英语美文,新年决心实现秘诀 Key to keeping New Year resolutions

The key to keeping a New Year resolution may be to break your goal into small steps and not to dwell on the consequences of not achieving your goal, a pscyhologist has claimed.

Less than a quarter of Britons will achieve their New Year resolutions in 2010 because they go about it the wrong way, according to Professor Richard Wiseman，from the University of Hertfordshire. He studied 700 volunteers who made a wide range of New Year resolutions, including quitting smoking, losing weight, starting a relationship or gaining a qualification. Just 22 per cent of participants managed to meet their goals or described their progress as ‘‘very successful’’.

The reason so many failed is that they took the wrong approach—and were led astray by self-help books. By comparing the techniques of successful and unsuccessful resolution makers, Professor Richard Wiseman came up with a list of tips for staying the course when making changes in one’s life.

People who failed tended to dwell on the ‘‘bad things’’ that would happen if they did not achieve their goal, said the professor. They were likely to remove temptation from their surroundings, adopt role models, fantasise about being successful, and rely on will power. Successful participants, on the other hand, broke their goals into small steps, rewarding themselves when each stage was passed. They also told friends about what they were trying to achieve, reminded themselves of the benefits of obtaining their goal, and charted their progress.

Prof Wiseman’s 10 secrets of success when making New Year resolutions:

1) Make only one resolution; your chances of success are greater when you channel energy into changing just one aspect of your behaviour.

2) Don’t wait until New Year’s Eve to think about your resolution and instead devote some time a few days before to reflect upon what you really want to achieve.

3) Avoid previous resolutions; deciding to re-visit a past resolution sets you up for frustration and disappointment.

4) Don’t run with the crowd and go with the usual resolutions. Instead think about what you really want out of life.

5) Break your goal into a series of steps, focusing on creating sub-goals that are concrete, measurable, and time-based.

6) Tell your friends and family about your goals, thus increasing the fear of failure and eliciting support.

7) Regularly remind yourself of the benefits associated with achieving your goals by creating a checklist of how life would be better once you obtain your aim.

8) Give yourself a small reward whenever you achieve a sub-goal, thus maintaining motivation and a sense of progress.

9) Make your plans and progress concrete by keeping a hand-written journal, completing a computer spreadsheet or covering a notice board with graphs or pictures.

10) Expect to revert to your old habits from time to time. Treat any failure as a temporary set-back rather than a reason to give up altogether.

心理学家认为，实现新年决心的关键在于将你的目标分解成一个一个小步骤，而不是去考虑无法达成目标所产生的后果。

赫特福德大学理查德·怀斯曼教授声称，由于采取了错误的方法，超过四分之三的英国人无法实现他们在2010年的新年决心。怀斯曼教授对700名制定各种各样新年决心的志愿者进行了调查，这些人的决心包括戒烟、减肥、恋爱或考取一项资格证书等。其中只有22%的人成功实现了他们的目标或认为自己做得“非常成功”。

而很多人没能实现目标的原因是他们采取了错误的方法，即被各种号称能够帮助你实现目标的书误导了。在对比了实现目标和没有实现的人所采用的方法后，怀斯曼教授总结出了一些秘诀，以帮助人们在改变生活的道路时找到正确的方向。

怀斯曼教授说，没能实现目标的人们往往纠结于未达成目标而造成的“不良后果”。这些人倾向于排除周围的干扰，找出成功案例做模板，沉浸于臆想的成功，依赖个人意志的力量。然而，成功实现目标的人则会把他们的目标分解成一个个小步骤，在实现每一个小步骤时适时地奖励自己。他们也会告诉朋友们自己想要做成的事情，提醒自己实现目标所能带来的好处，并详细计划自己的每一次进步。

怀斯曼教授成功制定新年决心的10个秘诀：

1）只制定一个决心；当你把所有的精力都投入到改变你某一个方面的行为时，你成功的几率会大大增加。

2）不要等到新年前夜才去思考你的决心。相反，提前几天花些时间思考你究竟想要实现什么目标。

3）避免以前制定过的决心；重温以往未达成的决心会使你身心俱疲，心灰意冷。

4）不要随大流制定普通的目标。思考你生命中真正渴望的东西。

5）把你的目标分解成一个个小步骤，专注于创造一个个小目标，确保这些小目标是精确的、量化的且有完成的时间限制。

6）告诉家人和朋友你所制定的目标，以此来增加对失败的恐惧，并获得他们的支持。

7）经常提醒自己实现目标所能带来的好处，做一个进度表，明确一旦实现目标，生活将会产生哪些积极的变化。

8）每当实现一个小目标时就给自己一些小奖励，以保持激励和阶段性的成就感。

9）准备一份手写的日志，制作一个电子表格或把图表和图片贴在布告板上，使你的计划和步骤更具体。

10）预见到自己会时不时重返老习惯。把任何一次失败视作暂时的倒退，而不是全盘放弃的理由。

（来源：英语学习杂志 编辑：丹妮）