閱讀筆記＆雜思：詹姆斯．克利爾《三十天養成好習慣》【第二課】
- 此系列內容來自詹姆斯．克利爾的免費郵件課程，使用其著作《Atomic Habits 原子習慣》的理論基礎，旨在30天內提供以下的資訊：
Ｖ 消除習慣養成中可能產生的任何疑問
Ｖ 獲得採取行動所需的工具與策略
Ｖ 學習任何習慣養成都能適用的架構 - 本章的兩分鐘法則指的是：
當你開始培養一個新習慣時，它應該花不到兩分鐘就能完成。
- 內文翻譯用了一些中文俚語增加易讀性，因為這核心概念就是「頭過身就過」，但凡用簡單的起手式給人一點心理暗示，後續的習慣養成就顯得容易許多。
以我個人的例子是，轉職前每週一、二、四、五都會在固定時間安排英文練習（包含但不限於寫題目、聽BBC＆線上家教），一整天都坐在書桌前，很容易讓腦子和身體僵化，所以就固定在三點半家教課結束後關電腦，示意自己應該去用個2-30分鐘的健身環動動筋骨。健身環有個不錯的設定，每隔幾天會問玩家要不要增強運動強度，而這些細微的改變都有助於活動筋骨，我還滿喜歡的w
The Two-Minute Rule for Building Lasting Habits
建立長久習慣的兩分鐘法則
Lesson 2 of 11
第二堂課
The Two-Minute Rule for Building Lasting Habits
建立長久習慣的兩分鐘法則
When you’re trying to build a new habit, it’s easy to start too big. When you think about the change you want to make, your excitement and motivation can convince you to do too much, too soon.
Everyone’s heard things like: start small, take baby steps. But even when you know you should start small, it’s still easy to start too big.
當人著手於培養新習慣時，很容易在一開始把目標設得太大。因為當你想到你想要辦到的改變，你的亢奮心理與內在動力會說服你做得太多、跑得太快。
大家都曾聽說過吧？從小東西下手，如嬰兒學步般踽踽而行。但就算你明知應該從小東西下手，還是很容易不小心起步太高、太快。
This is why, if I have to recommend one place to start when building a new habit, I would recommend choosing a habit that is as easy as possible to perform.
The most effective way I know to do this is to follow the “Two-Minute Rule.” The Two-Minute Rule states, “When you start a new habit, it should take less than two minutes to do.”
這也是為什麼，每當有人要我建議「怎麼開始培養一個新習慣」時，我總會建議他們先選一個最容易表現（最容易得到成果）的習慣。
我所知道的、最有效率的方式，是遵照「兩分鐘法則」。兩分鐘法則指的是：「當你開始培養一個新習慣時，它應該花不到兩分鐘就能完成。」
In the last lesson, you chose a habit that will cast votes for your desired identity. In this lesson, we’ll take that habit and scale it down into a two-minute version.
For example:
- “Walk 10,000 steps each day” becomes “Put on my running shoes.”
- “Keep the house tidy” becomes “put one item of dirty clothing in the laundry.”
- “Be a better partner” becomes “make my partner a cup of coffee every morning.”
- “Get straight A’s” becomes “set my books out on the desk when I get home.”
在上一堂課，你已經選定一項會協助鑄造你所追求的自我認同的習慣；而這一堂課，我們將以這一項習慣為題，將其運用到兩分鐘法則裡。
舉例來說：
- 將「一天走一萬步」轉化成「穿上我的跑鞋」
- 將「保持房屋整潔」轉化成「將一件髒衣服放到洗衣籃裡」
- 將「變成一個好伴侶」轉化成「每天早上為我的伴侶沖一杯咖啡」
- 將「拿到全優的成績」轉化成「當我到家時就把書拿到書桌上」
The idea is to make your habits as easy as possible to start. The Two-Minute Rule helps counterbalance our tendency to bite off more than we can chew. It also gives you a small way to reinforce your desired identity each day.
When all we hear about are other people’s spectacular results, it’s natural to think that we need to push ourselves to the limit to achieve anything worthwhile. I know, I've made that mistake many times myself. Instead, you can simplify the process by narrowing your attention to the first movement.
這些起手式都讓你著手建立習慣容易許多。兩分鐘法則輔助我們與三分鐘熱度的習性抗衡，也給你一個小撇步能在每一天都深化、強化特定的自我認同。
因為常聽見其他人的豐碩成果，自然而然地，我們總會覺得自己必須挑戰自身極限、以達到可對價交換的「某種成果」。我知道，我自己也曾為此犯下許多錯誤。但相反地，你能集中專注於你的第一步，就能避開這些不斷試錯的冤枉路。
You may not be able to automate the whole process, but you can make the first action mindless. You’re trying to build a “gateway habit” for a larger behavior or bigger ambition that you’re ultimately working toward. Make it easy to start and the rest will follow.
