导读

千里之行 始于足下。很多时候人生就差一个决定，只要敢迈出一大步，让自己的灵魂和身体有一个在路上，遇到困难时候，要坚持走出逆境，才能获得涅槃重生的机会。在一次次的与困难对抗之后，才能更加懂得，我们比想象中更加坚韧，而生活有时给我们的磨难也并不是什么生死攸关的大事，只是某一瞬间，我们突然觉得自己变得更强了.

第一步：解决高频单词

misinterpretation　[ˌmɪsɪntɜ:prɪ'teɪʃn]
n. 误解
commit　[kəˈmɪt]
v. 托付
equation　[ɪˈkweɪʒn]
n. 等式
reign　[ren]
v. 占主导地位
shackle　[ˈʃækəl]
v. 束缚
succumb　[səˈkʌm]
v. 屈服
melancholy　[ˈmelənkɑ:li]
n. 忧郁 adj. 忧郁的
prioritize　[praɪˈɔ:rətaɪz]
v. 把…优先
hierarchy　[ˈhaɪərɑ:rki]
n. 等级
accomplish　[əˈkɑ:mplɪʃ]
v. 完成

第二步：精读重点段落

“A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.” — Lao Tzu

千里之行 始于足下.
For a long time, I thought I understood this quote. It’s so straightforward, there seems little room for misinterpretation. And yet, there is.

misinterpretation n. 误解

See, for many years, I thought Lao Tzu was saying that every journey begins with that first, single physical step. We put a foot out in front of us, lean forward slight, and then whoosh! Away we go.

physical adj. 物理上的，身体的
But that’s not the first step. Not by a long shot.
The first step is never physical. It is entirely mental.
The first step is a decision.
A decision to commit. A decision to act.

Commit v. 犯罪；托付；使…承担义务
If we never make this decision, we will never do.

Definition
The word decision comes from Latin and it literally means “to cut off”. By making a decision, we effectively cut out all other possibilities. We make them inaccessible. Remove them from the equation.

cut off 切除
inaccessible adj. 不可得到的
They are no longer open to us.
This sudden loss of options, the fear that we might make the wrong decision and choose incorrectly, holds us prisoner. Indecision reigns, and in its wake we are left shackled.

option n. 选择
reign v. 占主导地位
shackle v. 束缚
Unable to move forward, unable to go back. We succumb to analysis paralysis.

succumb v. 屈服
This is where discontentment appears. Because, like a shark, we humans drown when we’re not moving forward. We drown in discontentment and frustration and melancholy.

discontentment n. 不满
frustration n. 困难 挫折
melancholy n. 抑郁 adj. 抑郁的
You need to be moving forward.
And as Lao Tzu reminds us, you cannot move forward without first making a decision.

Your first step: Decide what you want
I recommend taking some good old fashioned me-time, sitting down with a notebook, and jotting down what exactly it is you want.

recommend v. 建议
Define your wants.
Don’t censor yourself with thoughts of, “Oh, this would be nice, but it’s not realistic.” All goals are equally valid, equally plausible, but only if you decide to to throw the full weight of your ability and passion into it.

censor v. 审查 检查
Now, if you’re like me, at this point, you probably have a pretty long list of goals.
Step two: Prioritize what you want

prioritize v. 把..进行优先
This is an incredibly important step, but it’s the one most people fail to do. Create a hierarchy of your wants/goals.

hierarchy n. 等级
If you do not clearly establish which goals are more important to you than others, then inevitably, when the going gets tough and you must make a decision between one goal and another, you will opt for whichever one is easier to accomplish. This is called the Principle of Least Resistance.

establish v. 建立
accomplish v. 完成
Now, I’m not a fortune teller, but I can all but guarantee that whatever goals you hold in highest esteem, the big hairy, crazily audacious ones that you’re afraid to share with friends and family for fear of ridicule, are by their very definition, the most difficult ones to achieve.
So, if you fail to prioritize these goals above all others, you will never take the first steps in actually achieving them.

guarantee v. 保证
The only way to combat this ingrained, default position, is to list out your goals, and then decide which ones are the most important to you.

combat v. 反对

第三步：攻克必学语法
所谓插入语，就是指插在句子中间，对句子起补充或附加的说明的成分。一般说来，插入语与句中其他部分没有语法上的联系，若将其去掉，句子结构仍然完整。插入语在句中主要起解释、说明、总结等作用，此外还可用于表示说话者的态度和看法、起强调作用、引起别方的注意、转移话题、承上启下等。

