做更好的自己
People are constantly taking the easy road in life: it’s less risky, it doesn’t involve a lot of effort and it’s comfortable. Change requires you to step out of your comfort zone and into the unknown. You have to change yourself, your surroundings even your habits。人們不斷地選擇著生活中容易的道路：風(fēng)險低、不需要太多努力，而且很舒服。改變需要你走出當(dāng)前的舒適區(qū)，進入未知的未來。你必須要改變自己，改變你的環(huán)境，甚至你的習(xí)慣。
Change is difficult. If it were easy, we would all be famous billionaires living in mansions. The fact that it’s hard is what makes change and improvement so great. Improving your life will result in several positive outcomes such as, giving you a better sense of self, making you a better person, mother father, friend, etc. and you’ll find yourself being happier in general. You need to understand that changing yourself for the better won’t take away challenges in your life—it will just prepare you to be able to face them。改變是困難的。如果很容易，那我們就都是生活在豪宅中著名的億萬富翁了。就是因為它很難，才使得改變和提高顯得很棒。改善你的生活會有很多積極的結(jié)果。例如，會讓你自我感覺更好，讓你成為一個更好的人、更好的父親/母親、朋友等。你會發(fā)現(xiàn)自己更開心。你需要明白的是：讓自己變得更好并不會讓生活中的挑戰(zhàn)變少——但這樣做會讓你準備好來面對挑戰(zhàn)。
If you have tried to change in the past and failed, don’t quit. You can still change and start making a difference in your life. The following tips will get you set on the path to action. When you do these things, you are preparing yourself to do more than just dream about the life you want; you are getting yourself on the path to achieving it. Use these tips as guidelines to make the changes in your life that you want to see。如果你在過去嘗試著改變但以失敗告終，不要放棄。你還可以改變，讓你的生活變得不同。下面的小貼士會讓你開始行動。當(dāng)你做這些事情時，你不只是在夢想生活，而且你會往爭取那樣生活的路上前進。用這些小貼士做準則，讓你的生活朝著想要的方向發(fā)展。
1. The first step toward changing is knowing what you want to change and why. 改變的第一步是弄清你想要改變什么以及改變的原因。
Take the time to sit down and write down your goals. Also write down why you want to change; make this as in-depth as you can because it will be a foundation for you. This is something you will be able to go back to when you are feeling like it’s too hard or you have forgotten why it’s important。拿點兒時間坐下來，把你的目標寫下來。也把你想改變的原因?qū)懴聛?。盡量寫地深入一些，因為它是你改變的基礎(chǔ)。當(dāng)你感覺太難了或你忘記了為什么它很重要時，就可以再回頭看看這些內(nèi)容。
2. Tell people your goals。把你的目標告訴給別人。
It can be embarrassing for some people to share with others what’s in their heart; but it’s necessary. In order to change, you have to be held accountable. Letting someone else know what you are trying to do will ensure that you have someone to answer to. Make sure this person is someone who will continue to encourage you and isn’t afraid to ask how things are moving along。對有些人而言，和他人分享心中的想法有些尷尬;但這是必要的。要想改變，你需要有人對你負責(zé)。讓別人知道你嘗試去做的事情會確保有人對你負責(zé)。確保這個人會一直鼓勵你，不怕去問你的進展。
3. Replace bad habits with good ones。用好的習(xí)慣來代替壞習(xí)慣。
Stopping something cold turkey is hard, so it’s best to replace the unwanted habit with something positive. If you have a major addiction, there are other steps you will have to take. If it’s just a bad habit, such as looking at Facebook too much, replace that with something like going for a walk around the block. If you are trying to stick within a budget, play a game with your family instead of going shopping. Find something positive to do that will replace the negative things in your life。戒掉壞習(xí)慣很難，所以最好用好習(xí)慣代替不想要的習(xí)慣。如果你的癮很大，那你需要采取其他步驟。如果只是個壞習(xí)慣，如看Facebook看得太多，那你可以把它替換成在街區(qū)散步的習(xí)慣。如果你嘗試讓花費在預(yù)算之內(nèi)，那就和家人玩游戲來代替購物。找一些積極的事情做來代替生活中消極的事情。
4. Change is not easy, but it’s easier when you have someone to do it with。改變并不容易，但當(dāng)有人和你一起做時就容易一些。