You can usually figure out the gateway habits that will lead to your desired outcome by mapping out your goals on a scale from “very easy” to “very hard.” Most people start with ambitions that are big and very hard, but need to transition to habits that are small and very easy.
你可能無法將整個過程都變得自動化，但你能將第一個動作內化成反射動作。在這種轉化中，你是在建立一個「入門習慣」，藉此更近一步地往你最終想要達成的行為模式，或更大的野心，前進。一但將開頭變得容易，頭過身就過，剩下的也會容易許多。
藉由將你的目標投射在「非常簡單」到「非常困難」的量表上，你總是能找到可行的入門習慣，引導你達成你所想要的結果。多數人以太大、太難企及的野心起頭，但實際上，那些內化習慣的必需品總是微小而簡明。
For instance, learning to play a song on the guitar is very hard. Learning to play the chorus of a song is very difficult. Learning to play the scales is moderately difficult. Practicing the chords is easy. Picking up the guitar and sitting down in a quiet spot is very easy. Your ultimate ambition might be to learn to play a full song, but your gateway habit is picking up your guitar and sitting down in a quiet place where you can practice. That’s how you follow the Two-Minute Rule.
舉個例吧，學習用吉他彈奏一首歌非常困難，學習彈一首歌的副歌也很難，學習彈音階中等困難，學習彈和弦屬於簡單，而背上吉他、找個安靜的地點坐下來是非常簡單的。你的終極目標或許不是學會彈奏一整首曲子，但你的入門習慣，應該是背上你的吉他、並找到一個可以安靜練習的地方。這也是你可以怎麼運用並遵守兩分鐘法則的方式。
Even broad life goals can be transformed into a two-minute behavior. Wanting to live a healthy life may be your ultimate ambition, but then you can ask “what do I need to live a healthy life” – I need to stay in shape. Then you can ask what do I need to stay in shape – I need to exercise. What do I need to do to exercise? I need to change into my workout clothes. And so on until you get to a behavior that takes two minutes or less – until you discover the first movement.
So, in this case, putting on your workout clothes becomes your two-minute habit that moves you toward your ultimate ambition of living a healthy life.
再怎麼廣泛的人生目標都能轉化為一個兩分鐘的起手式。如果你的終極目標是活得健康，你可能會問「我該怎麼活得健康」——那我需要維持良好身材。接下來，你可能會問「那我該怎麼做才能維持良好身材呢」——那我需要運動。「那我該怎麼運動呢？」——我需要換一身運動服⋯⋯以此類推，直到你找到一件你能用兩分鐘以下完成的事——直到你發現你的第一步。
因此，就這個例子看來，穿上你的運動服就是你的兩分鐘習慣，那會協助你往你「想要活得健康」的終極目標前進。
Or, wanting to have a happy marriage may be your ultimate ambition. So ask “what do I need to have a happy marriage?” You need to be a good partner. Then ask how you can be a good partner. You could do something each day to make your partner feel cared for. Something that makes their life easier. How could you make your partner’s life easier? You could make their morning coffee for them… and so on, searching for small ways to move toward your ultimate ambition.
又或許，想要「擁有一段幸福美滿的婚姻」是你的終極目標。那麼對「我必須怎麼樣才能擁有一段美好的婚姻」的問題，你首先必須是個好的伴侶。再來，你該如何成為一個好的伴侶呢？你能每天做一點什麼，讓你的伴侶感覺他／她是被放在心上的，像是那些讓他們的生活自在、舒適一點的事情。那要怎麼讓你的伴侶的生活自在、舒適一點呢？你可以每天早上為他們沖一杯咖啡⋯⋯諸此等等，找到能往你的終極目標前進的小方法。
People often think it’s weird to get hyped about putting on your shoes, or placing one item of clothing in the laundry basket, or making one cup of coffee, or setting your books out on the desk. But the point is not to do two minutes of work and then never do anything else. The point is to master the art of showing up.
人們常常覺得，為將你的鞋子歸位、將髒衣服放進洗衣籃、沖一杯咖啡，或者把書拿出來放在桌上這種小事大肆聲張，是一件很奇怪的事。但重點不是只完成那兩分鐘的起手式後、什麼都不做，重點在於掌握「參與這個習慣／顯化這個習慣」的藝術。
Here’s one example:
I had one reader who told me, “When I was getting back into the gym after being away for two years I told myself all I needed to do is get to the gym with my bag and stay for ten minutes, then I'm free to go home if I want.”
