是什么在激励着你，成功后的丰厚奖励，还是失败后的大笔账单

照片作者: nerissa's ring（flickr）

Diets don’t work. Studies show that temporary fixes to old habits actually make people gain weight. Essentially, the dieter’s brain is trained to gorge when off the diet and inevitably the weight returns.
节食对减肥是没有效果的。 研究表明，临时纠正旧的饮食习惯实际上会使人更胖。 本质上讲，节食者的大脑被训练成在不节食的情况下暴饮暴食，这不可避免地造成了体重反弹。

In my previous essay, I shared the story of my father's struggle with bad eating habits. He had put on weight over the last few decades and despite several attempts, he had trouble taking it off. Now, in 2015, in his late 60s, he faces pre-diabetes and a daily ritual of taking a handful of pills.
在上一篇文章中，我分享了我父亲对不良饮食习惯又爱又恨的故事。 在过去的几十年中，他的体重一直在增长，尽管进行了几次减肥尝试，每每都无果而终。 2015年的今天，他60多岁，面临糖尿病发作，养成了每天服用几颗药丸的习惯。

But over the last five months, something has changed. He’s found a new way to resist the temptation of the food he’s been trying to stop eating for years.
但过去的五个月让事情变得不一样了。 他找到了一种全新的方法，成功抵制了食物的诱惑，要知道他可是为此苦恼了多年。

We Took a Bet 我们打了个赌

My father and I shook on a $25,000 wager that binds him to never eat refined carbohydrates again — no processed sugars, no processed grains. Many people are shocked by the dollar amount of the bet but that’s missing the point. My objective is to never win the money. The bet just has to create a moment of consequence to disrupt the current habit with an amount large enough to be meaningful.
我用 25,000美金和父亲打赌，赌他再也不能摄入精制碳水化合物，不能吃加工糖，不能吃加工谷物。 很多人对赌注之大感到震惊，但他们完全放错了重点。 我的目标是永远不要赢。 赌注只不过是创造一个后果，让这个后果大到有分量来矫正现在的坏习惯。

So far it’s working. My father has lost about 2 pounds per week and his improved blood work convinced his doctor to take him off some of the meds.
到目前为止，这个办法可行。 我的父亲每周减掉约2磅的体重，因此得到改善的血液检查结果足以让医生相信他可以摆脱好几种药物。

Why It Works 为什么可行

Admittedly, my father is just one person. His story provides little more than anecdotal evidence. However, a study published in the New England Journal of Medicine provides some supporting evidence that putting some skin in the game makes people more likely to accomplish their goal of stopping a bad habit.
诚然，我父亲只是个例。 他的故事只提供了一部分证据。 但是，《新英格兰医学杂志》上发表的一项研究提供了支持性证据，在游戏中放皮肤更能制止人们的坏习惯。

The study followed three groups of people trying to quit smoking. The control group was offered information and traditional methods for smoking cessation like free nicotine patches. After 6 months, 6% of the people in this group stopped smoking. The next group, called the “reward” group, was offered $800 if they were smoke-free at 6 months. Of those, 17% quit. From just these two groups, we see paying people does indeed provide an incentive to stop a bad habit, at least short term.
该研究追踪了三组戒烟对象。 研究人员给对照组提供了戒烟的信息和一些传统的戒烟方法，例如免费尼古丁贴片。 6个月后，该组中有6％的人停止了吸烟行为。 下一个小组叫“奖励组”，如果能在6个月内不吸烟，就能获得800美元的奖励。 当然，有17％的实验对象退出了试验。 从这两组的对比中我们可以发现，至少短期内，奖励组的效果确实更好。

However, the third group provided the most interesting results. In this group, called the “deposit” group, participants were asked to put down 150 dollars of their own money, which they would receive back if they successfully quit in 6 months. In addition, they were given a 650 dollar bonus prize from their employer if they quit. Of those who accepted the deposit challenge 52% succeeded.
但是，第三个实验组提供了最有趣的结果。 这个组被称为“存款组”，要求参与者自掏腰包150美元，如果在6个月内成功戒烟就可以拿回押金。 而且，成功戒烟的人还可以获得由雇主额外提供的650美金奖金。 接受挑战的成功率是52％。