1. 形容词（短语）作插入语
   Sure enough, she was there. 果然她在那里。 Strange to say, he is still ignorant of it. 说也奇怪，他还不知道这件事。 Most important of all, these activities have strengthened their ties with the working people. 最重要的是，这些活动加强了他们和劳动人民的联系。
2. 副词（短语）作插入语
   I’m seeing him in May一or rather early June.我5月份见他——更确切地说是在6月初。 We must be back before midnight；otherwise we’ll be locked out. 我们必须在午夜之前赶回去，否则我们就会被锁在门外。
3. 介词短语作插入语
   He doesn’t mind. In fact, he is very pleased. 他不介意，实际上他很高兴。 By the way, do you know where Mary lives? 顺便问一下，你知道玛丽住在哪里吗？ The boy is not foolish. On the contrary, I think he is very clever. 这孩子不愚蠢，相反我认为他很聪明。 A lot of us want to leave now—Bill, for example [=for example, Bill]. 我们很多人现在都想走——比如，比尔就是一例。
4. v-ing分词（短语）作插入语 Generally speaking children like to watch television. 一般说来，小孩子喜欢看电视。 Judging from [by] his accent, he may be from the south. 听他的口音，他可能是南方人。
5. 不定式短语作插入语 To begin with, I do not like its color. 首先，我不喜欢它的颜色。 To tell the truth, the film was a great disappointment to me. 说实在的，那部影片使我大为失望。 To make a long story short, we agreed to disagree.长话短说，我们同意各自保留不同的看法。

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The Power of Decision

“A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.” — Lao Tzu

千里之行 始于足下.
For a long time, I thought I understood this quote. It’s so straightforward, there seems little room for misinterpretation. And yet, there is.

misinterpretation n. 误解
See, for many years, I thought Lao Tzu was saying that every journey begins with that first, single physical step. We put a foot out in front of us, lean forward slight, and then whoosh! Away we go.

physical adj. 物理上的，身体的
But that’s not the first step. Not by a long shot.
The first step is never physical. It is entirely mental.
The first step is a decision.
A decision to commit. A decision to act.

Commit v. 犯罪；托付；使…承担义务
If we never make this decision, we will never do.

Definition
The word decision comes from Latin and it literally means “to cut off”. By making a decision, we effectively cut out all other possibilities. We make them inaccessible. Remove them from the equation.

cut off 切除
inaccessible adj. 不可得到的
They are no longer open to us.
This sudden loss of options, the fear that we might make the wrong decision and choose incorrectly, holds us prisoner. Indecision reigns, and in its wake we are left shackled.

option n. 选择
reign v. 占主导地位
shackle v. 束缚
Unable to move forward, unable to go back. We succumb to analysis paralysis.

succumb v. 屈服
This is where discontentment appears. Because, like a shark, we humans drown when we’re not moving forward. We drown in discontentment and frustration and melancholy.

discontentment n. 不满
frustration n. 困难 挫折
melancholy n. 抑郁 adj. 抑郁的
You need to be moving forward.
And as Lao Tzu reminds us, you cannot move forward without first making a decision.

Your first step: Decide what you want
I recommend taking some good old fashioned me-time, sitting down with a notebook, and jotting down what exactly it is you want.

recommend v. 建议
Define your wants.
Don’t censor yourself with thoughts of, “Oh, this would be nice, but it’s not realistic.” All goals are equally valid, equally plausible, but only if you decide to to throw the full weight of your ability and passion into it.

censor v. 审查 检查
Now, if you’re like me, at this point, you probably have a pretty long list of goals.

Step two: Prioritize what you want

prioritize v. 把..进行优先
This is an incredibly important step, but it’s the one most people fail to do. Create a hierarchy of your wants/goals.

hierarchy n. 等级
If you do not clearly establish which goals are more important to you than others, then inevitably, when the going gets tough and you must make a decision between one goal and another, you will opt for whichever one is easier to accomplish. This is called the Principle of Least Resistance.

establish v. 建立
accomplish v. 完成
Now, I’m not a fortune teller, but I can all but guarantee that whatever goals you hold in highest esteem, the big hairy, crazily audacious ones that you’re afraid to share with friends and family for fear of ridicule, are by their very definition, the most difficult ones to achieve.
So, if you fail to prioritize these goals above all others, you will never take the first steps in actually achieving them.

guarantee v. 保证
The only way to combat this ingrained, default position, is to list out your goals, and then decide which ones are the most important to you.

combat v. 反对
Step three: Do what you want
This is the hardest step, because this is the point in the process where you must make an active decision to do and then you must follow-through. Every. Single. Day.
It is not enough to wake up and say, “I’m going to write a novel.”
It’s not even enough to wake up every day for a week and say, “I’m going to write a novel.”
You must wake up and say, “I’m going to write a novel,” (and then you must actually sit down to write the blasted thing), every single day until the project is complete.
This is the only way to achieve anything of great value.