Find a partner, coach, friend or family member who might be in the same situation as you. If you want to start working out, set up times when the two of you can go exercise together. If you want to get up earlier, call each other in the morning and encourage one another to get up and get moving. Whatever changes you want to make, find a way to include someone else in them. You will be each other’s support, can hold one another accountable for what you do or don’t do。去找一個可能和你情況一樣的伙伴、教練、朋友或家庭成員。如果你想開始健身，約定時間兩個人一起去運動。如果你想早起，早晨互相給對方打電話，鼓勵對方起床并動起來。無論你想進行什么樣的活動，想方法和他人一起去做。你們會互相支持，你做什么或不做什么都可以向?qū)Ψ秸f明。
5. Get rid of distractions。擺脫雜念。
There are things everywhere in our houses, our workplaces, and even our schools that can and will distract us from changing into the kind of people we want to be. Our phones, computers, iPads, etc. are all wonderful tools that we have at our disposal, but they can also hinder us. We spend so much time texting, emailing and checking various social media platforms. That is time that could be used doing something productive. Limit the amount of time you spend on the computer. Set an alarm and when it goes off, you’re done。我們的屋子、工作地點，甚至我們的學(xué)校里，到處都是分散注意力的東西，讓我們無法轉(zhuǎn)變成我們想要成為的人。我們的手機、電腦、iPad等在我們需要的時候都是很好的的工具，但是它們也會妨礙我們。我們花了太多的時間來發(fā)短信、發(fā)電子郵件、檢查各種社交媒體平臺。這些時間可以用來做一些富有成效的事情。減少花費在電腦上的時間。定個鬧鐘，當(dāng)它響起來的時候，就馬上離開電腦。
6. Turn off the TV。關(guān)掉電視。
I know so many people who have the TV on in the background while they are trying to get stuff done. I am guilty of this. In the past I would turn on a movie while I was trying to work or clean the house, but every time, I would find myself sitting on the couch watching instead of being up and moving. I decided to listen to audio books instead: that way I don’t have anything visual distracting me from the things I need to get done but I still have something entertaining or educational to listen to。我知道很多人在工作時會把電視打開，我也做過，我很負罪。過去當(dāng)我想工作或打掃屋子時我會打開一部電影，但是我發(fā)現(xiàn)每次我都是坐在沙發(fā)前看電視而不是起來采取行動。我決定用聽有聲書的方式來替代看電視：這樣沒有視覺上的東西干擾我去做所需做的事情，而我仍然有娛樂性或教育性的內(nèi)容去聽。
7. Only say positive things to yourself。對自己只說一些積極的事情。
When you fail it’s easy to point out everything you did wrong, but that is so discouraging. Instead, say to yourself, “I can do hard things。” You have the ability to change, you just have to believe in yourself. Don’t beat yourself down。當(dāng)你失敗時，很容易指出自己做錯的事情，但是這樣很讓人沮喪。與其這樣，不如對自己說，“我可以做很難的事情。”你有能力去改變，你只需要相信自己，不要被自己打敗。
8. Serve other people。為他人服務(wù)。
It’s funny how service works: you go out expecting to help someone else in need and you end up helping yourself. When you serve others, you feel better about yourself, you make a difference in someone’s life, and you give back to the community。服務(wù)性的工作很有趣：你出去想幫助需要幫忙的人，結(jié)果你自己幫助了自己。當(dāng)你為他人服務(wù)時，你的自我感覺會更好，你讓別人的生活有所不同，你回饋了社會。
9. Recognize the good things you do, no matter how small。找出你做的好事，無論多么小。
Many people might skip this step because it feels arrogant and prideful. IT’S NOT! Changing yourself is about evaluating where you are in life, what you’re doing and why you’re doing those things. When you make a change, even if it’s something simple, acknowledge it, don’t brush it off like it doesn’t mean anything. It means everything! It means that you’re actually doing it, you’re changing。很多人可能跳過這步，因為這樣感覺自大和自傲。不是這樣!改變自己是評價你自己在生活中的位置、你在做什么，以及你為什么在做那些事情。當(dāng)你改變時，即使是簡單的事情，也要承認它，不要漠視它，好像它不意味著什么。它意味著一切!它意味著你真正地在做它，意味著你正在改變。
