Make it a Habit

　　习惯成自然

　　The absolute best thing you can do to ensure you have the willpower to persist in the face of challenges and temptations, is to simply conserve it. One way to do this by turning as much positive activity as possible into habitual behavior. I assume you don’t have to exert willpower to brush your teeth every day and that doing so has just become an automatic part of your daily routines.

　　最好的做法就是在挑战和诱惑面前坚定不移，把这些积极的做法形成你的习惯。你看，每天早上刷牙，你需要毅力吗?那是每天例行的。

　　About 10 years ago I went on a very strict diet for about 1 year. I went cold turkey on a bunch of crap I had been stuffing myself with for decades. This took a lot of willpower at first, but after a few months on the diet it took absolutely no self-control to maintain. I simply got in the habit of refusing to eat certain foods. There was no decision involved. I didn’t have to continually debate whether I should or I shouldn’t eat something and I thereby preserved my willpower resources for other issues. Over the subsequent years, when I applied less strict standards, I found myself failing to eat properly much more frequently. This was especially true when my willpower was drained at the end of a stressful day.

　　10年前，我节食了一年，我每天就胡乱吃了一点冻火鸡。这一开始的确需要很大的意志力，但几个月之后，我就不用控制自己了。不用多想也不用纠结，我习惯不吃一些东西了。这样我就不用把有限的意志力放在这个问题上了。接下来几年，我的节食没那么严格了，于是我的饮食规律开始有点不正常，尤其是在我劳累一天，毅力耗尽之时。