外刊精读：如何克服拖延症？Start Before You're Ready

扎心一问：你有拖延症吗？

眼看着2019年已经过去了四分之三，年初的梦想你实现了几个？

拖延症困扰着无数人，今天我们就来看看怎么克服拖延症吧。

Start Before You’re Ready

不要等到准备好再动

Personal progress, professional progress, collective, societal progress — all of it is born from a single person’s decision to act. To stand up. To speak out. To make a move. Usually, long before there’s any guarantee of success. Another point most of us fail to see: Action comes before the courage to act. Action spawns courage, not the other way around.

无论是个人成长、专业提升还是我们所处的社会进步，这些都离不开个体来执行。说也好，做也好，总要行动起来才行。在没有任何成功的保证之前。还有一点我们大多数人都没有意识到：行动先于决心。行动产生勇气，而不是相反。

【重点单词】

●spawn /spɔːn/ v.产生；产卵 n.卵

Think about working out. In fact, you might very strongly not want to do it. Listen to the voice in your head and you’ll hear something like, “I don’t feel like it. I’m tired. I don’t want to. I’ll start tomorrow.” However, something peculiar happens the moment you lace up your sneakers and get moving anyway. Another, more powerful force takes over. Within a few minutes, you feel more energized and alive. Work out a few days in a row and bam — a domino effect kicks in. Without much effort, you begin to crave healthier foods, drink more water. Maybe even yearn for your next workout. This same phenomenon can be seen with virtually any creative endeavor. Bodies in motion tend to stay in motion. Doing it generates the desire to keep doing it.

想想锻炼这件事吧。事实上，你可能非常不想这么做。听听你脑子里的声音，你会听到类似这样的话：“我不想听。我累了。我不想。我明天开始。”然而，当你系好鞋带开始运动的那一刻，奇怪的事情发生了。另一种更强大的力量接管了一切。在几分钟内，你会感到更有活力。连续锻炼几天，然后“砰”的一声，多米诺骨牌效应就出现了。不需要太多努力，你就会开始渴望更健康的食物，多喝水。也许你会渴望下一次的锻炼。几乎任何创造性的努力都可以看到这种现象。运动中的物体倾向于保持运动状态。这样做会产⽣生继续做下去的欲望。

【重点单词】

●peculiar /pɪ’kjuːlɪə/ adj.奇怪的，异常的；特有的

●energize /'enədʒaɪz/ v.使…通电，给予…力量（文章用的是形容词形式，生动形象表达了「充满力量」的身体状态）

●crave /kreɪv/ vt./vi. 渴求，渴望

【重点句子】

Work out a few days in a row and bam — a domino effect kicks in.

本句作者采用非常口语化的表达来表现多米诺骨牌效应产生的过程，其中的用词在日常生活中使用频率很高。“in a row”作为副词，意思是“连续不断地”。当然我们还可以使⽤用“continuously”来替代，但从全文风格来看，作者的口吻是轻松的、偏生活化的，而“continuously”一词更多出现在严肃正式场合中，所以相比之下“in a row”的使用一下子拉近了读者和作者之间的距离。后面“kick in”字面上的含义是踢开，这里用的是一个拟人化的手法，表达多米诺骨牌效应“开始生效”。

可以想象这样一个画面：一个人踢到你，你的身体和大脑都会做出反应。

Beware of procrastination disguised as'research and planning’

小心伪装成“研究和计划”的拖延症

Some initial research and planning may be necessary. For instance, to reach your ultimate dream of speaking conversational Spanish within the next 12 months, you might look into language immersion courses, research private instruction, and download a language app.

一些初步的研究和计划可能是必要的。例如，为了在未来12个月内实现你说西班牙语的终极梦想，你可以看看语言沉浸课程，研究私人教学，并下载一个语言应用程序。

【重点词汇】

●immersion course n.沉浸式课程

But be warned: Extensive research and planning is often a way to keep procrastinating. Remember, you don’t need to know everything about your dream, nor do you need to map out every step in advance. Stop hiding behind books and websites. Have real-life conversations. You’ll learn more and make faster progress.

但是要注意:大量的研究和计划常常会带来拖延。记住，你不需要知道关于你梦想的一切，也不需要提前规划好每一步。不要躲在书和网站后面。建立现实生活中的对话。你会学到更多，进步更快。

【重点单词】

●map out 筹划，布局

Get skin in the game

在重要的事上投资

Early in my career, I was terrified of speaking in public. I knew it was an important skill, so I joined a local Toastmasters group. The membership fee was around $50. I was barely scraping by, so on top of genuinely wanting to improve my public speaking, I really didn’t want to waste that cash. As I got more involved in the group, I became friendly with the other members. Not showing up to meetings meant I’d feel guilt, shame, and embarrassment — so I used that to further motivate myself to keep going.

