。
So how long does it take to make your new habits stick around for good?
那么，你的新习惯需要坚持多长时间才能保持下去呢？
Every habit researcher dreads the question about how long it takes to form a habit. And it's because it's really hard to know.
每个习惯研究者都害怕被问到这个问题。因为这真的很难回答。
It's hard because people are so different from each other. The evidence suggests between 21 days or three months.
这很难回答，是因为人们各不相同。有证据表明，这可能需要21天，也可能需要3个月。
It's not like running is gonna feel any different once your habit's formed. It's that decision to do it.
也不是说一旦你的习惯养成了，跑步的感觉会有什么不同，而是行为的起因发生了变化。
You don't have to talk yourself into it as much as you may have when you started. It's more just a natural part of of your day.
你不必像刚开始时那样说服自己去做。它更像是你一天中自然而然的一部分。
And that's really what we want from a behavior change perspective.
从行为改变的角度来看，这是我们真正想要的。
If you can make goals that are focused on doing something as opposed to stop doing something else, it's really valuable.
如果你能制定目标，让自己专注于做某事而不是停止做其他事情，那你真的很棒。
So trade out a behavior for the context that seems to be quite triggering for that habit.
所以，你可以养成一个行为习惯来换取一个有利于养成某种习惯的环境。
It doesn't work to trade out bad behaviors with behaviors that don't give you the same reward.
但是，你不能用无法给你同样回报的行为来代替不良行为。
Some people will try to trade out smoking for chewing a piece of gum or eating a celery stick, and that's not gonna work because you're not getting the same reward out of that that you were from smoking, for example.
例如，有些人会试图用嚼口香糖或吃芹菜棒来代替吸烟，但这是行不通的，因为，相比吸烟，你没有从这些行为中获得同样的快感。
Keeping track of our habits vary person to person.
记录自己的习惯因人而异。
But for those taking a more high-tech route is technology a benefit or a burden?
但对于那些使用高科技产品的人来说，技术是好还是坏？
The role of technology is really interesting, especially from a behavior change perspective.
技术的作用真的很有趣，特别是从行为改变的角度来看。
Everyone has activity trackers, for example, or everyone loves tracking their heartbeat or their sleep.
例如，每个人都有行为跟踪器，或者每个人都喜欢记录自己的心跳或睡眠质量。
And if people find it supportive in the way that helps them have an easier life and more satisfying and fun, brilliant.
如果人们发现它能帮助自己过上更轻松、更惬意、更有趣的生活，那很好。
But the risk of that is we could be monitoring ourselves to death.
但这样做的风险是，我们可能会监视自己到死。
If you're focusing so much on a goal or watching the outcomes in a way that makes you reflect so much on it that you don't allow those naturally-occurring habits to form, it's gonna be exhausting to maintain over time.
如果你太专注于一个目标，或者总关注结果，来回反思，以至于你不允许那些自然能够形成的习惯形成，那么随着时间的推移，你会感到精疲力竭。
If it's stressful or if it's making you feel guilty or ashamed, give it up. It's not gonna help.
如果你压力很大，或者感到内疚、羞愧，那就放弃吧。这不会起作用的。
I started researching physical activity and it's really hard to keep people motivated for a long time if they don't consider it part of their daily lives or if it's not who they see themselves to be.
我研究过体育锻炼。如果人们不认为这是他们日常生活的一部分，或者这不是他们眼中的自己，那么很难让他们长时间有动力去锻炼。
You know, it kind of irks me that a lot of the way we try to intervene with physical activity is by educating people.
你要知道，我们干预身体活动的很多方式都是通过教育，这让我有点恼火。
98% of the world knows that exercise will make them better in some way.
世界上98%的人都知道锻炼会在某种程度上让他们变得更好。
We all know we should, for heaven's sakes.
我的天，其实我们都知道应该锻炼。
So it needs to move beyond that.
因此，要养成锻炼的习惯，我们还得更进一步。
We need to make it easier on people. There's so much going on in people's lives.
我们要让人们更容易做到这一点。人们的生活中有太多事情。
If you've done all three, changing your behavior, making it fun and making it fit into your life, does that mean that you're guaranteed to be successful with your New Year's resolution?
如果你做到了这三点——改变自己的行为，让计划变得有趣，让计划融入自己的生活，这是否意味着你肯定能完成新年计划？
Some of my favorite evidence in the habit field is we've tracked people's habits across different types of behaviors, across weeks and month and we found that those days where people didn't do the behavior that they were trying to become habitual didn't throw you off but had no impact on how quickly those habits would form.
在习惯领域，我们跟踪记录了人们属于不同种行为的习惯，记录了几周，甚至几个月，得出了一些我最喜欢的结果。我们发现，有几天人们没有坚持行动，但这几天对习惯的养成的速度并没有影响。
And I'd love that finding because it means we can be kind to ourselves and it means it's okay to miss a few days or it's okay to give into temptations and just kick back on track the next day.
我喜欢这个研究结果，是因为这意味着我们可以善待自己，意味着我们可以懒惰几天，也可以短暂地享受，第二天再回到正轨。
It's really important to remember that when you're making a goal or a resolution, you're not always gonna feel as motivated as you do at that moment.
非常重要的一点是，要记住，当你制定目标或计划时，你不会总是像一开始那样动力十足。
When you do set a goal or you do set a resolution, think about how you can make that behavior that you wanna do the easiest or the most satisfying or the funnest option out of all the options you have.
当你设定了目标或计划时，想想如何让你的计划成为所有选择中最简单、最令人满意或最有趣的一个。
