Welcome to lesson three of the Tamed Course.

歡迎來到自我控制課程的第三課。

If you have not watched the previous lessons, pause this video right now and click on the link in the description below.

如果你還沒看過前面幾段課程影片，現在就按暫停並點進底下資訊欄中的連結。

Because remember in order for you to get the most out of this course;

因為別忘了，為了讓你能充分吸收本課程；

In order for you to really learn how to change your habits and change your life.

為了讓你能真正完整學習如何改變生活習慣，進而改變你的人生；

You're gonna have to watch each and every single one of the videos.

你必須看完每一部影片。

In today's video we're going to debunk two of the biggest misconceptions people have about building habits.

今天的影片裡我們會揭穿建立習慣中最大的兩個誤解。

And the first is in regards to how long it takes to actually form or break a habit.

第一個誤解是，要建立或改掉一個習慣真正要花多久時間。

You've probably heard at one point or another "oh it takes 21 days" and it's simply just not true.

你可能聽過有人說「喔我知道，要花 21 天呀！」但這是完全錯誤的。

This misconception actually stems from a guy named Maxwell Maltz.

這個誤解源自於一個叫 Maxwell Maltz 的老兄。

Maltz was a plastic surgeon back in the 60s.

Maltz 是 1960 年代的整形醫師。

And he noticed that when he worked with people who got a new nose or add some sort of facial reconstruction, these people would feel uncomfortable when looking in the mirror.

他發現，當他替患者重整他們的鼻子或進行臉部整形後，這些人看著鏡子中的自己會感到不自在。

And Maltz found that it took them about 21 days to get used to what they were seeing.

Maltz 發現這些人大約要花 21 天才能習慣看著鏡子裡的自己。

Before they were more comfortable with the new faces.

才能對自己的新面孔感到自在。

And what's funny is that he took this simple observation with little to no science backing it up.

好笑的是，他在幾乎沒有任何科學認證下利用了這項觀察。

And he stated that it takes 21 days to form or break a habit in his book Psycho-Cybernetics.

他在他的【改造生命的自我形象整容術】一書中表示：要戒掉一個習慣只需要 21 天。

Which was a self-help book that went on to becoming a best-seller and eventually sold millions of copies.

這本勵志書上了暢銷排行榜，最終賣出上百萬本。

And over time people just assumed that this 21 days to build a habit thing was true.

隨著時間過去，人們就認定要建立習慣真的只需要 21 天。

So how long does it really take to form or break a habit?

所以要建立或戒掉一個習慣，到底需要花多久時間？

Well the recent study conducted at the College of London by Professor Philippa Whaley found that it really depends.

由 Philippa Whaley 在 College of London 帶領的一項研究發現，這真的要看情況。

They looked at a group of people and tracked how long it took for them to reach a point of maximum automaticity for a variety of different habits.

他們研究了一群人並持續追蹤他們要花上多久的時間，才能在各種不同習慣中達到自律感最大化。

Now for those of you that don't know what automaticity is, it's basically how little thought you need to put into a task.

自律感是什麼呢？自律感就是當你要完成一項任務時，要動腦去做的時間越少越好。

For example, if I told you to tie your shoe, you wouldn't have to think about it very hard.

舉例來說：如果我叫你綁鞋帶，你不用花什麼心思去想這件事。

Chances are you've tied your shoes enough times that it's already reached a point of maximum automaticity.

你可能已經綁過夠多次鞋帶了，已達到自律感最大化。

A routine is considered to be a fully embedded habit when it reaches the highest point of automaticity.

當一項例行公事達到自律感最大化，它就被視為一個已深根的習慣。

And here's a graph from the study that depicts this.

此研究的表格正是在描述自律感最大化。

The study found that every single routine out there has what's called the automaticity line.

研究發現，所有的日常公事都有著所謂的自律界線。

A point where if you've repeated the routine enough times, it becomes as automatic as it's going to get.

也就是當你重複進行一項例行公事直到某個臨界點、達到足夠次數，變成不自覺就能完成的事。

At this point your routine is now a habit.

這時候，該例行公事就成了你的習慣。

And this study found that it can take anywhere from two weeks to nine months with an average of 66 days to reach this line.

而這項研究發現，要達到自律界線可能要花少至兩週、多至九個月，平均 66 天的時間。

And it all depends on how complicated and hard the routine is.

一切都取決於這件事有多複雜、多難以完成。

For example the routine of taking your supplements in the morning might only take three weeks before it reaches the line of automaticity.

例如你每天早上都要吃營養補品，這件事要達到自律界線可能只需三週的時間。

Before it becomes a fully embedded habit that you don't even have to think about.

直到它完全成為一個深根蒂固的習慣；你做這件事的時候完全不用動腦。

On the other hand, a routine of going to the gym and working out might take six months before it hits this line.

另一方面，若你要固定上健身房，則需六個月的時間才能達到自律界線。

So for all of you out there who think "Oh I only need to stick to this routine for 21 days." or "Oh I just need to complete a 90 day challenge."

所以如果你們想說「喔，我只要持續 21 天就成養成這個習慣」或是「喔，我只需要完成這個 90 天挑戰」。

You're gravely mistaken.

你們都大錯特錯了。

You have to understand that it's going to be a long, long journey.

你必須了解，這是一條很長很長的路。

A journey that could potentially take almost a year to complete, depending on what sort of habits you're trying to build.

