1. It is not too late to change your life.
改变生活永远不迟

“Nobody can go back and start a new beginning, but anyone can start today and make a new ending.” Maria Robinson
“没有人可以回到过去重新开始，但每个人都可以从今天开始创造全新的未来。”——玛丽亚·罗宾逊

It may feel like you have been on the same path and stuck in the same habits for so long that you are stuck permanently on your current route.
貌似你已陷于同样的习惯或徘徊在同样的道路上太久，如此这般，你便永远搁浅在这里了。

It doesn’t have to be that way though. You may not be able to change your life in any way you want right now. But work with what you have where you are right now.
其实生活并非那样不可。或许你无法一下子就让生活变成你想要的样子；但是，请从现在、从你已经拥有的一切开始行动起来吧。

Make a small change if that is what is possible. That small change and success will give you confidence and you can build upon that to make more and perhaps even bigger changes over the year.
请尽可能从细节开始改变。细节的改变和成功能给你信心，促使你在一年内做出更大进步。

2. Don’t make mountains out of molehills.
切忌小题大做。

“If you break your neck, if you have nothing to eat, if your house is on fire, then you’ve got a problem. Everything else is inconvenience.” Robert Fulghum
“要是你脖子断了、食物没了或房子着火了，那确实很成问题。至于其他，都无关紧要罢了。”——罗伯特·富尔格姆

It is easy to let thoughts spin away. To let them grow from a thought or a situation into a big and very scary monster in your mind.
人的思维很容易受影响。芝麻大的小问题都有可能会在心里被无限放大到吓人的怪物。

What can you do about this thought habit? One thought combination that has helped me with this habit is to:
那该怎样改变“小题大做”的思维习惯呢？有一个办法对我非常有效：

Say stop right away. This works well to build self-esteem. It also works well for optimism. In this case it simply means that as soon as you become aware of that you are starting to make a mountain out of a molehill you say or shout STOP! or something similar in your mind.
暗示自己到此为止。这对树立信心很有帮助，还有助于积累正能量。具体来讲，当你发现自己又开始小题大做时，赶紧告诉自己：行了，停下来吧！或用类似的话语提醒自己。

I tend to use the phrase: No, no, we are not going there! Broaden the perspective. After I have used my stop-phrase I ask myself this about the perceived problem: Will this matter in 5 years? Or even 5 months?
一般我会对自己说：不行，决不能那样！开阔自己的眼界。当我对自己喊停时，我会问自己这么一个问题：5年甚至就5个月后，这件事还这么重要吗？

The answer is almost always no. And my mind is once again calmer and I feel level-headed.
答案显然是不。这么一想，我一下子镇定轻松多了。

3. Find a more helpful way to view your troubles.
用更有益的方法看待困难。

"What seems to us as bitter trials are often blessings in disguise." Oscar Wilde
“人们眼里的苦痛很多时候或许只是潜藏着的幸福。”——奥斯卡·王尔德

“If you will call your troubles experiences, and remember that every experience develops some latent force within you, you will grow vigorous and happy, however adverse your circumstances may seem to be.” John Heywood
“如果你将困难视作经历，懂得所有经历必将后惠于你，不论境遇多么不如意，也仍会开心快乐。”——约翰·海伍德

It is easy to get dragged down by the troubles that turn out to not just be molehills (or air).
有时我们的确会遇到大麻烦，并很容易受其拖累

But if you view them in a helpful and optimistic way then, yes, they may still hurt. But they tend to often hurt a lot less and can even be a source of optimistic excitement.
但是，如果你从积极的角度看待困难，尽管仍会疼痛，但总会好受一些，有时候甚至能拿来打趣取乐。

I didn’t use to like making mistakes or failing at all. I often chose to stand still and to not do anything to not risk anything. Nowadays I have learned that these things tend to truly be a blessing in disguise.
以前我一直讨厌犯错或失败，总是安于现状不做任何有风险的事情。现在我发现，事情有时确实就像塞翁失马。

What has changed? I view them differently and act upon them differently than I used to. I ask myself: what is the opportunity in this situation? I ask: how will this experience help me in the long run?
到底发生了哪些变化？我换个角度看待它们，采取截然不同的反应。我问自己：这种情况下还有哪些可能性？我又问自己：这次经历对我以后会有帮助吗？

These questions help me to make good use of a situation that may seem negative at first. And by doing this process over and over I am a lot less afraid of making mistakes or failing because I know from my experience that by handling this in a smart way I have gained many benefits and grown as a person over the past years.
类似问题使我能优化处理起初看来不甚乐观的境遇。如此往复，我变得不再害怕犯错或失败，因为我的经验告诉我，多年来理性应对一切已使我受益匪浅。

4. Focus on the small steps you can take.
锁定触手可及的小目标。

“Having a positive mental attitude is asking how something can be done rather than saying it can’t be done.” Bo Bennett
心态积极的人会问怎样才能把事情做好，而不是抱怨事情根本无法着手。”——柏·班奈特

When you have found an opportunity in what seemed like a totally negative situation then focus on what you can do and take action on.
如果你能在逆境中寻得一线机会，那就从你力所能及的地方开始行动吧。

Ask yourself: what is one small step I can take today to get the ball rolling and move forward with this situation?
请问问自己：今天我可以实施哪些小计划，好让整个情况有所改观呢？

Just take that one small step today. Then another tomorrow. The small steps tend to add up quickly and, as I mentioned above, will breed confidence that allow you to take more and bigger steps.
然后，今天只需做好那个小计划就行了。明天再做好明天的。就像我在前文所说，小细节能迅速累积并增强自信心，促使你做出更大的改变。

5. Learn to reduce and handle worries.
5. 学会减忧抗忧。

“When I look back on all these worries, I remember the story of the old man who said on his deathbed that he had had a lot of trouble in his life, most of which had never happened.” Winston Churchill
每次我遇到令人担忧的事情，就会想起一位垂死老人说的话：我一生总在无止境地忧虑，其实很多担忧从未真正发生过。”——温斯顿·丘吉尔

Worries can be very destructive.
忧虑的杀伤力非常巨大。

But most of the things you fear will happen never happen. They are just nightmares or monsters in your own mind. And if they happen then they will most often not be as painful or bad as you expected. Worrying is most often just a waste of the time you have here.
其实，很多人们担心的事情并不会真正发生，都只是你心中的梦魇或恶念罢了。而且，即便发生了，也并不会像你想的那样痛苦或糟糕。忧虑纯粹只会浪费你的大好时光。

I know, this is easy to say. But what can you do about it?
当然，说起来容易，那到底该怎么做呢？

What has worked for me is a similar combination that I mentioned above.
有个方法我在前文已经提过，非常有效：

I first use my stop phrase: No, no, we are not going there!
我会先告诉自己：不行，决不能那样！

Then I ask myself a question based on Churchill’s quote: how many of my worries and things I feared came into my reality in the past? The answer is: very few.
然后我会想到丘吉尔的那句名言，问自己：到目前为止，我所担心的事情有多少真正发生了呢？答案是：很少。

By repeating this over and over this quick process becomes a habit and starts to pop up often quite automatically when my mind starts to worry about something. And that has been a wonderful help.
然后，我会一再重复这点直到养成习惯：每当我不自觉地开始忧虑时，大脑就会自动予以警告。如此一来，生活便轻松快乐多了。

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