In fact I have no doubt you could sit in front of a screen and do both of those activities

事實上，我毫不懷疑你可以坐在螢幕前進行這兩項活動

for 2 hours, or even longer without breaking your concentration.

2 個小時，甚至更長時間，而不會分散你的注意力。

But what about half an hour of studying?

但學習半小時又如何呢？

Oof.

噢

That might be too hard.

這可能太難了。

How about working on your side business for another hour?

再做一個小時的副業如何？

Hmm.

嗯

Doesn't sound too appealing.

聽起來不太吸引人。

Even though you logically know that studying, exercising, building a business or something

即使從邏輯上講，你知道學習、鍛鍊、創業或其他事情

equally productive, will bring you more benefits in the long run, you still prefer watching

同樣富有成效，從長遠來看會給你帶來更多好處，但你還是更喜歡看

TV, playing video games and scrolling through social media.

看電視、玩電子遊戲和瀏覽社交媒體。

One might argue that it's obvious why.

也許有人會說，原因顯而易見。

One activity is easy and doesn't require much effort, while the other activity is difficult

一項活動很簡單，不需要付出太多努力，而另一項活動則很困難

and it requires you to apply yourself.

這就需要你自己去努力。

But some people seem to have no problem studying, exercising, or working on their side projects, regularly.

但有些人似乎經常學習、鍛鍊或從事自己的副業都不成問題。

Which begs the question: Why are some people more motivated to tackle difficult things?

這就引出了一個問題：為什麼有些人更有動力去解決困難？

And is there a way to make doing difficult things, easy?

有沒有辦法讓困難的事情變得簡單？

To answer this question, we need to look at this brain neurotransmitter: Dopamine.

要回答這個問題，我們需要了解這種腦神經遞質：多巴胺

Dopamine is often considered a pleasure molecule.

多巴胺通常被認為是一種快樂分子。

But that's not quite what it does.

但這並不完全是它的作用。

Dopamine is what makes us desire things.

多巴胺讓我們對事物產生慾望。

And it's that desire that gives us the motivation to get up and do stuff.

正是這種願望給了我們起床做事的動力。

If you're not sure how powerful dopamine is, let me introduce you to a few experiments

如果您還不清楚多巴胺的威力有多大，讓我向您介紹幾個實驗

neuroscientists did on rats.

神經科學家在老鼠身上所做的研究。

The researchers implanted electrodes in the brains of rats.

研究人員在老鼠的大腦中植入了電極。

Whenever the rat pulled a lever, the researchers stimulated the rat's reward system in the brain.

每當老鼠拉動槓桿時，研究人員就會刺激老鼠大腦中的獎勵系統。

The result was that the rats developed a craving so strong they kept pulling the lever, over

結果是，大鼠產生了強烈的渴望，它們不斷拉動槓桿，超過了

and over for hours.

而且一連幾個小時都是如此。

The rats would refuse to eat or even sleep.

老鼠會拒絕進食，甚至拒絕睡覺。

They would just keep pressing the lever until they would drop from exhaustion.

他們只是不停地按壓槓桿，直到筋疲力盡倒下。

But then the process was reversed.

但隨後的過程卻發生了逆轉。

The researchers blocked the release of dopamine in the brain's reward center.

研究人員阻止了大腦獎賞中心多巴胺的釋放。

As a result, rats became so lethargic that even getting up to get a drink of water was

結果，大鼠變得昏昏欲睡，甚至連站起來喝口水都很困難。

not worth the effort.

不值得

They wouldn't eat.

他們不吃東西。

They didn't want to mate.

它們不想交配。

They didn't crave anything at all.

他們根本不渴望任何東西。

You could say that the rats lost all will to live.

可以說，老鼠們完全喪失了生存的意志。

However, if food was placed directly in their mouths, the rats would still eat and enjoy

但是，如果將食物直接放進老鼠的嘴裡，它們仍然會吃，而且吃得津津有味。

the food.

食物

They just didn't have the motivation to get up and do it themselves.

他們只是沒有動力站起來自己去做。

You would think that it's thirst or hunger that motivates us to get food or water.

你會認為是口渴或飢餓促使我們去獲取食物或水。

But there's also dopamine that plays a key role here.

