閱讀筆記＆雜思：詹姆斯．克利爾《三十天養成好習慣》【第十一課】（完）

30 Days to Better Habits

• 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
• 完結灑花🎉
  這章的重點凝聚成一句話就是：當你的舊習慣變得乏善可陳，你知道前進的時間到了。
  我想，商管書籍或文章最有趣的在於，儘管說的是一些似是跟資本主義扣合的概念與邏輯，其本質與形式卻適用於人生的各種面向。
  舉例來說，這一章說到「當東西是新的，一切是新穎的、有趣的，但隨著時間過去，習慣會成為常態，它們已被學習並且帶來可預期的回報。一旦你知道你可以預期什麼，習慣就會變得沒那麼有趣，有時甚至變得無聊」，這也能擴充對應到一段變質（go sour）的關係、不再熱情依舊的興趣等。
  之後有機會再分享其他的思考，先在此感謝陪伴至今的夥伴們，希望你們都能從中獲益。

Habit Graduation: Moving from Two Minutes to Mastery
習慣的畢業典禮：將兩分鐘變成一門技藝

Lesson 11 of 11
第十一堂課
Habit Graduation: Moving from Two Minutes to Mastery
習慣的畢業典禮：將兩分鐘變成一門技藝

Congratulations! You’ve reached the final lesson of 30 Days to Better Habits. Today is “habit graduation.”
I use the term habit graduation for two reasons. Not only because you are graduating from the course and finishing what you set out to do, but also because in this lesson we will discuss how to graduate and advance from your small, initial habit to larger and more impressive habits over time. 
恭喜！你已經到了《30天養成好習慣》的最後一堂課，今天就是「習慣的畢業典禮」。
用這個詞有兩個原因，不只是因為你正由一門課程畢業、完成你預期要做的是，更是因為在這堂課，我們將討論如何讓你最初的小小習慣畢業，進階成為更大的、更顯著的習慣。

Whenever I tell people about my approach to habits and behavior change, one of the first questions I receive is: Am I supposed to stick with a small habit forever? It makes sense to start with something tiny, but how do I know when to scale up? 
These are important questions for anyone committed to continuous improvement, and I’d like to close the course by offering a few useful ways to think about answering them. 
每當我告訴人們我建立習慣與行為改變的方法時，我收到的第一個回問之一總是：我應該永遠堅持這個小習慣嗎？從小東西下手聽來有道理，但我怎麼知道什麼時候應該加大力道？
對於任何承諾要不斷進步的人，這些問題都是很重要的，因此我想要提供一些有用的思路給大家思考如何解答，作為這門課的收尾。

When you start out building a new habit, it’s exciting in the beginning because it’s new. When things are new, it’s novel and interesting. Over time, however, habits become routine. They become learned and the outcomes become expected. Once you know what to expect, habits tend to be less interesting. Sometimes they even become boring. This can be one of the first signals that it’s time to graduate your habit to the next level. You scale up when what was previously challenging is now the new normal.
當你著手於建立新習慣，因為它是新的，開頭很令人振奮。當東西是新的，一切是新穎的、有趣的，但隨著時間過去，習慣會成為常態，它們已被學習並且帶來可預期的回報。一旦你知道你可以預期什麼，習慣就會變得沒那麼有趣，有時甚至變得無聊，而這就會成為該升級你的習慣的信號之一。當你將先前視作挑戰的東西轉為新的常態，你就該加大力度了。

When your old habit becomes boring, you know it’s time to move on. However, this can be a potential pitfall because, once people get bored, they start looking for something new to do: a new solution, a better approach, a different program. Pretty soon, you jump to one habit to the next, or one program to the next and you never spend enough time focusing on one thing long enough to get results. The key is once you get bored, you stick with the same habit, but find a new detail to master or get interested in. 
當你的舊習慣變得乏善可陳，你知道前進的時間到了。然而，這也可能是潛在陷阱，因為一旦人開始覺得無聊，他們就會開始找新的東西做：新的解決方式、更好的方法、不同的程式。很快地，你就會跳入了一個新習慣，週而復始，一個接著一個的新習慣，最後你從未投入足夠的時間聚焦於一件事，以得到它帶來的回報。關鍵在於，一旦你開始覺得無聊，你仍堅持於同樣的習慣，只是從中找到新的細節精益求精，或者產生興趣。

Some examples: 
You’ve been writing 100 words per day and you’ve done that for 3 months now and it’s no longer interesting. Rather than using this as evidence that you should jump to podcasting or video or YouTube, you find a new detail to obsess over related to writing. Perhaps you try to master writing better opening sentences. This renewed focus on a small portion of the process allows you to stick with the habit of writing but find something interesting in the habit. 
幾個例子如下：
你在這三個月中，已經每天都寫100個字了，而這不再讓人感到有趣。相較起用這個證明你應該改聽播客、看影片或YouTube，你找到一個跟寫作有關的新細節，並且專注其中。或許你試圖精進寫作技巧，想將開場白寫得更好一點，重整後的重心會放在一段過程中的小部分，讓你可以堅持寫作這個習慣，同時找到這個習慣中有趣的東西。