Drains on your will-power

Will-power 意志力
Studies indicate that will-power is not some bottomless well from which we can repeatedly pull. On the contrary, like a muscle, it has a finite capacity for exertion.

exertion n. 发挥，运用
You can only do so many pushups before your arms give out, and no matter how bad you want just one more rep, it won’t happen. The muscle can give no more.
It’s the same with will-power.
Problem is, most people don’t think about will-power in these terms, and instead of safe-guarding their decision making powers for the really big issues, we squander our will-power on tiny, inconsequential things all day long.

squander v. 浪费
For example: Deciding what you were going to eat for breakfast this morning, deciding what to wear, deciding which route to take to work, etc…
Decisions from pexel.com
We’re inundated with countless tiny decisions and yes, they absolutely drain your will-power.
So, what can we do to plug these drains?

drain v. 排水 耗尽
Create a routine.
Specifically, create both a morning and an evening routine.

routine n. 规则
Standardize your Eating, Sleeping, and Exercise

standardize v. 标准化
These are the three levers controlling your energy levels throughout the day. If you form habits designed to address each of these three in a way that minimizes the decision making process for you on a daily basis, you will benefit both from having more energy, generally being healthier, and you’ll have a surplus of will-power left over.

minimize v. 最小化
Now, here’s the irony of creating routine in an attempt to lower the number of decisions you need to attend: Sticking to a routine requires a lot of will-power.

That is, until it becomes habit. Once it becomes habit, well, holy gee-whiz, batman, you will suddenly find yourself with an incredible amount of free-will to dispense in big heaping handfuls towards the large goals in life that you’ve already stated mean the most to you.

Gee-whiz 夸张地
Eating
If you love cooking elaborate, diverse meals, great. If you despise cooking, equally great. The point here is to create consistency and routine.

elaborate adj. 精心制作的
I eat the same thing every morning: 3 eggs with some pepperjack cheese, two pieces of toast with honey, and an apple.
I eat the same thing every day for lunch: 2 apples, a sandwich, some almonds, and an energy bar of some sort.
For many of you, this sort of monotonous eating schedule would rob you of your will to live. I get that. And if that’s you, then you’re going to require a more diverse menu. But that’s okay. The key here isn’t to limit what you’re allowed to eat, it’s to be planned and intentional and committed.

monotonous adj. 单调的
Sleep
Every body is different. As such, your sleep requirements will vary. So I’m not going to tell you how much sleep you should get, or when. For me, I fall asleep every night between 10:30 and 11:00 and I wake up between 4:45 and 5:00. 6–6.5 hours works well for me, but it might not be your cup of tea.

Experiment. You spend a third of your life sleeping. Don’t treat it as though it’s some task of non-importance. It is critical to understand all the facets of your particular sleep cycle. Are you an early riser? Do you need absolute silence? Maybe you like to have a light on in the corner.

critical adj. 批评的 批判的

Doesn’t really matter what your weirdo sleep habits are, as long as you understand them and leverage them to their greatest effect so that you can be as mentally fresh and engaged throughout the day as possible.

weirdo n. 古怪的人
Exercise
Going to the gym sucks. Some people like it, but the vast majority do not. I sympathize. However, if you allow your health/exercise to take a backseat to work/life/and everything else, you are going to devolve into a flabby puddle lacking motivation to tackle all of life’s challenges.

Sympathize v. 同情
Create a schedule and stick to it. Remove the guess work. Do not leave room for will-power. Tell yourself, “I go to the gym on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays for an hour, and then go do it. After a couple months, habits form, and it no longer requires quite the output of will-power it once did.
The only way to get to that point, however, is by doing. So start now. Go do.
Fortify your decision with commitment
There is great power in the written word. And no, I’m not just saying that because I’m a writer. Behavioral science shows that our commitment to a task (and therefore the likelihood we’ll continue pursuing said task) greatly increases when we write down our intention.
“I will write a book by 2018.”
“I will lose 20 pounds by December.”
“I will wrestle the Loch Ness Monster into submission by next week.”
Doesn’t matter what your goals are. Write. Them. Down.
Then put them up in places you cannot avoid them. Put some sticky notes on your computer so that you have to stare down your past self’s commitment to a goal every single day.
Leverage the psychological principle of consistency to your advantage. This principle states that we as individuals will readily change our behaviors so as to remain consistent with our personal view of self. By writing down your goals, you acknowledge this view of self, and create a record of your commitment.
If you’re serious about committing to the decisions you make, write them down and speak them out loud, every day.
Share this article with a friend struggling with indecision. As an author, your support means everything! Thanks

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misinterpretation　[ˌmɪsɪntɜ:prɪ'teɪʃn]

n. 误解

commit　[kəˈmɪt]

v. 托付

equation　[ɪˈkweɪʒn]

n. 等式

reign　[ren]

v. 占主导地位

shackle　[ˈʃækəl]

v. 束缚

succumb　[səˈkʌm]

v. 屈服

melancholy　[ˈmelənkɑ:li]

n. 忧郁 adj. 忧郁的

prioritize　[praɪˈɔ:rətaɪz]

v. 把…优先

hierarchy　[ˈhaɪərɑ:rki]

n. 等级

accomplish　[əˈkɑ:mplɪʃ]

v. 完成