You got big dreams, you want to be successful, and ultimately, you want to live the life you've always imagined.

你有遠大的夢想，你想獲得成功，最終，你想過上自己夢寐以求的生活。

But there's a problem.

但有一個問題。

You're lazy.

你太懶了。

You know exactly what you should be doing, yet you don't do it.

你明明知道自己應該做什麼，卻不去做。

Leading to feelings of guilt.

導致內疚感。

Because deep down, you know you're capable of more.

因為在內心深處，你知道自己能做得更多。

This guilt builds up over days, weeks, months, until it turns into acceptance.

這種負罪感會在幾天、幾周、幾個月後累積起來，直到變成接受。

And then the new year arrives, and with it, the same goals from last year.

然後，新的一年到來了，隨之而來的是與去年相同的目標。

You start off strong, fueled by motivation and a bit of delusion.

一開始，你的動力十足，還有點妄想。

But before you know it, procrastination creeps in.

但不知不覺中，拖延症悄然而至。

Like that one relative who always shows up uninvited, your lingering procrastination turns into a daily cycle of laziness.

就像那位總是不請自來的親戚一樣，你揮之不去的拖延症變成了每天的懶惰循環。

And before you know it, you've labeled yourself as a lazy person.

不知不覺中，你就給自己貼上了懶惰的標籤。

So how do we break this cycle and break free from procrastination?

那麼，我們該如何打破這種循環，擺脫拖延症呢？

Well, there are many videos on the internet, but majority of them only address the symptoms, like deleting social media or removing distractions.

網上有很多視頻，但大多數都是治標不治本，比如刪除社交媒體或排除干擾。

While these may help in the short term, they fail to address the real issue, the root cause behind procrastination, which can be summed up in one word, inertia.

雖然這些方法可能會在短期內有所幫助，但卻無法解決真正的問題，即拖延背後的根本原因，可以用一個詞來概括，那就是惰性。

In physics, inertia is the tendency for objects at rest to stay at rest, and objects in motion to stay in motion, unless acted upon by an external force.

在物理學中，慣性是指靜止物體保持靜止的趨勢，而運動物體保持運動的趨勢，除非受到外力作用。

This also happens to be Newton's first law of motion, and it applies just as much to tasks as it does to objects.

這也是牛頓的第一運動定律，它同樣適用於任務和物體。

Getting started on any task, no matter how small, requires an initial push and some amount of energy to overcome the resting state of inertia.

開始執行任何任務，無論多麼微小，都需要最初的推動力和一定的能量，以克服靜止狀態下的惰性。

And this precisely is the issue.

這正是問題所在。

We make this initial push so big and difficult in our minds, that instead we just avoid the task entirely, and distract ourselves with cheap dopamine-inducing activities.

在我們的腦海中，最初的推動力是如此巨大和困難，以至於我們完全迴避這項任務，用廉價的多巴胺誘導活動來分散自己的注意力。

So to break procrastination, we need to break inertia.

要打破拖延症，我們需要打破惰性。

And there are two ways to do this.

有兩種方法可以做到這一點。

Getting started is the most difficult part.

起步是最困難的部分。

So make this as easy as possible, by reducing the stakes and taking the smallest step forward.

要儘可能簡化程序，降低風險，邁出最小的一步。

For example, if you tell yourself, I need to sit down and complete my 5000 word essay, the inertia is too strong, as the stakes are so high.

例如，如果你告訴自己「我必須坐下來完成 5000 字的論文」，這種惰性就太強了，因為這事關重大。

But instead, if you tell yourself, I'm only going to write 50 words, the feeling of inertia is much lower, as now it's pretty easy to get started, without needing to rely on willpower or discipline.

相反，如果你告訴自己「我只寫 50 個字」，惰性的感覺就會大大降低，因為現在不需要依靠意志力或紀律就能輕鬆開始。

Another popular technique is the two-minute rule.

另一個流行的技巧是兩分鐘法則。

If you don't feel like doing the work, just tell yourself you'll do it for two minutes, and then stop should you want to.

如果你不想做這項工作，就告訴自己先做兩分鐘，然後想停下來就停下來。

For example, you don't feel like cleaning your room.

例如，你不想打掃房間。

Put on a song, clean your room, and stop when the music stops.

放一首歌，打掃房間，音樂一停就停下來。

The best part is, usually you'll continue longer than two minutes, or you'll end up writing more than 50 words.

最棒的是，通常你會持續兩分鐘以上，或者你最終會寫下超過 50 個字。

And this is because objects in motion stay in motion.

這是因為運動中的物體一直在運動。

Meaning once we get started, we start gaining momentum.

也就是說，一旦我們開始行動，我們就會開始獲得動力。

And this momentum keeps us going for longer.

這種動力讓我們堅持得更久。

Initially, it's like pushing a ball uphill.

起初，就像推球上坡一樣。

But once we pass the point of inertia, it's downhill from there.

但是，一旦我們越過慣性點，就會走下坡路。

And that's why it's important that the initial push is small and easy.

最初的推動工作必須小而簡單。

In other words, reduce the stakes and start with just two minutes.

換句話說，降低賭注，從兩分鐘開始。

You can apply these two methods to any area of your life to overcome procrastination.

你可以將這兩種方法應用到生活的任何領域，從而克服拖延症。

Whether that's getting to the gym, working on your side hustle, maintaining your relationships, or pretty much anything you can think of.

無論是去健身房鍛鍊、從事副業、維持人際關係，還是你能想到的任何事情。

As Martin Luther King once said, "You don't have to see the whole staircase. Just take the first step."

馬丁-路德-金曾經說過：「你不必看到整個樓梯，只要邁出第一步。」