It ended up working. He reclaimed his fitness habit and began exercising consistently.
這裡有個例子：
曾有個讀者告訴我：「當我睽違兩年再次踏入健身房時，我告訴我自己，我只需要帶著我的背袋走進去十分鐘，然後我就能回家了。」
這最後奏效了，他重拾健身習慣，並且開始持續運動。
The truth is, a habit must be established before it can be improved. If you can’t learn the basic skill of showing up, then you have little hope of mastering the finer details. For the reader that I just mentioned, it wasn’t even about exercising. He could walk into the lobby of the gym, sit down and read a book. He could go over to a workout station, set it up as if he were going to lift and not actually do any reps. He can’t do this forever of course, but in the beginning, the idea is to get comfortable with simply being in the gym. To become the type of person who goes to the gym four days per week.
事實是，一個習慣必須在它被改善之前建立起來。如果你無法學會最基礎的「參與其中」，那要精通、優化其他細節的希望渺茫。而對於我上頭提到的讀者而言，這甚至無關乎運動本身。他大可走進健身房的大廳，坐在那裡讀本書；他也可以走入訓練室，將器材調好裝作他打算舉重、但其實什麼都沒做。當然，他不能永遠都什麼都不做，但在最一開始，目的在於熟悉「待在健身房裡」這件事。這是成為那種「一週上健身房四次的人」的第一步。
As I say in Atomic Habits: standardization before optimization. Make it the standard in your life, then worry about doing it better.
Strategies like this work for another reason too: they reinforce the identity you want to build. If you show up at the gym five days in a row—even if it’s just for two minutes—you are casting votes for your new identity. You’re casting votes for the type of person who doesn’t miss workouts. You’re taking the smallest action that confirms the type of person you want to be.
如我在《原子習慣》裡說的：在最優化前，先標準化。將你生活的事物訂定標準，然後再想怎麼做得更好。
像這樣的策略同樣有其他理由支持：這些標準強化了你想要建立的自我形象。如果你一週五天都出現在健身房——就算那只花你兩分鐘——你就在鑄造你新的自我認同，你就在鑄造一個你是「那種從不荒廢健身的人」的形象。只需要採取最小的行動，就能確認你是那種你想要成為的人。
That's all for Lesson 2. See you in the next lesson,
James Clear
Author of Atomic Habits and keynote speaker
這就是第二課，期待下一堂課再見。
詹姆斯．克利爾
《原子習慣》作者與keynote講者
Progress Check-In
By the end of this lesson, you should have a two-minute version of the habit you want to build and begin to master the art of showing up. That two-minute habit should be the smallest version of your habit that reinforces your desired identity.
Helpful bonuses and downloads
- Two-Minute Rule template – Use this template to write down a two-minute, scaled-down version of your habit.
- Workbook – This 18-page PDF includes an action checklist (including templates for key strategies) for each lesson of the course, plus lesson summaries and a key terms dictionary.
- Examples Database – The examples database is a Google Sheet of 140+ examples of how to implement each strategy covered in this course for dozens of different habits.
References and further reading
- For more on the two-minute rule, see Chapter 13 of Atomic Habits
- The Two-Minute Rule: Hat tip to David Allen, whose version of the Two-Minute Rule states, “If it takes less than two minutes, then do it now.” For more, see David Allen, Getting Things Done (New York: Penguin, 2015).
章節回顧
在這堂課結束後，你知道你想要建立的習慣的兩分鐘版本，以及「參與這個習慣／顯化這個習慣」的藝術。兩分鐘習慣應該是你想要強化理想的自我形象的習慣中最簡要版本。
能幫上忙的可下載資源
- Two-Minute Rule template – 請用這個範本寫下你想建立的習慣的兩分鐘版本。
- Workbook – 這是一份18頁的PDF檔，內容包括一份每一堂課的行動檢查表（內有關鍵策略的範本），加上課程統整與專有名詞辭典。
- Examples Database – 這是一個內有超過140個策略應用實例的Google表單，每個策略都適用於數十種不同的習慣培養。
參考資料與其他文本
- 想知道更多兩分鐘法則的細節，可閱讀《原子習慣》的第13章
- 兩分鐘法兩分鐘法則：致敬大衛・艾倫（David Allen）的對兩分鐘法則說的：「如果只需要不到兩分鐘完成，那現在就去做。」詳情請見《搞定！2分鐘輕鬆管理工作與生活（2015）》，企鵝出版集團。
（註：此書在台灣另有《搞定：未來最需要的人生管理工具，專注力、思考力、學習力一次升級》、《搞定！：工作效率大師教你:事情再多照樣做好的搞定5步驟》等版本）
