筆的強大力量

目標寫下來，可以增強其效益。與一位支持性角色（朋友/教練/教練）分享進展情況亦同，兩個都是很好的方法。

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the mighty power of the pen
筆的強大力量

Back in 2007, psychology professor Gail Matthews, at the Dominican University in California, became curious about a certain widespread urban legend: the existence of a convincing but mythological Harvard study showing that the 3% of graduating students who wrote down their life goals went on to earn 10 times more money than the rest of the class. Since that study didn't actually exist but sounded interesting, she decided to create her own. 
回到2007年，加利福尼亞州多明尼加大學的心理學教授蓋爾·馬修斯對一個廣為流傳的都市傳說感到好奇：有一個令人信服但卻是虛構的哈佛大學研究顯示，那些將他們的人生目標寫下來的畢業生中，有3%的人賺到了其他同學的10倍錢。由於這個研究實際上並不存在，但聽起來很有趣，她決定創造自己的研究。

In order to examine how the method by which a person articulates a goal impacts their chance of success, Matthews recruited about 150 professionals from a variety of fields and split them into groups. Each group was either told to "think about" something they wanted to accomplish in the next four weeks, write it down, or write it down and share their progress with a friend. The goals ranged from finite tasks like writing a chapter of a book, updating a website, securing a contract, and selling a house, to harder-to-measure goals like reducing work anxiety, learning a new skill, and enhancing work/life balance.
為了研究一個人表達目標的方式如何影響他們成功的機會，馬修斯招募了約150名來自不同領域的專業人士，並將他們分成幾個小組。每個小組被告知在接下來的四個星期內「思考」一些他們想要實現的事情，並將其寫下來，或者將其寫下來並與朋友分享他們的進展。這些目標範圍從具體的任務，如寫一章書、更新網站、簽訂合同和出售房屋，到難以衡量的目標，如減少工作焦慮、學習新技能和提升工作/生活平衡。

The results might not come as a surprise to us wise and enlightened overachievers 16 years later: the groups that wrote their goals down, announced their goals to a friend, and shared their progress as they went along did far better (were over 40% more likely to be successful) at completing those goals than the group that just "envisioned" them.
16年後，對於我們這些聰明而開明的高材生來說，結果可能並不令人驚訝：那些將自己的目標寫下來、向朋友宣布目標並在實現過程中分享進展的團體，完成這些目標的成功率要比僅僅“設想”目標的團體高出40%以上。

You probably know, or at least have heard, that keeping a journal works. You might do it (ok maybe sometimes in app form but still) to log your calories, track your fitness progress and record your hours of sleep. You might do it to remember dreams or nightmares or purge yourself of anxious or depressive thoughts.  Maybe you do it to increase your general wellness, by writing down things you feel grateful for. 
你可能知道，或者至少聽說過，寫日記是有效的。你可能會用它（好吧，也許有時候是通過應用程序）來記錄你的卡路里攝入量，追蹤你的健身進展和記錄你的睡眠時間。你可能會用它來記住夢境或噩夢，或者擺脫焦慮或抑郁的思緒。也許你會用它來提升整體健康，通過寫下你感激的事物。

There's a lot of stuff going on in your brain, and it's interesting how this connects to the  act of manually making notes: 
你的大腦裡有很多事情正在發生，有趣的是這與手動做筆記的行為有所聯繫：

• You're reducing your cognitive load by creating an external place to store information you don't want to forget (a reason check-lists are so helpful). 
  通過創建一個外部存儲信息的地方，你可以減少認知負荷，這樣你就不會忘記那些你不想忘記的信息（這就是為什麼清單如此有用）。
• You're actively engaging with the information especially if you're adding structure: reducing the information to bullet points, putting individual items in order of priority, identifying patterns, thinking critically about what you're writing. Students who write things down by hand (rather than typing or highlighting text) tend to remember more of what they studied.
  如果你正在積極參與信息，尤其是在添加結構方面，你會更好地理解信息：將信息縮減為要點，按優先順序排列個別項目，識別模式，對所寫內容進行批判性思考。手寫筆記（而不是打字或者劃重點）的學生往往能記住更多他們所學的內容。
• There's a good chance writing things down will give you clarity (like when you write down the pros and cons of a decision you're trying to make).
  寫下來的話，很有可能會讓你更清楚（就像當你寫下一個你試圖做出的決定的利弊時）。
• If you write down your goals and then keep track of your progress over time, it helps you be honest with yourself, and make adjustments when needed.
  如果你把你的目標寫下來，然後隨著時間的推移追蹤你的進展，這有助於你對自己保持誠實，並在需要時進行調整。
• All of the above is helpful if you want to become more self-aware or live with more intentionality.
  如果你想更加自我意識或更有意圖地生活，以上所有內容都是有幫助的。

Matthews's study also demonstrated that accountability, ie sharing your progress with someone in a supportive role (friend/trainer/coach), enhances the benefits of writing goals down.  
馬修的研究還表明，即與一位支持性角色（朋友/教練/教練）分享進展情況，即將目標寫下來，可以增強其效益。

When you work with a financial advisor or coach for example, typically one of the first exercises you do is to track your spending. I can tell you from experience that for many people the exercise is an evolution in self-awareness:
當你與財務顧問或教練合作時，通常首先要做的練習之一就是追蹤你的花費。從我的經驗來看，我可以告訴你，對許多人來說，這個練習是一種自我意識的演變：

• "Ugh...I have no idea what I spend and I sort of don't want to know".
  唉...我完全不知道我花了多少錢，而且我有點不想知道。
• "Ok fine, I'll write it down but I don't really know what I'm doing, is there an app or can you help me?"
  好吧，沒問題，我會寫下來，但我真的不知道我在做什麼，有沒有應用程式或者你能幫我一下？
• "Woah I can't believe how much I've been spending on [insert expense category]"
  哇，我簡直不敢相信我在[插入费用類别]上花了這麼多錢
• "I'm so proud of myself, I am now paying attention! I've eliminated [unwanted spending habit] or am investing more in [prioritized goal]".
  我真的為自己感到驕傲，我現在開始注意了！我已經消除了[不必要的花費習慣]，或者更多地投資於[優先目標]。
• "Ugh I feel so guilty, I screwed up and went back to my old ways."
  唉，我感到非常內疚，我搞砸了，又回到了以前的樣子。
• "Oh wait, you're right, it's not the end of the world, because now I know [how to refocus on what's important] or [thanks to my new system, I have reserve funds dedicated to random indulgences]".
  哦等等，你說得對，這並不是世界末日，因為現在我知道[如何重新專注於重要的事情]或者[多虧了我的新系統，我有專門用於隨意放縱的儲備資金]。

Your pen might feel small and inconsequential and maybe even a bit corny sometimes, but it's a powerful tool when used intentionally. It can help you get to know yourself. It can help you feel better about yourself. It can help you keep track of what you're doing with your life, and help you plan the life you want. Not bad for an invention that's more than 5000 years old.
你的筆可能有時候會感覺小而微不足道，甚至有點陳腐，但當你有意識地使用它時，它是一個強大的工具。它可以幫助你了解自己，讓你對自己感到更好。它可以幫助你追蹤你生活中正在做的事情，並幫助你規劃你想要的生活。對於一個已經有超過5000年歷史的發明來說，這可不錯。

原文網址:

https://contessacapitaladvisors.com/blog/f/the-mighty-power-of-the-pen