11 Walk Slowly, but Never Backward

慢慢走，但不要后退

ON THE FIRST day of class, Jerry Uelsmann, a professor at the University of Florida, divided his film photography students into two groups.

在上课的第一天，佛罗里达大学教授杰里·乌尔斯曼将他的电影摄影学生分为两组。

Everyone on the left side of the classroom, he explained, would be in the “quantity” group. They would be graded solely on the amount of work they produced. On the final day of class, he would tally the number of photos submitted by each student. One hundred photos would rate an A, ninety photos a B, eighty photos a C, and so on.

他解释说，教室左边的每个人都属于“数量”组。他们的分数将完全取决于他们所做的工作量。在上课的最后一天，他会统计每个学生提交的照片的数量。100张照片得分a，九十张照片得分b，八十张照片得分c，以此类推。

Meanwhile, everyone on the right side of the room would be in the “quality” group. They would be graded only on the excellence of their work. They would only need to produce one photo during the semester, but to get an A, it had to be a nearly perfect image.

与此同时，房间右边的每个人都属于“质量”组。他们的成绩只能根据他们工作的出色程度来评定。他们只需要在一个学期内制作一张照片，但要得到一个a，它必须是一个近乎完美的形象。

At the end of the term, he was surprised to find that all the best photos were produced by the quantity group. During the semester, these students were busy taking photos, experimenting with composition and lighting, testing out various methods in the darkroom, and learning from their mistakes. In the process of creating hundreds of photos, they honed their skills. Meanwhile, the quality group sat around speculating about perfection. In the end, they had little to show for their efforts other than unverified theories and one mediocre photo.*

在学期结束时，他惊讶地发现所有最好的照片都是由数量组拍摄的。在这个学期里，这些学生忙于拍照，实验构图和灯光，在暗室里测试各种方法，并从他们的错误中学习。在创作数百张照片的过程中，他们磨练了自己的技能。与此同时，质量团队坐在一起推测完美。最后，除了未经证实的理论和一张平庸的照片，他们几乎没有什么可以展示他们的努力。

It is easy to get bogged down trying to find the optimal plan for change: the fastest way to lose weight, the best program to build muscle, the perfect idea for a side hustle. We are so focused on figuring out the best approach that we never get around to taking action. As Voltaire once wrote, “The best is the enemy of the good.”

试图找到最佳的改变计划是很容易陷入困境的:最快的减肥方法，最好的锻炼肌肉的计划，完美的副业计划。我们太专注于找出最好的方法，以至于从来没有时间去采取行动。正如伏尔泰曾经写道:“最好的是好的敌人。”

I refer to this as the difference between being in motion and taking action. The two ideas sound similar, but they’re not the same. When you’re in motion, you’re planning and strategizing and learning. Those are all good things, but they don’t produce a result.

我认为这就是行动和采取行动的区别。这两个想法听起来很相似，但它们并不相同。当你行动的时候，你就在计划、制定策略和学习。这些都是好事，但不会产生结果。

Action, on the other hand, is the type of behavior that will deliver an outcome. If I outline twenty ideas for articles I want to write, that’s motion. If I actually sit down and write an article, that’s action. If I search for a better diet plan and read a few books on the topic, that’s motion. If I actually eat a healthy meal, that’s action.

另一方面，行动是一种能够产生结果的行为。如果我为我想写的文章列出二十个想法，那就是动议。如果我真的坐下来写一篇文章，那就是行动。如果我寻找一个更好的饮食计划，并且阅读一些关于这个主题的书籍，那就是运动。如果我真的吃了一顿健康的饭，那就是行动。

Sometimes motion is useful, but it will never produce an outcome by itself. It doesn’t matter how many times you go talk to the personal trainer, that motion will never get you in shape. Only the action of working out will get the result you’re looking to achieve.

有时候运动是有用的，但它本身永远不会产生结果。不管你和私人教练谈过多少次，运动永远不会让你恢复健康。只有锻炼的行动才能得到你想要的结果。

If motion doesn’t lead to results, why do we do it? Sometimes we do it because we actually need to plan or learn more. But more often than not, we do it because motion allows us to feel like we’re making progress without running the risk of failure. Most of us are experts at avoiding criticism. It doesn’t feel good to fail or to be judged publicly, so we tend to avoid situations where that might happen. And that’s the biggest reason why you slip into motion rather than taking action: you want to delay failure.

如果运动不能带来结果，我们为什么还要做呢？有时我们这样做是因为我们实际上需要计划或学习更多。但更多的时候，我们这样做是因为运动让我们感觉到我们正在取得进展，而没有失败的风险。我们大多数人都是避免批评的专家。失败或被公开评判的感觉并不好，所以我们倾向于避免可能发生这种情况的情况。而这正是你滑向运动而不是采取行动的最大原因：你想推迟失败。

It’s easy to be in motion and convince yourself that you’re still making progress. You think, “I’ve got conversations going with four potential clients right now. This is good. We’re moving in the right direction.” Or, “I brainstormed some ideas for that book I want to write. This is coming together.”

