超越自我篇08：Tiny Steps, Big Changes寻求大改变，从小处做起

If you have failed in the past at trying to make big changes in you life,try again now,one tiny step at a time.
如果你曾企图对你的生活做很大的改变,但却总是失败,现在可以试试,每次做一个小改变

Every year it's the same.As December comes to an end ,you think about the new year and all the ways you want you want to improve your life.But as you start to write down your hopes for the new year,you think about last year.you excitedly wroto down all the changes you were going to make,but by the end of January those ideas got lost in your crowed life.
每年都如此.当十二月接近尾声,你憧憬新年,你想用许多方法去改变生活.但当你写下新年愿望时,你想起了去年,那时,你也兴奋的写下了你想改变的事.但一月还没完,这些主意就消失在你紧张的生活中.

Here's a suggestion:Forget the overreaching,hard-to-achieve goals.Just think small."We have this extreme-makeover culture that thinks you've got to do everything in big steps,even though the evidence is overwhelming¹ that it doesn't work,"says psychologist Robert Maurer,who recently published one small step can change your life."what we try to do is to break down to a step so small that people couldn't possibly resist or have an excuse not to do it."
给你一个建议:忘掉那些不可达到、难以完成的目标.从小处着眼."我们的文化总是强调大改变,即使有充分的证据证明它不需要这么做",心理学家罗伯·莫特在他新出版的<<踏出一小步,人生大不同>>的书中说."我们要试着将大目标分解成小目标—人们不能拒绝,没有借口不去做的目标!"

The technique is called kaizen,a japanese word for an American business philosophy adapted to change behavior and attitudes.During World War Ⅱ,American factory managers increased productivity² by trying small,continuous improvements rather than sudden radical³ change.After the war,U.S.occupation forces brought that philosophy to a rebuilding Japan,which made it a cornerstone of the country's amazing economic rebound⁴.The Japanese called it kaizen,which means"improvement".    这种方法叫kaizen,一个日本单词．指一种改变行为与态度的美式企业哲学．第二次世界大战时，美国工厂管理人员试图通过持续的小幅改进，而非突如其来的巨变提高生产力．战后，美国占领军把那套哲学带到正重建的日本，使之成为这个国家经济神奇复苏的基础．日本人称它为kaizen,意思是＂改善＂．

Maurer,who teachs at the UCLA and University of Washington medical schools,says he began studing whether the idea could help people who couldn't tackle⁵ big challenges."Some of it is psychological,and some of it is just their overwhelmed⁶ lifestyles," he says."They don't have the time to go to the gym and do all those other things we know are good of us. So kaizen seemed a loqical thing  to experiment with."   在加州大学洛山矶分校和华盛顿大学医学院任教的莫勒表示,自己已开始研究这种方法能否帮助无法应付重大挑战的人.他说:"有些问题在于心理因素,有些则是他们的生活方式.他们没有时间去健身房,也无法做我们认为有益的事,所以'kaizen'很值得尝试."

1 overwhelming   

adj.势不可挡的，压倒的，无法抵抗的

参考例句：

• The flood was overwhelming and the city was soon drowned.洪水来势凶猛，很快这个城市就被淹没了。
• The act was adopted by an overwhelming majority.该法案以压倒多数通过。

2 productivity   

n.生产力，生产率，多产

参考例句：

• Farmers are introducing in novations which increase the productivity.农民们正引进提高生产力的新方法。
• The workers try to put up productivity.工人设法提高生产率。

3 radical   

n.激进份子，原子团，根号；adj.根本的，激进的，彻底的

参考例句：

• The patient got a radical cure in the hospital.病人在医院得到了根治。
• She is radical in her demands.她的要求十分偏激。

4 rebound   

v.弹回；n.弹回，跳回

参考例句：

• The vibrations accompanying the rebound are the earth quake.伴随这种回弹的振动就是地震。
• Our evil example will rebound upon ourselves.我们的坏榜样会回到我们自己头上的。

5 tackle   

n.工具，复滑车，扭倒；v.处理，抓住

参考例句：

• Don't forget to bring your sports tackle with you tomorrow.别忘了明天带上你的体育用具。
• We have gained sufficient experience to tackle this problem.我们已经有了足够的经验来处理这个问题。

6 overwhelmed   

[ overwhelm ]的过去式

参考例句：

• She was overwhelmed by feelings of guilt. 她感到愧疚难当。
• If (one was) overwhelmed by passion, it could lead to serious blunders. 当感情完全淹没理智时，就可能铸成大错。