Micro habits that improved my life ✨ - YouTube

We live in a world that idolizes instant results and dramatic changes. So naturally I think this pushes many of us to set these really ambitious goals. And I don't know about you, but if I make a really big goal and I don't stick to it, I start to lose trust in myself. I start to think, I'm the problem. I lack motivation or well power. But what if the issue isn't us? What if the issue is the method? Because if there's anything that I've learned, it's that true progress comes from small daily commitments. The micro habits. Just tiny everyday actions that over time compound into significant change.

我们生活在一个崇尚即时结果和戏剧性变化的世界里。所以，我觉得这自然会促使很多人制定那些非常有野心的目标。我不知道你是不是也这样，但如果我制定了一个非常大的目标却没有坚持下去，我就会开始对自己失去信任。我会开始想，我才是问题所在。我缺乏动力或意志力。但问题也许不是我们，而是方法。如果我学到了什么，那就是，真正的进步来自于日常的小承诺，这些微小的习惯。只是每天的一些小行动，随着时间的推移会积累成显著的变化。

And so today I want to share some micro habits with you that have changed my life. Normally when people talk about micro habits, they mean flossing your teeth and making the bed. Those are great too, but I'm going to talk a little bit more about mindset shifts. And a brief thanks as well to my favorite meditation app in the whole world, Headspace. For partnering with us on today's video, we're going to chat more about them at the end. I've gotten into the habit of telling myself, no more day zeros. What are day zeros? In project management terms, it's the planning phase before any real action takes place. Like how many times have we told ourselves, I'll start my essay tomorrow. I'll start exercising tomorrow. I'll start eating better on Monday. Even though setting these intentions is great, I feel like it's those day zeros that are often holding us back.

所以今天我想和大家分享一些改变了我生活的微习惯。通常，当人们谈到微习惯时，他们指的是诸如用牙线清洁牙齿和整理床铺之类的事情。这些当然也很好，但我今天要讲的是关于思维方式的转变。感谢我最喜欢的冥想应用Headspace，它们与我们合作了今天的视频，我们将在结尾处更多地聊到它们。我养成了一个习惯，就是告诉自己，不再有“零日”。什么是“零日”？在项目管理中，“零日”指的是在任何实际行动发生之前的计划阶段。比如我们有多少次告诉自己，我明天开始写论文，我明天开始锻炼，我周一开始吃得更健康。尽管设定这些目标是好的，但我觉得正是这些“零日”常常在拖住我们的后腿。

The author Dale Carnegie once said, In action breeds doubt and fear, but action breeds confidence and courage. So I keep reminding myself, no more waiting for tomorrow when today is already here. After all, today is yesterday's promise of, I'll do it tomorrow. So even if the day feels like it's almost over, there's always time to write one sentence for that essay. Do one plank, prep one quick jar of overnight oats. It's nothing grand. It's just one thing, but at least one isn't zero. From the time that we were just little children, we've been taught to apologize. And of course, do apologize if you've done something wrong, but I feel like it's also become so second nature for us to say, sorry, for the most trivial things, even when we've done nothing wrong.

作者戴尔·卡耐基曾说过，思想上的无行动带来疑虑和恐惧，而行动则孕育信心和勇气。所以我总是提醒自己，不要总是等到明天，当今天已经到来时，行动吧。毕竟，今天是昨天所承诺的“我明天会做”的那个“明天”。即使一天快结束了，还是可以为那篇论文写一句话，做一个平板支撑，或者准备一罐过夜燕麦。这些事情都不是什么伟大的成就，但至少做了一件，而不是一件都没做。从我们小的时候起，就被教导要道歉。当然，如果做错了事，确实应该道歉，但我觉得我们现在对于一些最琐碎的小事也会习惯性地说"对不起"，即使我们并没有做错什么。

And I think this is especially true for myself and other fellow Canadians were known for saying sorry for just about everything. But I think over time, it can really start to diminish our self worth. And one of my goals these last years has been to try to increase myself confidence a bit. And one micro habit that's been helping in that is to shift away from the default apology to instead saying thank you. So instead of saying, I'm sorry, I'm talking so much. I'll say instead, hey, thank you for listening. Instead of saying, I'm sorry, I'm running late. I'll say thank you for waiting for me. It's just so much more empowering. It makes us feel better about ourselves. And it also makes the other person feel valued too. It's a win-win.