The second thing you can do is to stick with the same habit, but scale up the intensity or volume. For example, perhaps you began a walking habit by putting on your walking shoes and going outside for two minutes each day. After a few weeks, this routine may be so easy that it feels boring to you. At this stage, you can scale up to walking for five minutes or 10 minutes. In this case, the potential pitfall is jumping from a small version of your habit to something massive. Even as you graduate from one level to another, you want to be careful to maintain small, incremental improvements. Just because you’ve mastered the art of showing up, doesn’t mean you should jump straight to the finish line. 
你可以做的第二件事，是堅持你現有的習慣，但加大強度或數量。舉例來說，你可能用每天穿上鞋子、出去走個兩分鐘作為散步的習慣，幾週之後，這個例行公事可能變得太簡單，以至於你覺得很無趣。在這個階段，你可以升級到每天走五到十分鐘。在這案例中，隱藏陷阱是不小心將一個小習慣擴充得太大，就算你從目前的等級更上一層樓，你還是必須謹慎地維持一定的小規模的、漸進式的進步。就算你已經精於參與的藝術，不代表你就該直奔終點線。

This is the perfect time to continue walking along the habit shaping path from “very easy” to “very hard.” 
Start by mastering the first two minutes of the smallest version of the behavior, then advance to an intermediate step and repeat the process. Mastering each stage before moving on to the next level. Eventually, you’ll end up with the habit you had originally hoped to build despite starting so small.
這是沿著習慣塑造路徑從「非常簡單」走到「非常困難」的完美時機。
從精熟於最初的兩分鐘、同時也是最小版本的行為開始，進階到中階者的程度，並且重複這些流程。在前進到下一個階段前，在各個階段爐火純青，最終你會得到你最初希望得到的習慣，卻不僅是開始時那麼小。

Habit graduation will always be a personal choice and require some level of guess work. One of the metrics I like to keep in mind is choosing a new level that is exciting enough that I’m no longer bored, but easy enough that I know I’ll be able to do it 98% of the time. 
At this stage, you simply repeat the process you’ve already followed: Scale up to the next level, master this portion of the behavior, make it the new normal, and then repeat. If at any time you do fall off course or you feel like it’s all you can do just to show up, return to your original two-minute version.
習慣的畢業典禮總是一個個人選擇，並且需要一定程度的猜測。我謹記於心的其中一個矩陣，是選擇一個足夠振奮人心、讓我不再無聊的新等級，但它也該足夠容易，讓我知道我在百分之98的時間都能達成。
在這階段，你簡單地重複你已經在遵循的流程：升級到下一個等級、精熟這行為的某個部分、使它變成新的常態，然後再次重複。如果在任何你覺得快要堅持不下去，或者感覺你能做到的只有參與，那就重回你最初的兩分鐘版本。

Finally, I’d like to share a theory of motivation that you can keep in mind as you continue to advance and expand your habits. I refer to this theory as the “goldilocks rule.” It can be a useful philosophy to keep in mind when considering how big of a jump you should take when you scale your habits up. 
The Goldilocks Rule states that humans experience peak levels of motivation when working on tasks of just manageable difficulty. Not too hard, not too easy, just right. This is precisely the region where habits remain motivating and exciting. Working on challenges of just manageable difficulty is a good way to keep things interesting.
最後，我想分享一個跟動力相關的理論，當你想繼續精進或拓展你的習慣時，你可以將其放在心上。我稱這個理論為「金髮女郎法則」，當你再升級你的習慣，並且思考下一步該跨得多大時，這是個很有用、值得謹記於心的哲理。
金髮女郎法則指出，按人類過往經驗，動力的波峰落在著手於那些具有你足以應付的難度的任務。不太難，也不太難，恰到好處，這是一個很明確具體的區間，讓你可以維持習慣的驅動力與興奮感。從事那些難度適當的挑戰，是能使事情變得有趣許多的好方法。

One way to know that you’re in the goldilocks zone and staying on the edge of your ability is that you’re winning enough to feel successful and failing enough to feel challenged. The key aspect to focus on here as you’re trying to expand is winning enough to feel successful. If at any point, you expand your habit to a degree where you are no longer succeeding consistently, you know you have surpassed the goldilocks zone and you should scale back down to something easier. You need just enough “winning” to experience satisfaction and just enough “wanting” to experience desire.
知道你在金髮女郎區間，並且處於你能力的極限的方法之一，是你已經在當前的情況中贏得足夠多的勝利、並且不再為此感到具有挑戰性。這個關鍵要點在於，關注你嘗試要擴展的東西，並且已經得到足夠讓你覺得自己是成功的勝利。如果在任何時候，你把習慣延展到一個你不再能持續得到成功的程度，你就知道你已經超過了金髮女郎區，是時候退一步到更容易達成的程度，因為你需要足夠的「勝利」來達到滿足感，也需要足夠的「渴望」來支持你的慾望。

Here are some examples:

1.      Once you’ve mastered lacing up your running shoes and stepping out the door, graduate to walking around the block each day. Once that’s easy, scale up again. 