你很容易处于行动中，并且说服自己你仍在取得进步。你会想，“我现在正在和四个潜在客户谈话。这很好。我们正朝着正确的方向前进。”或者，“我为我想写的那本书想出了一些点子。这一切正在结合起来。”

Motion makes you feel like you’re getting things done. But really, you’re just preparing to get something done. When preparation becomes a form of procrastination, you need to change something. You don’t want to merely be planning. You want to be practicing.

运动让你觉得你正在把事情做好。但实际上，你只是在为完成某件事做准备。当准备变成拖延的一种形式时，你需要改变一些事情。你不想仅仅是计划。你想要练习。

If you want to master a habit, the key is to start with repetition, not perfection. You don’t need to map out every feature of a new habit. You just need to practice it. This is the first takeaway of the 3rd Law: you just need to get your reps in.

如果你想要掌握一个习惯，关键是从重复开始，而不是完美。你不需要描绘出一个新习惯的每一个特征。你只需要练习一下。这是第三定律的第一个要点:你只需要让你的销售代表加入进来。

HOW LONG DOES IT ACTUALLY TAKE TO FORM A NEW HABIT?

形成一个新习惯实际需要多长时间？

Habit formation is the process by which a behavior becomes progressively more automatic through repetition. The more you repeat an activity, the more the structure of your brain changes to become efficient at that activity. Neuroscientists call this long-term potentiation, which refers to the strengthening of connections between neurons in the brain based on recent patterns of activity. With each repetition, cell-to-cell signaling improves and the neural connections tighten. First described by neuropsychologist Donald Hebb in 1949, this phenomenon is commonly known as Hebb’s Law: “Neurons that fire together wire together.”

习惯的形成是一个行为通过重复变得越来越自动化的过程。你重复一项活动的次数越多，你的大脑结构就会变得越有效率。神经系统科学家称之为长时程增强作用，指的是根据最近的活动模式加强大脑神经元之间的联系。随着每次重复，细胞间的信号传递改善，神经连接紧密。神经心理学家DonaldHebb在1949年首次描述了这种现象，这种现象通常被称为Hebb定律:“连接在一起的神经元连接在一起。”

Repeating a habit leads to clear physical changes in the brain. In musicians, the cerebellum—critical for physical movements like plucking a guitar string or pulling a violin bow—is larger than it is in nonmusicians. Mathematicians, meanwhile, have increased gray matter in the inferior parietal lobule, which plays a key role in computation and calculation. Its size is directly correlated with the amount of time spent in the field; the older and more experienced the mathematician, the greater the increase in gray matter.

重复一个习惯会使大脑产生明显的生理变化。对于音乐家来说，小脑比非音乐家的要大。小脑对于弹奏吉他弦或拉小提琴琴弓等身体动作至关重要。与此同时，数学家增加了顶叶下小叶的灰质，这在计算和计算中起着关键作用。它的大小与在这个领域花费的时间直接相关;数学家年龄越大，经验越丰富，大脑灰质的增加就越多。

When scientists analyzed the brains of taxi drivers in London, they found that the hippocampus—a region of the brain involved in spatial memory—was significantly larger in their subjects than in non–taxi drivers. Even more fascinating, the hippocampus decreased in size when a driver retired. Like the muscles of the body responding to regular weight training, particular regions of the brain adapt as they are used and atrophy as they are abandoned.

当科学家们分析伦敦出租车司机的大脑时，他们发现受试者的海马体(大脑中与空间记忆有关的区域)明显大于非出租车司机。更有趣的是，当驾驶员退休时，海马体的大小会减小。就像身体的肌肉对规律的负重训练做出反应一样，大脑的特定区域在被使用时会适应，而当它们被放弃时就会萎缩。

Of course, the importance of repetition in establishing habits was recognized long before neuroscientists began poking around. In 1860, the English philosopher George H. Lewes noted, “In learning to speak a new language, to play on a musical instrument, or to perform unaccustomed movements, great difficulty is felt, because the channels through which each sensation has to pass have not become established; but no sooner has frequent repetition cut a pathway, than this difficulty vanishes; the actions become so automatic that they can be performed while the mind is otherwise engaged.” Both common sense and scientific evidence agree: repetition is a form of change.

当然，在神经科学家开始四处调查之前，重复在养成习惯方面的重要性早就被认识到了。1860年，英国哲学家乔治·h·刘易斯(Georgeh.Lewes)指出:“在学习说一门新语言、演奏乐器或表演不习惯的动作时，会感到很大的困难，因为每种感觉必须通过的通道还没有建立起来;但是频繁的重复一旦切断了一条通道，这种困难就消失了;这些动作变得如此自动，以至于在大脑忙于其他事情的时候，它们还可以进行。”常识和科学证据都认为:重复是一种变化。

Each time you repeat an action, you are activating a particular neural circuit associated with that habit. This means that simply putting in your reps is one of the most critical steps you can take to encoding a new habit. It is why the students who took tons of photos improved their skills while those who merely theorized about perfect photos did not. One group engaged in active practice, the other in passive learning. One in action, the other in motion.All habits follow a similar trajectory from effortful practice to automatic behavior, a process known as automaticity. Automaticity is the ability to perform a behavior without thinking about each step, which occurs when the nonconscious mind takes over.