我认为，这对我自己和其他加拿大人尤其适用，因为我们以对几乎所有事情都说“对不起”而著称。但我觉得，随着时间的推移，这实际上会逐渐削弱我们的自我价值。这些年里，我的一个目标就是尝试增加自信。而一个对我很有帮助的小习惯就是，将默认的“对不起”换成“谢谢”。所以，与其说“对不起，我说太多了”，我会说“谢谢你倾听”。与其说“对不起，我迟到了”，我会说“谢谢你等我”。这让人感觉更有力量，不仅让我们自己感觉更好，也让对方觉得自己被重视。这是双赢的。

And the same thing goes when we're receiving compliments. In the past, I used to downplay or brush off compliments, thinking I was being modest. But when someone is offering praise, they're gifting you with their admiration and to dismiss it is to downplay yourself. And also to refuse someone's heartfelt gift. So the next time someone gives you a compliment, just accept it and say thank you. This is probably one of my favorite micro habits. It just makes me so happy. A while ago, I read this piece by an author Kurt Vonnegut and he was talking about a simple habit that his uncle Alex practiced. Whenever a good moment would pop up in life's seemingly routine moments, uncle Alex would stop and say, well, if this isn't nice, I don't know what is.

当我们收到赞美时，情况也是如此。过去，我习惯于低调处理或轻描淡写地回应赞美，认为这样算是谦逊。但当有人赞美你时，他们是在赠送他们的钦佩，去忽视它就是在贬低自己，同时也是在拒绝别人的真心礼物。所以，下次有人赞美你时，只需接受并说声谢谢。这可能是我最喜欢的小习惯之一，因为它让我感到非常快乐。前一阵子，我读到作家库尔特·冯内古特的一篇文章，他讲述了他叔叔亚历克斯的一个简单习惯。每当生活中看似平凡的时刻出现美好瞬间时，亚历克斯叔叔都会停下来，说：“如果这都不美好，那什么才算美好呢？”

It was his way of grounding himself and cherishing the simple pleasures in life that we often overlook. And ever since I read that, I've gotten into the micro habit of just vocalizing that sentence out loud. So if I'm working and the sun is just pouring out onto my face, I'll actually pause to feel it and I'll say, if this isn't life, I don't know what is. And I know the original quote says nice, but I just like the way life sounds better. So that's what I've been saying. If I'm sipping my first cup of coffee in the morning and it's just hitting the spot, I'll say if this isn't life, I don't know what is. If I see a beautiful sunset on my way home or if I hear somebody playing beautiful music, you get the idea.

这是他让自己保持脚踏实地并珍惜生活中那些我们常常忽视的简单快乐的方式。自从我读到那句话后，我养成了一个小习惯，就是把句子大声说出来。因此，如果我在工作时阳光洒在我脸上，我会停下来感受它，并且会说：“如果这不是生活，那什么才是呢？” 我知道原句用的是“美好”，但我更喜欢“生活”这个词，所以我就这么说了。如果我早上喝第一杯咖啡时，那种感觉刚刚好，我会说：“如果这不是生活，那什么才是呢？” 如果我在回家路上看到美丽的日落，或者听到有人演奏美妙的音乐，你懂的。

Sometimes I get so caught up in the next big thing that highlighting these little joys has helped me to reconnect with life's daily magic. We've all been told our whole lives that stress is bad for us and that we should try to avoid it at all costs, right? But stress is just an inevitable part of life. And I'm the kind of person who if you tell me not to stress, I'm going to start stressing about the fact that I'm stressing.

