VOA慢速英语2019 实现目标的方法

Ways to Achieve Your Goals

From VOA Learning 1 English, this is the Health & Lifestyle report.

这里是VOA慢速英语健康生活报道。

If you are like millions of people around the world, the New Year brings with it new goals.

如果你和全世界数百万人一样，那往往会在新年许下新的目标。

Perhaps you want to save money, lose weight or learn a new skill. You tell yourself, “This is the year I’m going to … (fill in the blank.”)

也许你想存钱、减肥或学习一项新技能。你告诉自已，“今年我要……（请在空白处填写）”。

But then you get busy.

但是之后你会忙个不停。

Your daily life -- as wonderful as it can be -- takes up all of your time. Before you know it, weeks, then months have gone by, and you are no closer to your goal.

你的日常生活——再美好不过的日常生活——占用了你的全部时间。在你发现之前，可能已经过去了几周甚至是几个月的时间，而此时你完全没有接近自已的目标。

Time, as they say, waits for no one.

常言道，时不待人。

Yet your goal remains 2 important. And achieving a goal, no matter how small, feels good. In addition, when we do not work on our goals, we may end up feeling guilty 3 or not successful.

但是你的目标依然很重要。实现目标，无论那个目标有多小，都会让人感觉美好。另外，如果我们不为实现目标而努力，那我们可能会感到内疚或产生挫败感。

So, how can we find time to work on these larger life goals?

那我们如何找到实现远大人生目标的时间呢？

Well, many websites address this issue 4, and they offer some of the same advice: If you want to achieve something, clearly identify it and write it down.

许多解决这一问题的网站给出了一些相同的建议：如果你想实现某个目标，那就要明确确定目标并写下来。

Identify specific 5 goals

确定具体的目标

As you identify your goals, be specific. If a goal is too general, it may be hard to pursue 6 let alone achieve it.

在你确定目标时，一定要具体。如果一个目标过于宽泛，那可能很难追求，更别提实现了。

Let’s say your goal is to get in better physical shape. That’s a fine idea -- but psychologists 7 might say as a goal, it is too general.

假设你的目标是想要更好的身材。这个想法很好，但是心理学家可能会说，这个目标过于笼统了。

To make the goal more specific, you could sign up for a regular exercise class. So, whether you are dancing, doing yoga or kickboxing, you have a regular commitment 8 every week. You could also say your goal is to lose a certain amount of weight in a certain amount of time.

而具体化这个目标，你可以报名定期健身课程。无论是舞蹈班、瑜伽班还是跆拳道班，你要每周定期参加。你还可以把目标定为在一定时间内减掉一定的体重。

Write your goals down

把目标写下来

Experts say writing down your goal is a very important step. It gets the goal out of your brain and into the real world.

专家表示，写下目标是非常重要的一步。这会让目标脱离大脑，步入现实世界。

Some psychologists suggest that writing a goal on paper is better than typing it on a device 9 or saying it into your phone. Your brain receives information differently when it comes from handwriting. Writing things down seems to say to the brain, “I am important! Remember me!”

一些心理学家认为，将目标写在纸上要好于输入设备中或语音录入手机中。当信息来自手写时，你的大脑会以另一种方式来接收这一信息。将事情写下来似乎是在告诉大脑，“我很重要！记住我！”

Writing has another benefit 10: You can post your goal somewhere as a reminder 11. As you sit down at your computer or pour your morning coffee, your goal stares you in the face and asks, “What are you going to do about me today?”

手写还有一个好处：你可以把目标贴在某个地方，以此来提醒自已。你坐在电脑前或早晨泡咖啡时，你的目标会凝视你，并问你：“你今天准备怎么实现我？”

Tell a friend

告知朋友

Telling someone your goal is also helpful.

将你的目标告诉其他人也会有帮助。

If someone else knows about your goals, you are held accountable for any progress or lack of progress. Your friend might ask, “So, how many pages of your novel have you written?” If you keep saying “none,” you might feel badly.

如果其他人知道你的目标，你就要为取得进步或没有进展负责。你的朋友可能会问，“你的小说写了多少页了？”如果你一直回答“没写”，那你可能会感觉很糟糕。

Now you feel a pressure to do it -- the pressure of your friend’s opinion of you. And that can be a big pressure! Many people do not want to let others down, especially friends and family.

现在，你感觉到了压力——这种压力来自你朋友对你的看法。这可能会成为巨大的压力！许多人不想让其他人失望，尤其是不想让朋友和家人失望。

Break down BIG goals into small ones

将大目标分解成小目标

Not all goals are created equal. Some can be quite big. And for those bigger goals, experts suggest breaking them down into smaller ones.

不是所有目标都一样。有些目标可能很大。就这些大目标而言，专家建议将它们分解成小目标。

So, let’s say you want to work for yourself. You love cooking. So, you decide to start your own company that supplies food for special events. Now, that is a very big goal. But it is made up of many smaller goals. So, identify them, write them down and set for yourself time limits.

假设你想为自已工作。你热爱烹饪。所以你决定开一家自已的公司，为特别活动供应食物。这是一个非常大的目标。但是这个大目标由许多小目标组成。你可以先确定目标，写下来，然后为自已设定时间限制。

These suggestions all help to make your goals real. If you simply think about your goals, they can easily get lost in your brain – which, after all, has a lot to do in a day.

这些建议都有助于让你的目标更为现实。如果你只是想想目标，那这些目标会很容易被你的大脑遗忘——毕竟每天都有很多事情要做。

Other experts remind us of another detail as we set our goals for the New Year: The goals may change. Or your life situation may change. Or you may change. So, it is a good idea to check in with yourself. Is this goal still what you want? Is your approach still working? If things are not proceeding 12 forward, perhaps you need to change something.

其他专家提醒我们，在制定新年目标时还要留意一个细节：这些目标可能会改变。或者你的生活状态会发生改变。又或者你会改变。因此，自行检查是个不错的方法。这个目标是你希望的吗？你的方法还有效吗？如果没有取得进展，那你可能需要做出改变。

One expert, Ryder Carroll, helps people organize their life’s goals by using a simple notebook. He suggests thinking about your goals not as a final destination, but rather as lighthouses guiding you along.

莱德·卡洛尔是帮助人们用普通的笔记本来管理目标的专家。他建议人们不要将目标看作最终目的地，而是将其视为指引你前行的灯塔。

It is the pursuit 13 of your goals -- not the reaching of them -- that makes up the weeks, days and hours of our lives. So make sure to have fun along the way!

这是追求目标——而不是实现目标——这需要我们人生中数小时、数天甚至是数周的时间。所以一定要确保过程中享受乐趣！

blank – n. an empty space (as on a paper)

general – adj. relating to the main or major parts of something rather than the details : not specific

specific – adj. clearly and exactly presented or stated : precise 14 or exact

accountable – adj. required to explain actions or decisions to someone

let others down – phrasal verb 15 disappoint others : fail to deliver a promise

destination – n. a place to which a person is going or something is being sent

check in with yourself – phrasal verb a type of self-examination

pursuit – n. the act of chasing, following, or trying to obtain