Meet Lucas. He's a young man about to enter college.

來認識 Lucas 這位將上大學的年輕人

He's at a difficult life growing up with his only parent, his mother, and his younger sister.

身處於只有母親及妹妹的單親家庭中，他過著很艱苦的生活

Due to his difficulties in facing his adversities, he's lived a fairly unhealthy life and constantly indulges in partying, drinking, and smoking.

由於缺乏面對挫折的能力，他過著相當不健康的生活，並染上狂歡、酗酒和菸癮的惡習

One day, his mother got quite sick and was rushed to the emergency.

有天，他的母親生了一場大病，被送至急診

The most important person in his life has rocked through all the difficult times was on the verge of death.

這位他生命裡最重要的人，走過了人生許多的艱辛，這次卻碰上了死神的召喚

She put up a good fight, but unfortunately passed and Lucas became the man of the house.

他的母親儘管與病魔持續纏鬥，卻終究支撐不住、驟然離世，而 Lucas 成了家裡的唯一支柱

Not only did he have to take care of himself, but a sister as well.

他不只要學會照顧自己，更要養活他的妹妹

It was summer break and so Lucas immediately took on a full-time job as janitor.

由於是暑假期間， Lucas 很快就找到了一份工友的全職工作

He had to provide for himself and his younger sister.

他得養活自己跟妹妹

His only goal was to go to work each day and clean.

他每天的目標就是去工作並打掃

Day in and day out he went. He took on every opportunity at extra shifts. His discipline and working was unwavering.

他每天忙進忙出，將每個加班的機會視為轉機，並堅持紀律辛勤工作

He used the money to buy himself and his sister some food for dinner every night

賺來的錢就幫自己跟妹妹買晚餐

He didn't want to tell his friends he was working as a janitor

他並不想告訴朋友，他的工作是當一名工友

So when they asked if you wanted to go out in the evenings and party he decided that he would tell them that he had to tutor his little sister and cook her dinner.

所以每當他們邀他一起去派對的時候，他都會告訴他們他要為妹妹上家教並煮晚餐給她

Lucas fell into the flow of going to work every day and eventually got used to it. It wasn't the chore for him anymore.

Lucas 投入在每天的工作，最後漸漸習慣了這樣的忙碌，這對他來說再也不是苦差事了。

He decided to stop buying junk food for himself and his sister,

他決定不買速食餐點來給妹妹和自己吃，

and decided he would cook them a healthy dinner after work each day and then prepare breakfast for the next day.

而是在下班後煮健康的晚餐並準備隔天的早餐

He kept this routine up, working and then cooking, working and then cooking. Finally school time rolled around and Lucas had to attend classes.

於他生活就維持著工作和煮飯的例行公事，直到學校開學，Lucas 才不得不又開始上課

He was juggling a lot at once so now he rolled his hours back to part-time and had to make sure he attended class every single day, so he didn't fall behind.

由於需要應付的事情太多，於是他轉任兼職工作，以確保他跟得上學校課業進度，

Regardless of how he felt, he always went. He went to class, came home and worked and then cooked dinner and breakfast

不管多累，他都去學校上課，回家就工作，再煮晚餐並準備隔天的早餐

Lucas kept this up for the whole time in college. He was able to put himself through college and graduate with honors.

Lucas 在大學期間就這樣堅持了下去，他得以讓自己唸完大學並以優異的成績畢業

He landed a good-paying job upon graduation and maintained his good habits.

畢業後，他找到了一份薪資優渥的工作，也保持他良好的習慣

Eventually, he was able to put his younger sister to college as well.

最後，他也能夠拉拔自己的妹妹進入大學就讀

He got married and eventually so did his sister.

他和妹妹後來都結婚了

They remain best friends throughout life and they reminisced on how happy their mother would have been of Lucas.

他和妹妹一直都保持友好的關係，也相信媽媽一定會以 Lucas 今天的成就為榮

How he turned his life around and went from lazy and out of control to in control of his destiny and the true king of his fate.

Lucas 是如何扭轉人生，脫離懶散和失序的生活而成為自己生命的主人？

He became disciplined, but how did he do it?

他變得自律，但他是如何做到的？

The first big thing for Lucas was a strong reason why.

首先，讓 Lucas 產生重大改變的，是一個強烈的動機

When his mother passed, he had a north star: to become the man of the house and take care of his younger sister.

母親去世後，他意識到自己成了他家裡的支柱，必須去照顧自己的妹妹

It was literally do or die.

