Nothing will change your future trajectory like your habits.
你的習慣將是改變未來軌跡的最大因素。

We all have goals, big or small, things we want to achieve within a certain time frame. Maybe you want to make a million dollars by the time you turn 30. Or to lose 20 pounds before summer. Or to write a book in the next six months. When we begin to chase a vague concept (success, wealth, health, happiness), making a tangible goal is often the first step.
我們每個人都有目標，無論大小，都是希望在某個時間內達成的事情。也許你希望在 30 歲之前賺到一百萬美元，或者在夏天來臨之前減掉 20 磅，亦或是在接下來的六個月內寫一本書。當我們開始追求一個模糊的概念（如成功、財富、健康、幸福）時，設定一個具體的目標通常是第一步。

Habits are algorithms operating in the background that power our lives. Good habits help us reach our goals more effectively and efficiently. Bad ones makes things harder or prevent success entirely. Habits powerfully influence our automatic behavior.
習慣就像在背後運行的算法，驅動著我們的生活。良好的習慣能讓我們更有效率地達成目標，而壞習慣則會讓事情變得更加困難，甚至完全妨礙成功。習慣對我們的自動行為有著深遠的影響。

“First forget inspiration.
首先要忘記靈感。
Habit is more dependable.
習慣更為可靠。
Habit will sustain you whether you’re inspired or not.
無論你是否受到啟發，習慣都會支撐你。
Habit is persistence in practice.”
習慣就是持之以恆的練習。— Octavia Butler — 奧克塔維亞·巴特勒

The difference between habits and goals is not semantic. Each requires different forms of action. For example:
習慣與目標之間的差異並非僅僅是語義上的。每一者都需要不同的行動方式。例如：

Let’s say you want to read more books. You could set the goal to read 50 books by the end of the year, or you could create a habit and decide to always carry a book with you.
假設你想讀更多的書。你可以設定一個目標，在年底前讀 50 本書，或者養成一個習慣，隨時攜帶一本書。

***

The problems with goals
目標所帶來的問題

Let’s go over the problems with only having goals.
讓我們來探討一下僅有目標所帶來的問題。

First off, goals have an endpoint. This is why many people revert to their previous state after achieving a certain goal. People run marathons, then stop exercising altogether. Or they make a certain amount of money, then fall into debt soon after. Others reach a goal weight, only to spoil their progress by overeating to celebrate.
首先，目標是有終點的。這就是為什麼許多人在達成某個目標後會回到原來的狀態。人們參加馬拉松，然後完全停止運動；或者他們賺到了一定的金額，卻不久後就陷入債務。還有一些人達到目標體重，卻因為慶祝而過度飲食，破壞了自己的努力。

Habits avoid these pitfalls because they continue indefinitely.
習慣能避免這些陷阱，因為它們會持續不斷。

Second, goals rely on factors that we do not always have control over.
第二，目標取決於一些我們無法完全掌控的因素。

It’s an unavoidable fact that reaching a goal is not always possible, regardless of effort. An injury might derail a fitness goal. An unexpected expense might sabotage a financial goal. And family issues might impede a creative-output goal.
達成目標是一個無法避免的事實，無論多麼努力，這並不總是能夠實現。受傷可能會影響健身目標，意外的開支可能會干擾財務目標，而家庭問題則可能會阻礙創意產出。

When we set a goal, we’re attempting to transform what is usually a heuristic process into an algorithmic one. Habits are better algorithms, and therefore more reliable in terms of getting us to where we want to go.
當我們設定目標時，實際上是在試圖將通常的啟發式過程轉變為算法式過程。習慣是一種更好的算法，因此在幫助我們達成目標方面更為可靠。

The third problem with goals is keeping a goal in mind and using it to direct our actions requires a lot of thinking and effort to evaluate different options.
第三個與目標有關的問題是，心中保持一個目標並利用它來指導我們的行動，需要大量的思考和努力來評估各種選擇。

Presented with a new situation, we have to figure out the course of action best suited to achieving a goal. With habits, we already know what to do by default.
當面對新情況時，我們需要找出最適合達成目標的行動方案。而對於習慣來說，我們已經自然而然地知道該怎麼做。

During times when other parts of our lives require additional attention, it can be easy to push off attaining our goals to another day. For example, the goal of saving money requires self-discipline each time we make a purchase. Meanwhile, the habit of putting $50 in a savings account every week requires less effort as a practical action.
當生活中的其他部分需要更多關注時，將實現目標推遲到另一個日子是很容易的。例如，儲蓄的目標在每次購物時都需要自律，而每週將 50 美元存入儲蓄帳戶的習慣則相對輕鬆，所需的努力較少。