但多巴胺也在其中發揮著關鍵作用。

Those rat experiments might be extreme cases.

那些大鼠實驗可能是極端情況。

But you can see similar effects dopamine has in humans and in our daily lives.

但在人類和我們的日常生活中，你也能看到多巴胺的類似作用。

In fact, your brain develops priorities in large part based on how much dopamine it's

事實上，你的大腦在很大程度上是根據多巴胺的含量來確定優先順序的。

expecting to get.

期望得到

If an activity releases too little dopamine, you won't have much motivation to do it.

如果一項活動釋放的多巴胺太少，你就不會有太大的動力去做。

But if an activity releases a lot of dopamine, you'll be motivated to repeat it, over and over.

但是，如果一項活動能釋放大量多巴胺，你就會有動力一次又一次地重複這項活動。

So which behaviors release dopamine?

那麼，哪些行為會釋放多巴胺呢？

Any activity where you anticipate there's a potential reward, releases it.

任何活動，只要你預料到會有潛在的回報，就釋放它。

But if you know there are no immediate rewards with the behavior, your brain won't release it.

但如果你知道這種行為不會立即得到回報，你的大腦就不會釋放這種行為。

For example, before you eat comfort food, your brain releases dopamine, because you

例如，在吃安慰性食物之前，你的大腦會釋放多巴胺，因為你

anticipate that the food will make you feel good.

預期食物會讓你感覺良好。

Even if it actually makes you feel worse.

即使這會讓你感覺更糟。

That's because your brain doesn't even care if the high dopamine activity is damaging

這是因為你的大腦根本不在乎高多巴胺活動是否會造成損害

to you.

給你。

It just wants more of it.

它只是想要更多。

A stereotypical example would be someone who's a drug addict.

一個刻板的例子就是吸毒者。

He knows that what he's doing is not good for him.

他知道自己的所作所為對自己不利。

But all he wants is to get more of that drug.

但他只想獲得更多的毒品。

Besides getting you high, cocaine and heroin release unnatural amounts of dopamine, which

可卡因和海洛因除了讓人興奮之外，還會釋放出非自然的多巴胺，而多巴胺會

in turn makes you crave them even more.

反過來又會讓你更加渴望它們。

Of course it has to be noted that nearly everything releases some amount of dopamine.

當然，必須指出的是，幾乎所有東西都會釋放一定量的多巴胺。

Even drinking water when you're thirsty, does.

即使口渴時喝水也是如此。

But the highest dopamine release happens when you get a reward randomly.

但是，當你隨機獲得獎勵時，多巴胺的釋放量最高。

One such example is playing on a slot machine in a casino.

其中一個例子就是在賭場玩老虎機。

Even if you've only been losing money until that point, you eventually expect to get a

即使在此之前你一直在虧錢，你最終也會期望得到一個

bigger reward.

更大的回報。

You just don't know when it could happen. And in today's digital society, we are flooding

你只是不知道它何時會發生。在當今的數字社會，我們充斥著

our brains with unnaturally high amounts of dopamine on a daily basis, even if we don't

我們的大腦每天都會攝入超常量的多巴胺，即使我們沒有

know it.

知道它。

Some examples of high dopamine behaviors include: scrolling through social media websites, playing

高多巴胺行為的一些例子包括：滾動瀏覽社交媒體網站、玩遊戲、看電視、看電影、看電影

video games, watching internet pornography, etc.

電子遊戲、觀看網絡色情等。

We anticipate some sort of reward with each one of those behaviors.

我們期待每一種行為都能帶來某種獎勵。

That's why we're constantly checking our phones.

這就是為什麼我們總是不停地看手機。

We expect to see a text message or some other notification.

我們希望看到一條簡訊或其他通知。

And we know that eventually we're going to receive it.

我們知道，我們最終會得到它。

We're becoming like those rats pulling the lever, tying to get a new dopamine hit.

我們正變得像那些拉動槓桿的老鼠，試圖獲得新的多巴胺刺激。

And you might think, "Oh so what?"

你可能會想："哦，那又怎樣？"

"It's not like it's harming me in any way."

"它不會對我造成任何傷害"

But you'd be wrong.

但你錯了。

Our bodies have a biological system called homeostasis.