他非做不可，否則生活將一片慘澹

Studies showed that a strong motivating reason why allows people to tap into willpower reserves that they might otherwise not have been able to.

研究指出強烈的動機會激發當事人有所保留的毅力

This reminds me of those movies where you see the boxer down to his last bits of energy in the final round,

這讓我想到電影裡的拳擊手，他們常會在最後一回合將體力幾乎用盡

but then he has a flashback powerful memory of why he's doing this.

卻在這時突然想起那個讓他戰鬥下去的強烈動機

Perhaps winning against all odds in memory of someone close to him who passed away.

或許是為了要紀念某個已經去世的、親近的人，使得他要戰勝所有障礙

Studies also show that a strong motivating reason why may only act as a buffer or a temporary solution to increase willpower,

研究亦說明強烈的動機僅能扮演一個緩衝或暫時性方法的角色，激發你的毅力

and that willpower still does have a finite limit.

而這份毅力仍然是有限的

In our example, Lucas had a strong motivating reason for why he was trying to become more responsible,

就這個故事來說， Lucas 因為有強烈的動機使他變得更有責任感

but that doesn't mean that reason can motivate him to do an infinite amount of things for an infinite amount of time

但這並不代表有了動機後，便讓他能夠擁有無限時間、去做無限的事

So he tried to work at a part-time job, take care of his sister, try to get a perfect 4.0 GPA and learn to play the guitar all at once.

所以他試著打工、照顧妹妹，努力拿到在校學業成績 4.0 的高分，還有兼顧彈吉他的興趣

It would be difficult, if not impossible, Regardless of how strong his motivating reason why was.

即便不是完全不可能，這仍然很困難，儘管他擁有強烈的動機

But in our case Lucas started by focusing on one task only, which was work.

但在我們的舉例中， Lucas 一開始只把心力集中在一件事上

He went to work every day. Once that became a habit he directed his willpower and self-discipline onto another singular activity, which was cooking, followed by school.

他每天都去工作，若工作成了習慣，他便能自律與毅力轉向其他單一的事情上，像是煮飯，再來是上課

And that's the key: to be wise with how we spend our self-discipline

重點在於，如何訓練讓自己自律，

and to use it on singular activities and turn them into habits before moving on to another activity.

專注在一件事情上，將棋培養成習慣後再進行下個目標

The first habit could have been a simple as drinking water every day or making his bed every morning.

首先，你可以先從簡單的活動著手，像是每天喝大量的水或是起床後摺被這類的事

When an activity becomes a habit, it drains a lot less willpower. Lucas also faced a dilemma that many people trying to be disciplined encounter.

一旦養成習慣，我們便不用磨損那麼多毅力去做一件事，此外 Lucas 還遇到了身邊人約束的窘境

Peer pressure. His friends represented a temptation into his old life. An easier life requiring a lot less responsibility.

像同儕壓力，他的朋友是牽引他重回過去生活的誘惑，糜爛的生活可能輕鬆些，也少了責任。

There were two reasons Lucas was able to overcome this dilemma.

有兩個原因讓 Lucas 克服了這個難關

He had a strong reason why and he planned for temptation.

他有強烈的動機，且提早預料到了可能的誘惑

In fact he's the very specific technique known as the if-then technique.

事實上，他用了一個很特定的技巧，稱為 "if-then" 技巧

He had planned that if his friends asked him to go out and party,

他打算在朋友邀他去舞會的時候，

then he would tell them that he had to tutor his sister and cook dinner.

告知他們他要替妹妹上家教及煮晚餐

This is a pre-planned decision of self control and avoided him having to exercise willpower to resist the temptation.

這是一個有自制力的事先準備計畫，並避免他需藉由磨損毅力來抵擋誘惑

This is a great strategy to use when we anticipate that there will be times

這是一個很好的策略應用，使我們預期到總會有某些時刻，

when temptations will arise and our willpower might be low.

誘惑的出現會降低我們的毅力，並預防之

It's an automatic and pre-planned response to temptation. Studies show that practicing self-discipline

這個對於誘惑的回應是自發性、且事先規劃好的，有研究指出訓練自己自律

increases self-discipline in subsequent acts. It's like a muscle.

能讓後續行為表現更有自制力，就像訓練肌肉一樣

By finding his strong reason why, developing his discipline through singular activities and pre-planning for temptations,

藉由找到他強烈的動機，訓練自己在單一活動上的自律，並配合對於誘惑的事先應對計畫

Lucas was able to become more disciplined and overcome his adversities.

Lucas 漸漸地得以變得更加自律並脫離困頓的環境