2.      Once you’ve mastered putting all the dirty clothes in the laundry hamper, include another simple cleaning task – like washing a dish right after you use it instead of letting them pile up in the sink. Once that’s easy, scale up to include another task. 

3.      Once you’ve mastered saving $1 per week, graduate to saving $5 or $10. Continue to scale up until you “feel” it, then back off a touch. 

Staying on the edge of your potential is more art than science. Nudge yourself a little, so you’re no longer bored, but not so much that you’re failing each time.
這裡有幾個例子：

1. 一旦你精熟於每天綁好跑鞋鞋帶就走出門的習慣，將它晉級成沿著街區散步一圈。一旦先前的階段變得容易上手，那就再升級。
2. 一旦你精熟於將所有的髒衣服放進洗衣籃，包括其他簡單的清潔工作──像是在你吃完東西後立刻把碗洗起來，而不是堆在洗碗槽。一旦這變得簡單，那就升級成其他任務。
3. 一旦你精熟於每周存1塊美金，升級到每周存5到10塊美金，持續升級到你「有感覺了」，那就可以稍微降階了。

相較於科學，保持你潛力的極限更屬於一種藝術。輕推你自己一把，讓你不再感覺百無聊賴，但不要多到你每次嘗試都失敗的程度。

Week 4 Summary

• Nothing sustains motivation better than belonging to the tribe. It transforms a personal quest into a shared one.
• We’ve discussed a variety of strategies for building habits that last. The Habit Contract brings everything together on one page and formalizes your plan for change.
• When you start out building a new habit, it’s exciting in the beginning because it’s new. Over time, however, habits become routine. Sometimes they even become boring. This can be one of the first signals that it’s time to graduate your habit to the next level. You scale up when what was previously challenging is now the new normal.

第四週總結

• 沒什麼比群體歸屬感更能維持驅動力的續航力，它會將個人渴望轉化成一個共享的群體追求。
• 我們討論了各式各樣培養長久習慣的策略，習慣契約會將這些東西凝聚於一個完整的頁面，並且將你想要改變的計畫格式化。
• 當你開始建立新習慣，最開始總是充滿興奮感，因為一切都是新的。但隨著時間過去，習慣將成為一種例行公事，有時甚至變得十分無聊，而這就是該升級你的習慣的信號之一。當先前的挑戰成為此刻的常態時，就是你該升級的時候了。

Week 4 Progress Check-In

• Congratulations. You’ve now finished 30 Days to Better Habits. You should have a clear plan for how to implement your two-minute habit with an implementation intention, a series of environment design changes that optimize for your desired habit, and a strategy for scaling up your habit. 

James Clear
Author of Atomic Habits and keynote speaker

第四週進程回顧

• 恭喜！你現在已經完成了《30天養成好習慣》這門課。應該有個計劃清楚地告訴你，如何使用執行意向來啟動你的兩分鐘習慣、一系列能優化你期望行為的環境改造，以及能升級習慣的策略

詹姆斯．克利爾
《原子習慣》作者與keynote講者

Helpful bonuses and downloads

• 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 habit shaping, see Chapter 13 of Atomic Habits. 
• For more on the goldilocks rule, see Chapter 19 of Atomic Habits. 
• Habit shaping: Gail B. Peterson, “A Day of Great Illumination: B. F. Skinner’s Discovery of Shaping,” Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior 82, no. 3 (2004), doi:10.1901/jeab.2004.82–317.
• Just manageable difficulty: Nicholas Hobbs, “The Psychologist as Administrator,” Journal of Clinical Psychology 15, no. 3 (1959), doi:10.1002/1097–4679(195907)15:33.0.co; 2–4; Gilbert Brim, Ambition: How We Manage Success and Failure throughout Our Lives (Lincoln, NE: IUniverse.com, 2000); Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, Finding Flow: The Psychology of Engagement with Everyday Life (New York: Basic Books, 2008).

能幫上忙的可下載資源

• 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

• 習慣塑造的詳細說明，請參見《原子習慣》第13章
• 金髮女郎法則的詳細說明，請參見《原子習慣》第19章
• 習慣養成：蓋兒·B·彼得森撰寫的論文〈充滿光明的一天：伯爾赫斯·法雷迪·史金納的塑身發現〉，收錄於《行為應用分析期刊》第八十二輯，第3集，2004年；
• 剛好可掌握的難度：尼古拉斯·霍布斯撰寫的論文〈如行政官的心理學家〉，收錄於《臨床心理學期刊》第十五輯，第3集，1959年；吉爾伯特·布瑞姆《企圖心：我們如何應對人生的成功與失敗（2000）》，林肯出版社；奇克森特米哈伊·米哈伊《心流：高手都在研究的最優體驗心理學（2008）》，Basic Books出版社，紐約。

（註：上方論文題目皆為暫譯）