我們的身體有一個名為 "平衡 "的生物系統。

It means that our body likes to keep internal physical and chemical conditions at a balanced level.

這意味著我們的身體喜歡保持內部物理和化學條件的平衡。

Whenever an imbalance occurs, our body adapts to it.

只要出現失衡，我們的身體就會適應它。

Let me give you an example: When it's cold outside, our body temperature falls.

我來舉個例子：室外寒冷時，我們的體溫會下降。

And as a result, we start shivering to generate heat and warm the body.

是以，我們開始顫抖，以產生熱量並溫暖身體。

However when it's hot outside, our body temperature rises.

然而，當室外天氣炎熱時，我們的體溫會升高。

And we start sweating to lose some of that heat.

我們開始出汗，以散熱。

Essentially our body is looking to maintain a temperature of around 37 degrees Celsius

從根本上說，我們的身體希望保持 37 攝氏度左右的溫度

or 98 degrees Fehrenheit, no matter what.

或 98 華氏度，無論如何都不行。

But there is another way homeostasis manifests itself.

但是，平衡還有另一種表現形式。

And that is through tolerance.

這就是寬容。

For example, someone who rarely drinks alcohol, will get drunk really fast.

例如，很少喝酒的人很快就會喝醉。

But someone who drinks on a regular basis, will have to drink more alcohol, because their

但是，經常喝酒的人就必須喝更多的酒，因為他們的

body has developed a tolerance to it.

身體已經對它產生了耐受性。

Essentially it takes more and more alcohol to make them drunk, because they've become

從根本上說，要讓他們喝醉，需要越來越多的酒精，因為他們已經變得

less sensitive to its effects.

對其影響不那麼敏感。

And it's not much different with dopamine.

多巴胺也是如此。

Your body tries to maintain homeostasis, so it down-regulates your dopamine receptors.

您的身體試圖維持平衡，是以會下調多巴胺受體。

Essentially your brain gets used to having high levels of dopamine and those levels become

從根本上說，你的大腦已經習慣了高水平的多巴胺，而這些水準的多巴胺會變成

your new normal.

你的新常態。

Thus you develop a dopamine tolerance.

是以，你會產生多巴胺耐受性。

This can be a huge problem, because the things that don't give you as much dopamine, don't

這可能是個大問題，因為那些不會給你帶來那麼多多巴胺的東西，不會

interest you any longer.

你不再感興趣了。

And it's much more difficult to motivate yourself to do them.

而且，要激勵自己去做這些事就更難了。

They feel boring and less fun, because they don't release as much dopamine, compared to

它們會讓人感覺無聊、沒意思，因為它們不會釋放出那麼多的多巴胺，相比之下

the things that do release it in high amounts.

大量釋放它的東西。

That's why people tend to prefer playing video games or browsing the internet, compared to

這就是為什麼人們更喜歡玩電子遊戲或瀏覽互聯網，而不是

studying or working on their business.

學習或工作。

Video games make us feel good and comfortable, as they release a lot of dopamine.

電子遊戲能釋放大量多巴胺，讓人感覺舒適愜意。

Sadly things like working hard or reading, releases it in lower amounts.

可悲的是，像努力工作或閱讀這樣的事情會以較低的量釋放它。

This is one of the reasons why drug addicts who try to quit, have a hard time adjusting to

這也是試圖戒毒的吸毒者很難適應的原因之一。

a normal life.

正常的生活。

Their dopamine tolerance gets so high that normal life isn't able to match it.

他們的多巴胺耐受性會變得非常高，以至於正常生活無法與之匹配。

They become like those rats from previous experiments who have no motivation to do anything

他們變得像以前實驗中的那些小白鼠一樣，沒有做任何事情的動力

if there's not enough dopamine release.

如果多巴胺釋放不足。

And it's not just drug addicts.

而且不僅僅是吸毒者。

People who are addicted to video games, social media or internet pornography experience the

沉迷於電子遊戲、社交媒體或網絡色情的人都會有以下經歷

same thing.

同一件事。

Once their dopamine tolerance gets too high, they simply aren't able to enjoy low dopamine

一旦多巴胺耐受性過高，他們就無法享受低多巴胺的樂趣了。

behaviors.

