To get yourself started in a new direction, try the Three M's. 

    At the University of California, my students and I surveyed more than 2,000 years of self-change techniques--perhaps most of the major self-change methods that have ever been proposed by religious leaders, philosophers, psychologists and psychiatrists. We also reviewed the scientific research literature on self-change, a topic that behavioral scientists began to explore in earnest in the 1960s. 

    [2] Here is what we found: Of the hundreds of self-change techniques that have been suggested over the centuries, perhaps only a dozen are distinctly different. Many have now been subjected to scientific study, meaning that researchers have tried to see which ones work best. 

    [3] Three deserve special mention: they're powerful, simple and easy to learn. What's more , individuals who have made successful changes in their lives--changes in eating habits, exercise regimens, career paths, coping strategies, and so on--often relied on one or more of these methods. 

    [4] To get yourself started in a new direction, try the Three M's: 

    Modify Your Environment 

    [5] People who have never tried this are astounded by the enormous effect it often has. One of my students got herself bicycling every day simply by putting her bicycle in her doorway before she left for school. When she returned home, that was the first thing she saw, and that's all she needed to start pedaling away. I've known several people who have overcome nail-biting simply by buying 50 nail files and distributing them everywhere: in their pockets, their desks and their bedrooms. With a nail file always within reach, they tended to groom rather than bite. 

    [6] My children have used this simple technique many times. Justin, my 17-year-old, often places small fluorescent reminder notes at eye level on the inside of the frame of his bedroom door. A recent one read "Remember to shampoo the dog on Saturday or Dad will kill you". (Here he was using exaggeration to good effect.) 

    [7] The power of rearranging one's space has been well demonstrated in studies since it was first reported in the 1960s. Psychologist Israel Goldiamond of the University of Chicago taught this technique to patients with a variety of personal problems. For example, a young woman who had difficulty studying made dramatic strides when she got a better desk lamp and moved her desk away from her bed. 

    [8] Psychologist Richard Stuart, who ultimately became a director at Weight Watchers International, showed in the 1960s that overweight women could lose pounds by modifying both their eating behavior and "stimulus environment"--for example, eating from smaller plates and confining all food to the kitchen. To change yourself, change your world. 

    要想開辟人生新道路
，試試過三個“M”。 

    在加利福尼亞大學，我和我的學生調查了兩千多年來人們用來改變自我的技巧——也許主要方法中的大部分都是由宗教領袖、哲學家、心理學家和精神病專家提出的。我們還回顧了有關改變自我的科學研究文獻。早在20世紀60年代，改變自我就是行為科學家開始認真探索的課題。 

    [2]我們的發現結果如下：zaijigeshijiyilairenmentichudejibaizhonggaibianziwodefangfazhong，yexujinyoushilaizhongyuqitafangfajieranbutong。xuduofangfazhijinyizhishikexueyanjiudeduixiang
，zheyiweizheyanjiurenyuanyizhishitutanmingqizhongzuiyouxiaodefangfa。 

    [3]有三種方法值得特別提及：它們效力強大而又簡單易學。此外，那些已成功改變了其人生道路的人們，也常常是依靠這些方法中的一種或多種來改變其飲食習慣、養生之道

、事業方向和處世策略，等等。 

    [4]要想開辟人生道路，試試這三個“M”： 

    改善周邊環境 

    [5]congweichangshigaishanhuanjingderentongchanghuiduisuochanshengdexianzhuxiaoguogandaojingqibuyi。wodeyigexueshengweilecushizijimeitianqicheduanlian，caiqulelijiashangxueqianjiangzixingchefangzaimendaolidejiandanfangfa。zheyangyihuijia，tashouxiankanjiandejiushinaliangche，ersuoxuzuodejiushiqishangzixingcheduanlianqu。worenshijigeren
，tamenweilegaidiaoyaozhijiadehuaixiguanermaile50把指甲挫並把它們分放到各處：口袋裏

，書桌上，臥室內。由於指甲挫總能伸手可及，他們就會去修指甲，而不啃指甲了。 

    [6]我的孩子們多次運用過這樣的簡單技巧。我17歲的兒子賈斯廷經常把小小的熒光紙記事便條放在他臥室門框內側齊眼高的位置。前不久的一張上寫道：“記著星期六給狗洗澡，否則爸爸會殺了你的。”（為了達到良好效果，他這裏用的是誇張手法。） 