有时候，我会过于专注于下一件大事，以至于忽略了那些小小的快乐。而正是这些小小的快乐，帮助我重新连接上了生活中的点滴美好。我们从小就被告知，压力对我们有害，我们应该尽一切努力避免它，对吧？但压力是生活中不可避免的一部分。而我是那种如果你告诉我不要有压力，我就会因为有压力这件事而开始感到更大压力的人。

And so recently, I listened to this audiobook called The Upside of Stress. It's written by a psychologist, Kelly McGonagall, and it has been life-changing. So McGonagall suggests that stress isn't the real enemy, but our perception of it is. If we believe stress is harmful, it often will be. It's kind of like a self-fulfilling prophecy. But, and this is super cool, by simply reframing how we view stress, we can change the whole biological response.

最近，我听了一本有声书，叫《压力的正面作用》。这本书是由心理学家凯利·麦格尼格尔写的，内容让我的生活发生了巨大的改变。麦格尼格尔认为，压力本身并不是我们的真正敌人，我们对压力的看法才是。如果我们认为压力有害，它往往就会真的变得有害，就像一种自我实现的预言一样。但是，非常有趣的是，通过简单地调整我们对压力的看法，我们可以改变整个生理反应。

McGonagall shared several studies where, for example, if before an exam, students were told that, hey, the stress that you're feeling, it's actually helpful. The rapid heartbeat, the quickened breathing, this is all preparing your body for action. If students were told this, they actually reported that they felt more focused during the exam, and they performed better too. And this is all just because they were told that stress could be beneficial.

麦格教授分享了几项研究，例如，如果在考试前告诉学生，他们所感受到的压力其实是有帮助的。这种心跳加速、呼吸急促，其实是在为身体应对挑战做准备。如果学生们被告知这些，他们实际上会表示在考试中感觉更专注，成绩也会更好。而这一切只是因为他们被告知压力可能是有益的。

And as a result, their bodies acted accordingly. Their blood vessels, instead of constricting, stayed relaxed. Anxiety and inflammation in the body decreased, and even helpful hormones were released. And so ever since learning this, I've tried to get into the microhabit of reframing my stress. Instead of telling myself, I shouldn't feel this, I should calm down. I try to instead channel that energy into making things happen.

因此，他们的身体也随之做出了相应的反应。他们的血管没有收缩，而是保持放松。身体中的焦虑和炎症减少了，甚至还释放出了有益的激素。因此，自从我了解到这一点以来，我就努力养成一个小习惯——重新看待我的压力。我不再告诉自己，不应该有这种感觉，我应该冷静下来。而是尝试把这种能量转化为行动力，去做成事情。

Instead of seeing the stress as something that's hindering me, I tell myself, you've found a challenge, but you're excited about this. You've got this. It's a small mindset shift, but it's been transformative. Stress has gone from being something that consumed and controlled me to now actually being an ally.

与其把压力视为一种阻碍，不如告诉自己，你遇到了一个挑战，但你对此感到兴奋。你能应对的。这只是一个小小的心态转变，但却带来了巨大的变化。压力不再是支配和控制我的东西，而是变成了我的盟友。

We've all had moments where we impulsively react too quickly. Maybe it's an unexpected comment from a partner, or sudden traffic, a last minute project change. How many times have we wished that we just took a little pause before diving headfirst into a response or reaction? We all know that speedy reactions can sometimes lead to misjudgments and missed opportunities to understand the big picture.

我们都有过冲动反应太快的时刻。可能是伴侣的一句意外评论，突然的交通状况，或者最后一刻的项目变动。我们有多少次希望自己在迅速回应或反应之前稍微停顿一下？我们都知道，快速反应有时会导致误判和错失了解大局的机会。

So I've been actively trying to create space between receiving information and formulating a response, giving myself permission to digest and just let the information marinate. I've gotten into the habit of just taking a deep breath anytime I feel emotionally charged, and it's almost magical how this simple pause has completely changed the quality of my responses. I think it's made my communication a lot more clear and thoughtful and calm, and I do attribute a lot of this also to having learned about meditation, because in meditation we're encouraged to acknowledge our thoughts and to sit with them and then to let them go without judgment.