On the surface, this makes no sense. Why would winning $800 be less effective than winning only 650 dollars plus 150 dollars of your own money back?
从表面上看，实验结果讲不通。 为什么赢800美元的戒烟成功率会比只赢650美元加上自己原本的押金150美元要低？

Perhaps people in the deposit group were more motivated to quit smoking in the first place? The researchers admitted that over 85% of people who were offered the deposit deal refused to take it. However, the study authors took efforts to scrub the effect of extra motivation by only using data from smokers willing to be in either group.
也许存款组的条件让人更有动力戒烟？ 研究人员承认，85％以上的人拒绝接受存款组的条件。但是，研究者为了使实验数据更有说服力，仅仅采用那些愿意参与任何一个实验组的研究对象。

Loss Aversion, Commitment, and a Social Out 厌恶损失，承诺合同和社交说辞

So what else might explain the results? For one, the study authors write, “people are typically more motivated to avoid losses than to seek gains.” This irrational tendency, known as “loss aversion,” is a cornerstone of behavioral economics. As Nudge author Cass Sunstein, wrote, “a 5-cent tax on the use of a grocery bag is likely to have a much greater effect than a 5-cent bonus for bringing one’s own bag.”
还有什么可以解释结果呢？ 研究作者写道，一方面，“人们通常更愿意避免损失，而不是寻求收益。” 这种非理性的趋势被称为“厌恶损失”，是行为经济学的基石。 正如Nudge作者Cass Sunstein所写的那样，“对使用塑料袋征收5美分的税，可能会比奖励自带购物袋5美分产生更大的影响。”

There are other factors at work as well. Commitment contracts — like putting money down or taking a bet — have proven to be effective at changing behavior because they make us accountable to our future selves. People are notoriously bad at predicting their behavior due to a phenomenon called “time inconsistency.” Essentially, we punt difficult to do behaviors saying, we’ll “eat better tomorrow” or we’ll “clean the garage” next weekend.
还有其他影响因素。 承诺合同（例如押金或下赌注）已被证明可以有效地改变人的行为，因为这些举动促使我们对未来的自己负责。 众所周知，人们由于一种称为“时间不一致性”的现象而无法预测自己的行为。 直白的说，我们不考虑事情的困难程度会把皮球踢给未来，例如，我们“明天要吃得更好”，或者下周末“清理车库”。

Tim Urban, author of the Wait But Why blog, explains his struggle with procrastination writing, “I banked on Future Tim’s real-world existence for my most important plans, but every time I’d finally arrive at a time when I thought I would find Future Tim, he was nowhere to be found — the only person there would be stupid Present Tim. That’s the thing that really sucks about Future You — whenever time finally gets to him, he’s not Future You anymore, he’s Present You, and Present You can’t do the tasks you assigned to Future You … So you do what you always do — you re-delegate them to Future You, hoping that next time catches up with Future You, he actually exists.”
等一下这是为啥的博客作者蒂姆·厄本用他和拖延症的例子给我们解释了这个道理，“我将现实世界中的未来蒂姆作为最重要的计划的一环，但每次我来到那个时间点，未来蒂姆都不见踪影 —— 只有现在的笨蛋蒂姆在那里。 这就是“真正的未来” —— 每当未来来临，他就不再是“未来的你”，他是“现在的你”，而“现在的你”无法完成给“未来的你”的任务……所以，你故技重施 —— 把任务又委托给“未来的你”，寄希望在下一个未来。