    [7]重新布置自己的空間具有很大的影響力
，該觀點首次提出於20世紀6O年代
，在諸多研究中已得到充分證明。當時，芝加哥大學的心理學家伊斯雷爾·戈ge戴dai蒙meng德de將jiang這zhe一yi技ji巧qiao傳chuan授shou給gei那na些xie為wei形xing形xing色se色se的de私si人ren問wen題ti所suo困kun擾rao的de病bing人ren。就jiu拿na一yi位wei年nian輕qing女nv士shi來lai說shuo吧ba
，她ta在zai學xue習xi上shang困kun難nan重zhong重zhong
，自zi從cong換huan了le一yi個ge好hao點dian兒er的de台tai燈deng並bing把ba書shu桌zhuo搬ban離li開kai床chuang邊bian後hou，她ta在zai學xue習xi上shang就jiu取qu得de了le長chang足zu進jin步bu。 

    ［8］心理學家理查德·斯圖爾特最終當上了國際體重觀察員組織的總監
，他在20世紀60年代曾指出：體重過重的婦女可以通過糾正飲食習慣和改變“刺激食欲的環境”的方法來減肥——例如，用小一點的盤子吃飯和把食物全都集中放在廚房裏。要改變自我就必須改變你周圍的世界。 

    Monitor Your Behavior 

    [9] I've been reading research studies on self-monitoring for 20 years, and I've conducted some myself. To be honest, I still don't fully understand why this technique works, but it does, and remarkably well for most people. The fact is, if you monitor what you do, you'll probably do better. 

    [10] Weigh yourself regularly and you may well start to lose weight. Keep a record of what you eat and you'll probably start eating more wisely. 

    [11] Use gizmos. If you say "you know" too much, wear a golf counter on your wrist, and press the button whenever you catch yourself saying "you know". I'll bet you say it less frequently in just a few days. If a wrist counter is embarrassing, then make a small tear in a piece of paper in your pocket each time you say "you know". The result is the same : you become more aware of what you're doing, and that makes you perform better. 

    [12] If techniques like this sound silly, keep in mind that the power of self-monitoring has been demonstrated by a variety of research conducted over the last four decades. In a study I published in 1978 with Claire Goss, for example, we taught a disruptive fifth-grade boy to rate his own class-room behavior twice a day. He simply checked off a score for himself, indicating how well-behaved he had been in the morning or afternoon. With his awareness increased, he stayed in his seat more than usual, completed more assignments and rarely got in trouble. 

    [13] A similar study by Canadian researchers Thomas McKenzie and Brent Rushall showed that teenagers arrived more promptly at a swim practice when they were given an attendance sheet to record their arrival times. Working with emotionally disturbed children, Sonya Carr of Southeastern Louisiana University and Rebecca Punzo, a New Orleans teacher reported that self-monitoring improves academic performance in reading, mathematics and spelling. Recent research even demonstrated that students will compose better stories given a simple checklist that includes elements of good writing. Dozens of studies have similar results, all spurred by height-ening our awareness of our behavior. 

    監督自身行為 

    [9]20nianlaiwoyizhizaiyueduyouguanziwojiandudeyanjiubaogao，erqiezijiyezuoguoyixieyanjiu。laoshishuo
，worengweiwanquannongdong，weiheziwojianduzhezhongfangfaxingzhiyouxiao，dantaqueshiyouxiao

，erqieduiduoshurendouxiaoguoxianzhu。shijishang，zhiyaonichangliuyizijidesuozuosuowei，henkenengjiuhuibiaoxiandegengwanmei。 

    [10]經常稱一稱體重，你或許就會真的開始減肥。記錄下自己每天的飲食，你可能就會更為明智地選擇用餐。 

    [11]試著用一些小把戲吧。如果你總是把“you know”掛在嘴邊
，就在手腕上戴個高爾夫計數器
，每當意識到自己說一次“youknow”時就按一下計數鍵。我敢打賭，過不了幾天，你就不會那麼頻繁地說起它了。倘若嫌戴腕部計數器令人難堪，那麼就在每說一次“you know”時把口袋裏的一張紙弄破一個小洞。其結果是一樣的：你會變得更留意自己的行為，因而也就表現更佳。 

    [12]如果說這樣的方法聽起來頗為荒唐，請記住：自我監督的力量已在40年來所進行的各種研究中得到了證實。我和克萊爾·戈斯於1978nianfabiaodeyipianyanjiubaogaozhongjiuyouyigeshili。womenjiaoyigeaidaoluandewunianjixiaonanhaimeitianduizijideketangbiaoxianzuoliangcidengjipingding。tazhishijiandandigeizijidagefenshu，yibiaomingzijishangwuhuoxiawubiaoxianderuhehao。suizheziwojianceyishidezengqiang，tabipingchanggengnengdaizaizuoweishang，wanchengdezuoyeyegengduole，erqiehenshaozairemafanle。 