Habits, not goals, make otherwise difficult things easy.
習慣而非目標，讓原本困難的事情變得輕鬆。

Finally, goals can make us complacent or reckless.
最後，目標可能會讓我們變得自滿或輕率。

Sometimes our brains can confuse goal setting with achievement because setting the goal feels like an end in itself. This effect is more pronounced when people inform others of their goals. Furthermore, unrealistic goals can lead to dangerous or unethical behavior because we make compromises to meet our stated objective.
有時我們的大腦會將設定目標與實現目標混淆，因為設定目標本身就像是一個結局。當人們告訴他人他們的目標時，這種現象會更加明顯。此外，不切實際的目標可能會導致危險或不道德的行為，因為我們會為了達成所設定的目標而做出妥協。

“Habit is the intersection of knowledge (what to do), skill (how to do), and desire (want to do).”
習慣是知識（知道該做什麼）、技能（知道如何做）和渴望（想要去做）三者的交匯點。— Stephen Covey — 史蒂芬·柯維

***

The benefits of habits
習慣的益處

Once formed, habits operate automatically. Habits take otherwise difficult tasks—like saving money—and make them easy in practice.
一旦形成，習慣便會自動運作。習慣能將原本困難的任務——例如存錢——變得在實踐中輕而易舉。

The purpose of a well-crafted set of habits is to ensure that we reach our goals with incremental steps.
一套精心培養的習慣旨在確保我們能夠逐步實現目標。

As the saying goes, the way to eat an elephant is one bite at a time. The benefits of a systematic approach to life include:
正如諺語所說，吃大象的方法就是一次一口。採取系統性的生活方式有以下幾個好處：

Habits can mean we overshoot our goals.
習慣可能會導致我們超出預期的目標。

Consider a person who has the goal to write a novel. They decide to write 500 words a day, so it should take 200 days. Writing 500 words generally doesn’t require an enormous amount of effort assuming interest in and knowledge of the topic, and even on the busiest, most stressful days, the person gets it done. However, on some days, that smaller step leads to their writing 1000 or more words. As a result, they finish the book in much less time.
想像一個目標是寫小說的人。他們決定每天寫 500 字，這樣大約需要 200 天。寫 500 字通常不需要太多的努力，只要對主題有興趣和了解，即使在最忙碌、最有壓力的日子，他們也能完成。然而，有些日子，這個小小的進步會讓他們寫出 1000 字或更多。因此，他們能在更短的時間內完成這本書。

On the contrary, setting “write a book in four months” as a goal would have been intimidating on final word count alone.
相反地，將「在四個月內寫一本書」作為目標，僅從最終字數來看就會讓人感到壓力。

Habits are easy to complete.
培養習慣是很簡單的。

As Charles Duhigg wrote in The Power of Habit,
正如查爾斯·杜希格在《習慣的力量》一書中所提到的，

“Habits are powerful, but delicate. They can emerge outside our consciousness or can be deliberately designed. They often occur without our permission but can be reshaped by fiddling with their parts. They shape our lives far more than we realize—they are so strong, in fact, that they cause our brains to cling to them at the exclusion of all else, including common sense.”
習慣既強大又脆弱。它們可以在我們意識之外自然而然地出現，也可以被刻意設計。習慣常常在未經我們同意的情況下發生，但我們可以通過調整其組成部分來重新塑造它們。事實上，習慣對我們生活的影響遠超過我們的認知——它們如此強大，以至於我們的大腦會緊緊依附於它們，甚至排斥其他一切，包括常識。

Once we develop a habit, our brains actually change to make the behavior easier to complete. After about 30 days of practice for a simple action like drinking water first thing in the morning, enacting a habit becomes easier than not doing so. More complex habits take longer to form, but they can still become automatic.
一旦我們養成了習慣，我們的大腦實際上會發生變化，使得這種行為變得更容易完成。經過約 30 天的練習，像早上第一件事喝水這樣簡單的行為，執行這個習慣會比不這樣做更容易。雖然更複雜的習慣需要更長的時間來形成，但它們仍然可以變得自動化。

Habits are for life. 習慣是生活的一部分。

Our lives are structured around habits, many of them barely noticeable. According to Duhigg’s research, habits make up 40% of our waking hours. These often minuscule actions add up to make us who we are.
我們的生活是圍繞習慣而結構的，許多習慣幾乎不易察覺。根據杜希格的研究，習慣佔據了我們清醒時間的 40%。這些看似微小的行為累積起來，塑造了我們的身份。