每次你重复一个动作，你就激活了一个特定的与这个习惯相关的神经回路。这意味着，简单地把你的代表是最关键的步骤之一，你可以采取编码一个新的习惯。这就是为什么那些拍了大量照片的学生提高了他们的技能，而那些只是从理论上推测出完美照片的学生却没有。一组从事主动练习，另一组从事被动学习。一个在行动，另一个在运动。所有的习惯都遵循一个相似的轨迹，从努力练习到自动行为，这个过程被称为自动性。自动性是一种不用思考每一步的行为能力，当无意识思维接管时就会发生。

It looks something like this:

它看起来是这样的:

THE HABIT LINE

习惯线

FIGURE 11: In the beginning (point A), a habit requires a good deal of effort and concentration to perform. After a few repetitions (point B), it gets easier, but still requires some conscious attention. With enough practice (point C), the habit becomes more automatic than conscious. Beyond this threshold

图11:在一开始(a点)，一个习惯需要大量的努力和注意力才能完成。在几次重复之后(b点)，它变得容易了，但仍然需要一些有意识的关注。经过足够的练习(c点)，习惯变得比意识更加自动化。超过这个临界点

—the habit line—the behavior can be done more or less without thinking. A new habit has been formed.

ーー习惯线ーー这种行为或多或少不需要思考就能做到。一种新的习惯已经形成。

On the following page, you’ll see what it looks like when researchers track the level of automaticity for an actual habit like walking for ten minutes each day. The shape of these charts, which scientists call

在接下来的页面中，你会看到研究人员跟踪一个实际习惯的自动化程度，比如每天步行十分钟。这些图表的形状，科学家们称之为

learning curves, reveals an important truth about behavior change:

学习曲线揭示了行为改变的一个重要事实:

habits form based on frequency, not time.

习惯的形成是基于频率，而不是时间。

WALKING 10 MINUTES PER DAY

每天步行10分钟

FIGURE 12: This graph shows someone who built the habit of walking for ten minutes after breakfast each day. Notice that as the repetitions increase, so does automaticity, until the behavior is as easy and automatic as it can be.

图12:这个图表显示了那些养成了每天早餐后散步十分钟的习惯的人。请注意，随着重复次数的增加，自动性也在增加，直到行为变得尽可能简单和自动。

One of the most common questions I hear is, “How long does it take to build a new habit?” But what people really should be asking is, “How many does it take to form a new habit?” That is, how many repetitions are required to make a habit automatic?

我听到的最常见的问题之一是，“养成一个新习惯需要多长时间?”但人们真正应该问的是，“养成一个新习惯需要多少时间?”也就是说，需要多少次重复才能使一个习惯自动化？

There is nothing magical about time passing with regard to habit formation. It doesn’t matter if it’s been twenty-one days or thirty days or three hundred days. What matters is the rate at which you perform the behavior. You could do something twice in thirty days, or two hundred times. It’s the frequency that makes the difference. Your current habits have been internalized over the course of hundreds, if not thousands, of repetitions. New habits require the same level of frequency. You need to string together enough successful attempts until the behavior is firmly embedded in your mind and you cross the Habit Line.

关于习惯的形成，时间的流逝并没有什么神奇的。不管是二十一天，三十天，还是三百天。重要的是你执行行为的速度。你可以在三十天内做一件事两次，或者两百次。是频率造成了不同。你当前的习惯已经内化了几百次，甚至几千次的重复。新的习惯需要相同的频率。你需要把足够多的成功尝试串在一起，直到这种行为牢牢地嵌入你的脑海，你跨越了习惯线。

In practice, it doesn’t really matter how long it takes for a habit to become automatic. What matters is that you take the actions you need to take to make progress. Whether an action is fully automatic is of less importance.

实际上，习惯需要多长时间才能自动形成并不重要。重要的是你要采取你需要采取的行动来取得进展。一个动作是否是完全自动的并不重要。

To build a habit, you need to practice it. And the most effective way to make practice happen is to adhere to the 3rd Law of Behavior Change: make it easy. The chapters that follow will show you how to do exactly that.

要养成一个习惯，你需要练习。最有效的方法就是坚持第三条行为改变法则:让它变得简单。接下来的章节会告诉你如何做到这一点。

Chapter Summary

The 3rd Law of Behavior Change is make it easy.

第三条行为改变法则就是让改变变得容易。

The most effective form of learning is practice, not planning.

最有效的学习方式是实践，而不是计划。

Focus on taking action, not being in motion.

专注于采取行动，而不是行动。

Habit formation is the process by which a behavior becomes progressively more automatic through repetition.

习惯的形成是一个行为通过重复变得越来越自动化的过程。

The amount of time you have been performing a habit is not as important as the number of times you have performed it.

你养成一个习惯的时间并不像你养成习惯的次数那么重要。