我一直在努力在接收到信息和做出回应之间创造一些空间，允许自己消化信息，让它们慢慢沉淀。现在，每当我情绪激动时，我都会习惯性地深呼吸，这简单的停顿几乎神奇地改变了我回应的质量。我觉得这让我的交流变得更加清晰、周到和平静。我很大程度上也将这一变化归功于冥想，因为在冥想中，我们被鼓励去承认我们的想法，静静地坐在那，然后不带评判地让它们过去。

And so with that, I do want to thank our friends over at Headspace for sponsoring today's video. Headspace is this incredible meditation app that I've personally been using for about a decade now, but before I discovered Headspace, I used to think that meditating was really boring, and I often just couldn't sit with it for a long time, but I think that's why I've appreciated and used Headspace all these years, is that their meditations are guided, and they're narrated by some of the most incredible instructors.

感谢 Headspace 赞助今天的视频。我真的非常感谢他们。Headspace 是一个非常棒的冥想应用，我个人已经用了大约十年了。在我发现 Headspace 之前，我一直觉得冥想非常无聊，总是无法坚持很长时间。但是我觉得这正是我这些年来那么喜欢并使用 Headspace 的原因，因为他们的冥想是有指导的，由一些非常了不起的教练来讲解。

When we train the mind, we're learning to listen, not only to our own thoughts and feelings, but also to those around us. But even if you feel like sit down, eyes closed meditation isn't your thing, they have plenty of other mindfulness content on the app as well. Things like breathing exercises and sleep content to just general mindfulness activities that you can do while you go on a walk, for example. And because we're on the topic of micro habits, meditation doesn't have to be something that takes 30 minutes or an hour.

当我们训练心智时，我们不仅在学习倾听自己的想法和感觉，也在学习倾听周围人的想法和感觉。但即使你觉得坐下来闭眼冥想不适合自己，应用程序中还有许多其他正念内容。比如呼吸练习、睡眠内容和一些可以在散步时做的一般正念活动。而且，既然我们在讨论微习惯，冥想也不一定必须花费30分钟或一个小时。

Headspace offers sessions that can be finished in as short as three to five minutes. So if you've ever been curious about meditation, I highly recommend giving Headspace a try. I promise you're going to love it. And for a limited time, they're actually offering a 60-day free trial of the app. So grab it by either scanning this QR code right here, or just click the link I'll leave for you in the description box below.

Headspace提供的冥想课程只需三到五分钟就能完成。所以如果你对冥想感到好奇，我强烈推荐你试试Headspace。我保证你会喜欢的。而且，他们现在还限时提供60天的免费试用。你可以扫描这里的二维码，或者点击我在下面描述框中为你提供的链接来获取试用。

And I'm curious to know if there are any mindset shifts or micro habits that you've implemented in your life. If you're willing to share it, I'd love to learn about it, and I'm sure others would as well. So I'll see you in the comments. Thanks so much for hanging with me today, friends. I really appreciate it. Pick up the lines signing off, and I'll see you in the next video.

我很好奇你是否在生活中采用了一些思维转变或微习惯。如果你愿意分享，我很想了解，相信其他人也会感兴趣。我们留言区见。非常感谢大家今天的陪伴，我真的很感激。这里是Pick up the lines，暂时告辞，我们下个视频再见。

And then I'm going to kind of go like. Yeah. Are you recording? Is it working? Yeah. I'm reading this book. I've got a whole bunch of things too funny to get in this video. Ready? It's not last. Hold on.

然后我要这样做。嗯，你在录吗？录上了吗？好。我在读这本书。我准备了一些很搞笑的东西要在这个视频里展示。准备好了吗？这还不是最后一个。等一下。