行為。

Which begs the question: Is there anything that can be done to prevent this?

這就引出了一個問題：有什麼辦法可以防止這種情況發生嗎？

The answer is you need to perform a dopamine detox.

答案就是你需要進行多巴胺排毒。

By now might already have an idea what dopamine detox is going to look like.

現在，你可能已經知道多巴胺戒毒會是什麼樣子了。

What you're going to do is set aside a day, where you're going to avoid all the highly

你要做的就是留出一天時間，在這一天裡，你要避開所有高度危險的事情。

stimulating activities.

激勵性活動。

You're going to stop flooding your brain with high amounts of dopamine and you're going

你要停止讓大腦充斥大量多巴胺，你要

to let your dopamine receptors recover.

讓你的多巴胺受體恢復。

Just a disclaimer: If you're suffering from a drug addiction, then I suggest you seek

免責聲明：如果你有毒癮，我建議你尋求

professional help, as you've probably formed a physiological and psychological dependence.

專業人士的幫助，因為你可能已經形成了生理和心理依賴。

And I don't want you to experience any extreme withdrawal symptoms.

我不希望你出現任何極端的戒斷症狀。

Now back to the detox.

現在回到排毒問題上來。

For 1 whole day you will try to have as little fun as possible.

在整整一天的時間裡，你要儘量少玩。

You won't be using the internet, or any technology like your phone or computer.

您不會使用互聯網、手機或電腦等任何技術。

You're not allowed to listen to music, you're not allowed to masturbate or eat any junk food.

你不能聽音樂，不能手淫，也不能吃任何垃圾食品。

Basically you're going to remove all sources of external pleasure for the entire day.

基本上，你要在一整天內消除所有外部快樂的來源。

You're going to embrace boredom.

你要擁抱無聊。

And trust me, there will be a lot of boredom.

相信我，會有很多無聊的事情。

You are however allowed to do the following: Go for a walk.

不過，您可以做以下事情：散步

Meditate and be alone with your thoughts.

冥想，與自己的思想獨處。

Reflect on your life and goals.

反思自己的生活和目標。

Write down any ideas you get.

寫下你的任何想法。

Not on your computer or phone, but on a physical piece of paper.

不是在電腦或手機上，而是在一張紙上。

All of this might seem quite intense.

所有這一切似乎都很緊張。

But if you want radical results and you want them fast, you need to be able to take radical action.

但是，如果你想要快速取得根本性的成果，你就必須能夠採取根本性的行動。

Now you might be asking yourself: Why would this even work?

現在你可能會問自己這樣做有什麼用？

You can think of it this way.

你可以這樣想。

Let's say that you've been eating every single meal at the best restaurant in your town.

假設你每頓飯都在鎮上最好的餐廳吃。

As a result, what happened is that those fancy meals became your new normal.

結果，那些花哨的飯菜成了你的新常態。

If someone offered you a bowl of plain rice, you would probably refuse.

如果有人給你一碗白米飯，你可能會拒絕。

It simply wouldn't taste as good as your usual restaurant meal.

它的味道根本無法與普通餐廳的飯菜相提並論。

But if you suddenly find yourself stranded on a deserted island and you're starving,

但是，如果你突然發現自己被困在一個荒島上，而且飢腸轆轆、

suddenly that bowl of plain rice doesn't seem so bad.

突然間，那碗白米飯似乎也沒那麼難吃了。

And that is what the dopamine detox does.

這就是多巴胺排毒的作用。

It starves you of all the pleasure you usually get, and in turn, it makes those less satisfying

它讓你失去了平時獲得的所有樂趣，反過來，它又讓這些樂趣變得不那麼令人滿意

activities more desirable.

活動更受歡迎。

To put it simply: Dopamine detox works because you become so bored, that boring stuff becomes

簡單地說：多巴胺排毒之所以有效，是因為你會變得非常無聊，無聊的東西會變得

more fun.

更有趣

Now if you don't want to take such extreme action and starve yourself of all the pleasure,

現在，如果你不想採取如此極端的行動，讓自己失去所有的快樂、

you can perform a smaller dopamine detox.

