新年過去好幾個月啦，你的“新年決心”實現(xiàn)了多少？健身、減肥、戒煙等等“宏偉藍圖”是不是開始變得舉步維艱？如何完成“新年決心”，且看專家為你支招……

The key to keeping a New Year resolution may be to break your goal into small steps and not to dwell on the consequences of not achieving your goal, a pscyhologist has claimed.

Less than a quarter of Britons will achieve their New Year resolutions in 2010 because they go about it the wrong way, according to Professor Richard Wiseman，from the University of Hertfordshire. He studied 700 volunteers who made a wide range of New Year resolutions, including quitting smoking, losing weight, starting a relationship or gaining a qualification. Just 22 per cent of participants managed to meet their goals or described their progress as ‘‘very successful’’.

The reason so many failed is that they took the wrong approach—and were led astray by self-help books. By comparing the techniques of successful and unsuccessful resolution makers, Professor Richard Wiseman came up with a list of tips for staying the course when making changes in one’s life.

People who failed tended to dwell on the ‘‘bad things’’ that would happen if they did not achieve their goal, said the professor. They were likely to remove temptation from their surroundings, adopt role models, fantasise about being successful, and rely on will power. Successful participants, on the other hand, broke their goals into small steps, rewarding themselves when each stage was passed. They also told friends about what they were trying to achieve, reminded themselves of the benefits of obtaining their goal, and charted their progress.

Prof Wiseman’s 10 secrets of success when making New Year resolutions:

1) Make only one resolution; your chances of success are greater when you channel energy into changing just one aspect of your behaviour.

2) Don’t wait until New Year’s Eve to think about your resolution and instead devote some time a few days before to reflect upon what you really want to achieve.

3) Avoid previous resolutions; deciding to re-visit a past resolution sets you up for frustration and disappointment.

4) Don’t run with the crowd and go with the usual resolutions. Instead think about what you really want out of life.

5) Break your goal into a series of steps, focusing on creating sub-goals that are concrete, measurable, and time-based.

6) Tell your friends and family about your goals, thus increasing the fear of failure and eliciting support.

7) Regularly remind yourself of the benefits associated with achieving your goals by creating a checklist of how life would be better once you obtain your aim.

8) Give yourself a small reward whenever you achieve a sub-goal, thus maintaining motivation and a sense of progress.

9) Make your plans and progress concrete by keeping a hand-written journal, completing a computer spreadsheet or covering a notice board with graphs or pictures.

10) Expect to revert to your old habits from time to time. Treat any failure as a temporary set-back rather than a reason to give up altogether.

心理學家認為，實現(xiàn)新年決心的關鍵在于將你的目標分解成一個一個小步驟，而不是去考慮無法達成目標所產生的后果。

赫特福德大學理查德?懷斯曼教授聲稱，由于采取了錯誤的方法，超過四分之三的英國人無法實現(xiàn)他們在2010年的新年決心。懷斯曼教授對700名制定各種各樣新年決心的志愿者進行了調查，這些人的決心包括戒煙、減肥、戀愛或考取一項資格證書等。其中只有22%的人成功實現(xiàn)了他們的目標或認為自己做得“非常成功”。

而很多人沒能實現(xiàn)目標的原因是他們采取了錯誤的方法，即被各種號稱能夠幫助你實現(xiàn)目標的書誤導了。在對比了實現(xiàn)目標和沒有實現(xiàn)的人所采用的方法后，懷斯曼教授總結出了一些秘訣，以幫助人們在改變生活的道路時找到正確的方向。

懷斯曼教授說，沒能實現(xiàn)目標的人們往往糾結于未達成目標而造成的“不良后果”。這些人傾向于排除周圍的干擾，找出成功案例做模板，沉浸于臆想的成功，依賴個人意志的力量。然而，成功實現(xiàn)目標的人則會把他們的目標分解成一個個小步驟，在實現(xiàn)每一個小步驟時適時地獎勵自己。他們也會告訴朋友們自己想要做成的事情，提醒自己實現(xiàn)目標所能帶來的好處，并詳細計劃自己的每一次進步。

懷斯曼教授成功制定新年決心的10個秘訣：

1）只制定一個決心；當你把所有的精力都投入到改變你某一個方面的行為時，你成功的幾率會大大增加。

2）不要等到新年前夜才去思考你的決心。相反，提前幾天花些時間思考你究竟想要實現(xiàn)什么目標。

3）避免以前制定過的決心；重溫以往未達成的決心會使你身心俱疲，心灰意冷。

4）不要隨大流制定普通的目標。思考你生命中真正渴望的東西。

5）把你的目標分解成一個個小步驟，專注于創(chuàng)造一個個小目標，確保這些小目標是精確的、量化的且有完成的時間限制。

6）告訴家人和朋友你所制定的目標，以此來增加對失敗的恐懼，并獲得他們的支持。

7）經常提醒自己實現(xiàn)目標所能帶來的好處，做一個進度表，明確一旦實現(xiàn)目標，生活將會產生哪些積極的變化。

8）每當實現(xiàn)一個小目標時就給自己一些小獎勵，以保持激勵和階段性的成就感。

9）準備一份手寫的日志，制作一個電子表格或把圖表和圖片貼在布告板上，使你的計劃和步驟更具體。

10）預見到自己會時不時重返老習慣。把任何一次失敗視作暫時的倒退，而不是全盤放棄的理由。

（來源：英語學習雜志 編輯：丹妮）