* First, says Timothy A. Pychyl, Ph.D., associate professor of psychology at Carleton University in Ottawa, you have to choose personal projects that have meaning for you. They have to embody your values, resonate with your identity, hold some enjoyment for you.

首先，心理学家Timothy A. Pychyl博士建议，你必须选择对自己有意义的个人计划。这些计划必须能具体体现你的价值观、和你的身份产生共鸣、带给你快乐。

 

* Then you have to focus on making the change manageable. Say your resolution is to start running. You have to get specific about exactly what you are going to do, where you are going to do it, and at what time.

然后要努力让这种改变具有可控性。比如你的决心是开始跑步，你必须做明确的打算你要做什么、打算在哪里做、什么时间开始。

"As runners always point out, the biggest thing about running is just to get outside," says Dr. Pychyl. Once you get out the door you are more likely to go for that run.

Pychyl博士说，“跑步的人都会指出，对于跑步来说最重要的事情是到户外去，”一旦你出了门你就更可能会跑起来。

Making change manageable means that you have to structure your personal environment to facilitate your goal. So you set up your surroundings to get you out the door to run first thing in the morning. The night before you lay out your running clothes right next to your bed so that they are as easy to reach for as your toothbrush. They become your cue to go downstairs and get out the door.

使改变具有可控性意味着你必须构造你的个人环境来推动目标的实现。所以你要打造你的周边环境让你走出门去，在清晨做的第一件事就是跑步。晚上临睡前把运动服放在床边伸手就能够到的地方，它们会成为你下楼出门的暗示。

In the language of psychology these steps are called implementation intentions. They take the place of habits until the new behaviors lose some of their unpleasantness and become more attractive in their own right. After all, running is difficult in the beginning when you are out of shape, even though making the effort feels good and makes you feel good about yourself.

在心理学的语言里，这些步骤叫做执行意图。新的行为总会伴随着一些不愉快，在这些不愉快没有从新行为中剥离，让行为自身产生吸引力之前，执行意图都会取代习惯。

* Build in a little leeway in your new effort at self-regulation. "We should expect to fail at self-regulation at times," says Dr. Pychyl. What you really have to guard against is what is formally known as "the what-the-hell effect."Instead, expect to "mess up" from time to time. And just get right back on track.

在自我约束的时候给自己留点余地。Pychyl说，“自我约束时不时出点差错是可以预见的事情”，你需要警惕的是“管他的”效应。你应该时不时允许自己出点小差错，然后回到正轨就可以了。