你可以進行一次較小規模的多巴胺排毒。

You're going to pick one day of the week, where you're going to refrain from one of

你要在一週中選擇一天，在這一天裡，你要避免以下行為之一

your high dopamine behaviors completely.

讓你的高多巴胺行為完全消失

Whatever that behavior might be.

無論這種行為是什麼。

Maybe checking your phone all the time, playing video games on your computer, binge watching

也許你一直在看手機，在電腦上玩電子遊戲，狂歡地看電視

TV, eating junk food, watching internet pornography, whatever.

看電視、吃垃圾食品、看網絡色情，等等。

And from now on, every single week for one whole day, you're going to avoid that activity.

從現在開始，每個星期的一整天，你都要避免這種活動。

You can still do other things, but the behavior you pick is off limits.

你仍然可以做其他事情，但你選擇的行為是不允許的。

Yes, you will feel slightly bored, but that's the point.

是的，你會感到略微無聊，但這正是關鍵所在。

You want to let your dopamine receptors recover from the unnaturally high dopamine that's

你想讓多巴胺受體從非自然的高多巴胺中恢復過來，而這些多巴胺是

been flooding your brain.

一直充斥著你的大腦。

And boredom is going to propel you to do other things that day.

而無聊會促使你當天去做其他事情。

Things that you would normally put off, because they don't release as much dopamine.

你通常會推掉的事情，因為它們不會釋放那麼多的多巴胺。

And because you're bored, it's easier for you to do them.

因為你覺得無聊，所以做起來更容易。

Of course avoiding high dopamine behavior once in a while is good.

當然，偶爾避免高多巴胺行為也是好事。

But ideally you should avoid those behaviors altogether, or at least as much as possible.

但理想的情況是，你應該完全避免這些行為，或者至少儘可能地避免。

Instead you want to connect more dopamine to the things that will actually benefit you.

相反，你要把更多的多巴胺與真正對你有益的事情聯繫起來。

And what I found is that your current high dopamine activities, can serve as an incentive

我發現，你當前的高多巴胺活動，可以成為一種激勵

to pursue things, that actually give you those long term benefits.

去追求那些能給你帶來長遠利益的東西。

In other words, you could use your high dopamine activity, as a reward for completing difficult work.

換句話說，你可以利用你的高多巴胺活性，作為完成艱鉅工作的獎勵。

And this is exactly what I do myself.

我自己也是這麼做的。

I track all the difficult, low dopamine work I do.

我跟蹤我所做的所有困難的、低多巴胺的工作。

Cleaning my apartment, practicing the piano, reading books, doing some sort of exercise,

打掃公寓、練琴、看書、做一些運動、

creating these videos, etc.

製作這些視頻等。

After I'm able to get a certain amount of work done, I reward myself with some amount

當我完成一定量的工作後，我會獎勵自己一些錢

of high dopamine activity at the end of the day.

多巴胺在一天結束時的高活性。

The key words here are: after, and, at the end of the day.

這裡的關鍵詞是：之後、和最後。

If I indulge in high dopamine behavior first, then I'm not going to feel like doing the

如果我首先沉溺於高多巴胺行為，那麼我就不會有心情去做

low dopamine work.

低多巴胺工作。

I'm simply not going to be motivated enough.

我根本不會有足夠的動力。

So I always start with the difficult things, only then I allow myself to indulge in high

是以，我總是先從困難的事情做起，然後才允許自己沉浸在高

dopamine activities.

多巴胺活性。

To give you an example: For every completed hour of low dopamine work, I reward myself

舉個例子：每完成一個小時的低多巴胺工作，我都會獎勵自己

with 15 minutes of high dopamine behavior at the end of the day.

在一天結束時進行 15 分鐘的高多巴胺行為。

That means that for 8 hours of low dopamine, I allow myself roughly 2 hours of high dopamine

這意味著，在多巴胺水準較低的 8 小時內，我允許自己有大約 2 小時的多巴胺水準較高的時間。

behavior.

行為。

Of course, these are my ratios.

當然，這些都是我的比例。

You can tweak them to your liking.

您可以根據自己的喜好進行調整。

Also it has to be noted that if you're addicted to something that's damaging to your health,

此外，必須注意的是，如果你沉迷於某種會損害健康的東西、