By creating a binding commitment — like the $25,000 bet my father took with me — we make sure our future selves behave in line with our present goals. A website called stickK.com uses commitment contracts to help its’ users accomplish their goals. People sign legally binding agreements where they have to pay a third party if they don’t meet their obligations to stop smoking, exercise, or finish their novel, for example. The site, founded by two Yale professors, has proven effective for those brave enough to take the bet.
具有约束力的承诺，就像我和我父亲的25,000美金赌注，可以确保”未来的的你“和“现在的你”目标一致。 有一个网站使用承诺合同来帮助用户实现目标。 例如，人们会签署具有法律约束力的协议，如果他们不履行戒烟，运动或写小说的义务，就必须给第三方付款。 该网站由两位耶鲁大学教授创立，并证明了承诺合同对敢于挑战的人颇有成效。

There’s one more important and often overlooked reason these types of commitments work — they change the language we use. When I asked my father how he manages the temptation to not cheat with just a bite of cake now and then, he told me, “I just don’t. It’s actually not a big deal anymore.” Frankly, I was surprised he is having such an easy time with it. Here’s a man who has struggled with his weight for over 30 years but who suddenly finds giving up some of his favorite foods to be, well, a piece of cake. What gives?
这些承诺起作用的另一个重要原因经常被忽略，它改变了我们使用的语言。 当我问父亲如何抵御诱惑，不会是不是咬一口蛋糕作弊时，他告诉我：“我只是不会那么做而已。 实际上这都不重要了。” 坦白说，我很惊讶他居然这么轻松就做到了。 这个男人已经为自己的体重苦恼了30多年，突然发现放弃最喜欢的食物只是小菜一碟。 是什么赋予他这种能力了？

It turns out that the way we describe our behaviors can have a dramatic impact on what we will and won’t do. A study in the Journal of Consumer Research found that people who were prompted to use the words “I don’t” versus “I can’t” were nearly twice as likely to resist the temptation of choosing unhealthy foods. The researchers believe using “I don’t” rather than “I can’t” gave people greater “psychological empowerment” by removing the need to make a decision. “I don’t” is outside our control while “I can’t” is self-imposed.
事实证明，我们如何描述自己的行为会对我们做什么和不做什么产生巨大影响。 《消费者研究杂志》上一项研究发现，经常使用“我不要”比“我不能”的研究对象成功抵制不健康食品的诱惑几乎是后者的两倍。 研究人员认为，使用“我不会”减少了做决定的需要，从而增强了”心理作用“。 “我不会”是我们无法控制的，而“我不能”是自己强加的。

Now when my father goes out to lunch with his friends and dessert is brought to the table, he has a story to tell. “When they offer me a bite, I let them know it would be a very expensive mouthful,” he said. “I explain I just don’t eat that stuff anymore because the bet I made is for life.” He explains, “When I tried to lose weight before, I had to explain to people that I was on a diet. Eventually, I would get tired of saying ‘I can’t’ and I’d cave-in and tell myself, ‘just this once.’ But now with this bet,” my father joked, “I can just blame you!”
现在，当我父亲出去和朋友共进午餐时，甜品上桌后，他就会讲一个故事，“当他们让我咬一口时，我会告诉他们那一口非常昂贵。”他说， “我会解释说我只是不再吃那些东西，因为我有一个终身赌注。” 他解释道：“以前我尝试减肥时，我得向别人说明我在节食。 最终，我会对“我不能”这个说法生厌、屈服并告诉自己，‘就这一次’，但有了这个赌注，”父亲开玩笑说，“我只能怪你了！”

Here’s the Gist: 关键点总结如下：

• Creating a commitment to stop a bad habit can increase the odds of quitting certain behaviors.
• 做出要制止坏习惯的承诺，会增加彻底矫正不良行为的几率。
  
  
• Though not appropriate for all behaviors，the technique works because it uses loss aversion, a commitment contract, and provides a social out for not doing the behavior by changing the language we use to describe our actions.
• 尽管不能保证所有不良行为都能通过这套方法矫正，但它之所以奏效，是因为它结合了规避损失和承诺合同，还通过更改描述行为的语言提供了社交说辞。