William James (a man who knew the problems caused by bad habits) summarized their importance as such:
威廉·詹姆斯（深知壞習慣所帶來的問題）對它們的重要性做了如下總結：

“All our life, so far as it has definite form, is but a mass of habits — practical, emotional, and intellectual — systematically organized for our weal or woe, and bearing us irresistibly toward our destiny, whatever the latter may be.“
“我們的生活，至今為止，無論多麼具體，都是一系列習慣——包括實用、情感和智力方面的習慣——系統地組織起來，為了我們的幸福或不幸，並不可抗拒地引導我們走向命運，無論那命運是什麼。”

Once a habit becomes ingrained, it can last for life and takes a lot of work to break.
一旦習慣深入人心，就會持續一生，並且需要付出很多努力才能改變。

Habits can compound. Stephen Covey paraphrased Gandhi when he explained:
習慣是可以累積的。史蒂芬·柯維在解釋時曾引用過甘地的話：

“Sow a thought, reap an action; sow an action, reap a habit; sow a habit, reap a character; sow a character, reap a destiny.“
“播下思想，收穫行動；播下行動，收穫習慣；播下習慣，收穫品格；播下品格，收穫命運。”

In other words, building a single habit can have a wider impact on our lives.
換句話說，培養一個習慣能對我們的生活產生更深遠的影響。

Duhigg calls these keystone habits. These are behaviors that cause people to change related areas of their lives. For example, people who start exercising daily may end up eating better and drinking less alcohol. Basically, those who quit a bad habit may end up replacing it with a positive alternative. (Listen to Naval Ravikant riff on habit replacement a lot on this podcast episode.)
Duhigg 稱這些為關鍵習慣。這些行為會促使人們改變生活中相關的領域。例如，開始每天運動的人可能會最終飲食更健康，並減少飲酒。基本上，戒掉壞習慣的人可能會用積極的替代習慣來取而代之。（在這集播客中，聽 Naval Ravikant 深入探討習慣替代的話題。）

Habits can be as small as necessary.
習慣可以小到剛好足夠。

A common piece of advice for those seeking to build a habit is to start small.  If you want to read more, you can start with 25 pages a day. After this becomes part of your routine, you can increase the page count to reach your goal. Once your small habits become ingrained, the degree of complexity can be increased.
對於想要養成習慣的人來說，一個常見的建議是從小處著手。如果你想多讀書，可以先從每天 25 頁開始。當這成為你日常生活的一部分後，你可以逐漸增加頁數以達到你的目標。一旦你的小習慣深入人心，複雜度就可以逐步提升。

“First we make our habits, then our habits make us.”
“首先我們培養習慣，然後習慣塑造我們。”— Charles C. Nobel — 查爾斯·C·諾貝爾

***

Why a systematic approach works
為什麼系統化的方式能夠奏效

By switching our focus from achieving specific goals to creating positive long-term habits, we can make continuous improvement a way of life. Even if we backtrack sometimes, we’re pointed in the right direction.
當我們將重心從追求具體目標轉向培養積極的長期習慣時，持續改進就能成為我們生活的一部分。即使偶爾會退步，我們依然在正確的方向上前進。

Warren Buffett reads all day to build the knowledge necessary for his investment decisions.
沃倫·巴菲特整天閱讀，以累積他在投資決策中所需的知識。

Stephen King writes 1000 words a day, 365 days a year (a habit he describes as “a sort of creative sleep”). Olympic athlete Eliud Kipchoge makes notes after each training session to establish areas which can be improved.
史蒂芬·金每天寫 1000 字，一年 365 天（他形容這是一種“創意的沉澱”）。奧林匹克運動員埃利烏德·基普喬格在每次訓練後會做筆記，以找出可以改進的地方。

These habits, repeated hundreds of times over years, are not incidental. With consistency, the benefits of non-negotiable actions compound and lead to extraordinary achievements.
這些習慣經過數百次的重複，並非偶然。隨著持之以恆，非妥協行動的好處會逐漸累積，最終帶來卓越的成就。

While goals rely on extrinsic motivation, habits, once formed, are automatic. They literally rewire our brains.
雖然目標依賴於外在動機，但一旦形成的習慣便會自動運作。它們實際上會重塑我們的大腦。

When seeking to attain success in our lives, rather than concentrating on a specific goal, we would do well to invest our time in forming positive habits.
在追求成功的過程中，我們不妨將重心放在培養積極的習慣上，而不是專注於某一特定目標。