在我职业⽣涯的早期，我害怕在公共场合演讲。我知道这是一项重要的技能，所以我加⼊了当地的一个演讲会组织。会员费大约是50美元。我只是勉强度日，所以除了真心想提⾼我的公开演讲能力外，我真的不想浪费这笔钱。随着我越来越多地融⼊这个团体，我和其他成员变得友好起来。不出席会议意味着我会感到内疚、羞愧和尴尬——所以我用这些来进一步激励自己继续前进。

【地道表达】

● scrape by 勉强维持

● on top of 除此以外

【重点句子】

I was barely scraping by, so on top of genuinely wanting to improve my public speaking, I really didn’t want to waste that cash.

作者在这句话中⽤了一个可能⼤多数⼈没有听说过的动词词组“scrape by”,如果不理解这个词组，会对整句话的理解造成困难。经常看美剧的同学可能会注意到，其实这个词组使⽤的频率还是相当⾼的。

“scrape by” 的意思是「勉强维持」，比如两个人见面打招呼：

A: How’s everything?

B: I’m just scraping by.

B的意思是「还凑合吧」。而本句话中前面用了“barely” 作为副词来表达「非常不好，仅仅勉强维持」的意思，加重了困难处境。

另一个表达“on top of” 也很地道，这个词组除了我们熟知的「在…之上」的意思，另一层意思是「除此以外，别无其他」。这句话作者想表达的就是我纯粹只想提⾼公众演讲能力，没有别的想法。

Value growth and learning over comfort and certainty

个人增值，学会走出舒适圈

Like many bootstrapping entrepreneurs, for the first few years of my business, I did everything myself. I wore all the hats — marketing and delivering my service, scheduling, invoicing, website updates, content creation, email correspondence, customer service — you name it.

和许多白手起家的企业家一样，在我创业的最初几年里，一切都是我自己做的。我身兼数职——营销和提供服务、日程安排、开发票、网站更新、内容创建、电子邮件通信、客户服务——应有尽有。

【地道表达】

● bootstrapping /'bu:tstræpiŋ/ adj.不依靠别人的，自我发展的

● you name it 应有尽有，没有做不到的

Eventually, I reached a breaking point. It was impossible to keep up with all the demands on my time. I knew I needed to hire help, but was terrified to make that move. I had very little revenue, so hiring someone seemed out of reach. I’d also never been a boss before. I had no clue how to find, hire, train, delegate, or manage another person.

最终，我达到了一个临界点。我不可能同时应付所有的时间要求。我知道我需要雇人帮忙，但我不敢这么做。我的收入很少，所以雇一个人似乎是不可能的。我以前也从来没有当过老板。我不知道如何找到、雇用、培训、委派 或管理另一个人。

【地道表达】

● breaking point 临界点

● out of reach 遥不可及，不可触及的，无法实现的

● have no clue do sth 对…毫无头绪，不知道该怎么做

But instinctively, I knew if I stayed in my comfort zone much longer, I’d kill the very thing I was working so hard to build — my own business. My next move was clear. It was time to start living in what I now call the growth zone.

但我本能地知道，如果我在自己的舒适区呆得再久一些，我就会毁掉我努力打造的事业——我自己的事业。我的下一步行动很明确。是时候开始生活在我现在称之为“成长地带”的地方了。

【重点单词】

● instinctively /in’stiŋktivli/ adv.本能地

I made tons of mistakes. At first, I hired the wrong people. I was horrible at delegating. But once I planted my feet firmly in that growth zone, I refused to give up. There was no turning back. Eventually, I started to get it right.

我犯了很多错误。起初，我招错了人。我不擅⻓指派任务。但是一旦我把脚牢牢地扎进了那个成长区域，我就坚定不移地留在那⾥。没有回头路了。最终，情况开始好转了。

【地道表达】

● plant someone’s feet in sth 类似“get involved in”，表达「投⼊其中」的意思。

In the comfort zone, which is where most of us spend way too much time, life feels safe. But everything you dream of becoming, achieving, or figuring out exists in the growth zone (aka the discomfort zone). When you’re in the growth zone, here’s what’s guaranteed: You will feel vulnerable and insecure, but in order to grow, you must let go (at least temporarily) of your need for comfort and security. You must train yourself to value growth and learning above all else.

在舒适区，也就是我们⼤多数人花费太多时间的地⽅，你感觉到安全。但你梦想成为的一切，实现的一切，或想要弄明白的一切，都存在于成长区(也就是不适区)。当你处于成⻓阶段时，可以肯定的是：你会感到脆弱和不安全，但为了成长，你必须放弃(至少暂时)对舒适和安全的需求。你必须训练自己把成长和学习看得比什么都重要。