一條可能會花上快一年的時間才能走完的路，這取決於你要建立的習慣是哪一種。

Now this might seem scary for a lot of you.

這對很多人來說可能很可怕。

How am I gonna stick to these habits without missing a day for an entire year?

要花整整一年堅持這些習慣，而且還不能漏掉任何一天，到底要如何辦到？

And this brings us to the common misconception number two.

這就帶我們看到第二個常見的誤解。

Which is that if you relapse, if you give in and smoke a cigarette or have a drink or you miss a day of meditation that it's all over.

也就是如果你回到老樣子，如果你不小心投降抽了一根菸、喝了一杯，或是少冥想一天了，一切都功虧一簣。

A lot of us have what I like to call the "all-or-nothing mindset".

很多人都有這種我常稱之為「一不做，二不休」的心態。

We think "Oh, once the streak is broken all of my hard work is gone, and because it's gone I should just relapse over and over again."

我們會認為，「哎呀，一但這連續記錄中斷，我所有的努力都白費了；既然一切都付諸流水，我還是恢復老樣子好了。」

"Right? I might as well enjoy myself."

「對吧？我乾脆好好享受。」

And this is far from the truth.

然而事實完全不是如此。

A significant number of people in the same study missed a day or two when building their assigned new habits.

在該研究中極多數人在建立他們被分配到的習慣時，也中斷了一兩天。

Maybe they were too tired or maybe they just forgot.

他們可能太累，或真的只是忘了。

The researchers took this opportunity to look at its effects on the automaticity line.

研究人員趁機研究了這件事對自律界線的影響。

And to their surprise, they found that missing a single day does not have a clear effect on your progress.

令人驚訝的是，他們發現若中斷了一天，對人們建立習慣的過程並無明顯影響。

The amount of progress loss was almost non-existent.

在這過程中損失率幾乎是不存在的。

However, they found that if you continue to relapse, if you continue to miss days of going to the gym or doing your daily meditation, then you started losing a lot of progress.

然而他們發現若你持續性中斷、若你依舊以三天捕魚兩天曬網的心態上健身房、進行你的每日冥想，那麼你就不會有太多進展。

And the amount of progress loss was exponential.

你進展的幅度便微乎其微。

So missing two days was significantly worse than missing just one day.

所以中斷兩天的後果遠比只中斷一天來得嚴重。

And missing a week was way worse than missing two days.

而中斷一整個星期也就比中斷兩天嚴重得太多太多了。

So what does this mean for us?

所以這代表什麼呢？

This means that we need to shift our mindset.

這表示我們要轉變心態。

We shouldn't focus on a numerical streak.

我們不應該執著於連續的天數。

We should not count the amount of days it's been since our last relapse.

我們不應去計算自己距離上次中斷後又持續了幾天。

The mindset that we should have is that we're gonna try our best to stick to this habit for as many months as it takes.

我們要有的心態應該是，我們要盡全力堅持養成這個習慣，越久越好。

Until it reaches this line of automaticity.

直到這件事達到自律界線。

Because chances are, you're going to relapse at one point or another.

因為你遲早都有可能再度中斷。

In fact, studies have shown that 90% of all people trying to overcome their addictions or build new habits relapse at least once throughout their journey.

事實上，研究顯示在那些想擺脫上癮或建立新習慣的人當中，90% 的人在這個過程中都會中斷至少一次。

What's important is that you force yourself to go back to building your good habits the following day.

重要的是，你要強迫自己隔天必須回到建立習慣的正軌。

You must resist the urges to binge because that's when you actually start losing progress.

你必須克制自己想繼續沈迷的衝動，不然你將毫無進展。

As long as you can do this, you will eventually reach the automaticity line.

只要你能做到這樣，你遲早會達到自律界線的。

You may have postponed it by a day or two.

你可能延誤了一兩天。

But as long as you get back up and try again, don't worry about the streak.

但只要你重新出發，你就不用擔心自己養成的連續習慣被打斷。

You will eventually reach that line.

你遲早會跨過那條自律界線。

And once you hit that line, it becomes automatic.

而當你一但跨過它，你的習慣就會變成無意識的反射動作。

So now that you know how habits work.

現在你知道習慣是如何被養成的了。

And you also know how long it really takes to form a habit.

你也暸解到要建立一個習慣真正要花多久時間。

Now it's time for us to select a habit together.

現在我們要一起選一個要養成的習慣。

There's dozens of good habits out there that are all beneficial.

很多好習慣都對我們有益。

So we're gonna cover a bunch of them and then we're gonna pick one and focus on that one for the rest of the course.

所以我們會針對這一堆好習慣選擇一項，在日後的課程裡就專注在這項習慣上。

Because remember, our strategy is to adopt good new habits so that they can eventually replace your current addiction.

記得，我們的策略是要養成新的好習慣，這樣才能在最後取代你目前成癮的狀況。

The tamed course was brought to you for absolutely free with the help of the patrons of this channel.

多虧了贊助人對本頻道的資助，我們提供的自我控制課程完全免費。

If you want to support the cause and help me create more videos like this, please visit my Patreon page right here.

如果你也想支持我們的課程，以協助我製作更多這類影片，請點進這邊的 Patreon 網頁。

Or in the description box below to find out about the perks and benefits that all my patrons receive.

或是在底下描述欄找更多我的贊助人擁有的好康。

Stay tuned.

記得持續關注我們。