    [13]加拿大研究人員托馬斯·麥肯齊和布倫特·拉(la)希(xi)爾(er)所(suo)做(zuo)的(de)一(yi)項(xiang)類(lei)似(si)研(yan)究(jiu)表(biao)明(ming)，在(zai)青(qing)少(shao)年(nian)拿(na)到(dao)出(chu)勤(qin)單(dan)以(yi)紀(ji)錄(lu)出(chu)勤(qin)時(shi)間(jian)後(hou)
，他(ta)們(men)會(hui)更(geng)加(jia)及(ji)時(shi)地(di)趕(gan)到(dao)，參(can)加(jia)遊(you)泳(yong)訓(xun)練(lian)。東(dong)南(nan)路(lu)易(yi)斯(si)安(an)那(na)大(da)學(xue)的(de)索(suo)尼(ni)亞(ya)·卡爾和新奧爾良教師麗貝卡·龐佐在研究過情緒失常兒童後發表報告稱，自我監督能改善這些孩子在閱讀、數shu學xue和he拚pin寫xie方fang麵mian的de學xue習xi表biao現xian。最zui近jin的de研yan究jiu甚shen至zhi表biao明ming，學xue生sheng隻zhi要yao得de到dao一yi張zhang含han有you優you秀xiu寫xie作zuo要yao素su的de簡jian要yao清qing單dan，就jiu能neng寫xie出chu更geng好hao的de故gu事shi來lai。大da量liang研yan究jiu都dou取qu得de了le類lei似si的de結jie果guo，而er且qie都dou是shi通tong過guo加jia強qiang自zi我wo行xing為wei意yi識shi而er得de出chu的de。 

    Make Commitments 

    [14] When you make a commitment to another person, you establish what psychologists call a contingency of reinforcement; you've automatically arranged for a reward if you comply and a punishment if you don't. It puts some pressure on you, and that's often just what you need. 

    [15] For instance, if you want to exercise more, arrange to do it with a friend. If you don't show up, your friend will get angry, and that may be just the ticket to keeping you punctual. Decades of research have demonstrated the power of this strategy. For example, in 1994 Dana Putnam and other researchers at the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University showed that patients who made written commitments were far more likely to take prescribed medicine than patients who hadn't. Mary Lou Kau and Joel Fischer of the University of Hawaii reported a case of a woman who got herself to jog regularly by setting up a simple arrangement with her husband: he paid her quarters and took her out on weekends whenever she met her jogging goals. 

    [16] There's good news here for all of us. We can meet many of the demands and overcome many of the challenges of life with simple skills--straightforward practices that anyone can master and that don't require willpower--in other words, with skill, not will. 
 
    許下諾言 

    [14]當你向別人許諾時，你就形成了心理學家所說的“後效強化”這麼一種情況。一旦實現承諾，你自然早已準備好得到嘉獎；如果食言
，麵臨的就是懲罰。這將給你帶來壓力，而通常這也正是你所需要的。 

    [15]比bi方fang說shuo
，如ru果guo你ni想xiang加jia強qiang鍛duan煉lian，那na麼me就jiu安an排pai和he朋peng友you一yi起qi鍛duan煉lian吧ba。假jia如ru你ni到dao時shi沒mei露lu麵mian，你ni的de朋peng友you就jiu會hui生sheng氣qi
，這zhe或huo許xu正zheng是shi督du促cu你ni守shou時shi的de一yi種zhong手shou段duan。幾ji十shi年nian的de研yan究jiu已yi證zheng實shi了le這zhe一yi措cuo施shi的de效xiao力li。例li如ru在zai1994年，弗吉尼亞理工學院和州立大學的達納·帕特南等研究人員證明，作出書麵承諾的病人遠比未作書麵保證的病人更能按醫囑服藥。夏威夷大學瑪莉·盧·考和喬爾·費希爾報告過一位婦女的案例
，這位女士使自己堅持慢跑鍛煉的方法就是和丈夫達成了一項簡短的協議----無論何時

，隻要她實現了慢跑目標，丈夫都給她一些零錢，並在周末陪她出去玩。

    [16]對我們大家來說這都是好消息。要滿足生命中這諸多要求並克服眾多挑戰，我們隻需運用簡單技巧——而這些技巧是任何人都能掌握並且無需意誌力的實踐操作——換句話說
，隻用技巧
，而非意誌。