快樂計劃：跟蹤進步

　　I'm working on my Happiness Project, and you could have one, too! Everyone's project will look different, but it’s the rare person who can't benefit. Join in -- no need to catch up, just jump in right now. Each Friday’s post will help you think about your own happiness project.
　　我正在進行自己的快樂計劃，你也應該有一個!雖然人人不盡相同，可是極少人不從中受益。參與進來--不需要從后邊趕上，只要立刻加入。每周五的帖子將幫助你思考自己的快樂計劃。
　　One strategy that I find hugely helpful in many aspects of my life is to track my progress. Having some concrete proof of advancement gives me the gold stars I crave, and the accountability of charting my progress - or lack thereof - keeps me diligent.
　　在生活中許多方面幫助了我的一個策略是跟蹤自己的進步。有確鑿證據表明進步給我帶來了渴求的“小星星”，對有了進步或缺少進步進行記錄的問責制讓我勤奮。
　　One key way I track my progress is through my Resolutions Chart. The boxes below each resolution show me where I'm making progress and where I need to work harder.
　　跟蹤進步的一個關鍵是通過我的決議圖。 每個決議下的格子說明我在哪些地方取得了進步，哪些地方需要再加把勁。
　　I’ve found other ways to keep track of progress, too. As I’ve worked on the draft of my Happiness Project book (self-promotion alert: it comes out in January), I kept a pile of all the print-outs I’ve made. I work almost exclusively on the computer, but every once in a while I have to read it in a hard copy -- somehow, words look so different printed on a page. Keeping a stack of my evolving manuscript was a way to remind myself visually of how far I’ve come since I started.
　　我還發現了另一個跟蹤進步的方法。當我給“快樂計劃”一書起草時(警告：自我推銷--該書將于明年一月出版)，我有一大堆自己制作的打印本。幾乎全部都是在電腦上進行，但是隔一段時間，我必須要讀一讀紙質本--不知怎么地，字印刷在一頁紙上就是不一樣。有一疊逐漸發展下的手稿是一個通過視覺方式提醒自己自己從一開始已經進行到了什么程度的方法。
　　As the photo here shows, the pile was also fairly unattractive, so after taking this picture I rewarded myself for completing the copy-edited version by tossing the entire stack. Now, in a reversal, the absence of the pile is a different sign of progress.
　　正如上邊圖片現實，這一堆看上去十分沒魅力，所以，在拍完后，為了慶祝完成了書稿版，將這一堆都丟了。現在，反過來，沒有這一堆成了展現出進步的另一個不同的標記。
　　Keeping track of progress can help deter you from doing things you don’t want to do - for example, snacking mindlessly. In Brian Wansink’s fascinating book Mindless Eating, he describes an experiment where students were served free chicken wings while they watched the Super Bowl. When the tables were bussed so that people had a clean table in front of them and no evidence to remind them of how much they’d eaten, they ate 28% more chicken wings than the people did when the leftover bones were left piled in front of them. A friend applied this strategy herself. She is a big candy fan, and for a week, after she ate candy, she saved the wrapper in her purse. At the end of the week, she was horrified by the number of wrappers she’d accumulated, and she was inspired to cut back on her candy consumption.
　　跟蹤進步可以幫助你阻止做那些不想做的事情--例如，盲目吃零食。 在Brian Wansink精彩一書“Mindless Eating”中，他講述了一個試驗。實驗中，學生被提供免費雞翅，一邊看Super Bowl。當餐座被撤掉，這樣人們面前是干凈的桌子，沒有證據來提醒人們吃了多少，那么他們吃的雞翅比那些雞骨頭堆被留在面前的人們吃的多28%。一位朋友對自己采用了這個方法。她很喜歡吃糖，有一周，在吃完后，她把糖紙存在了錢包中。一個禮拜后，她驚恐地發現積累了多少張糖紙，這讓她少吃糖。
　　Another way to keep track of progress is to keep a one-sentence journal. The thought of keeping a real journal - the kind written in beautiful script in a parchment journal - is daunting, but keeping a journal of one daily sentence is manageable. My one-sentence journal is just general family news, but other people use them to track progress in a specific area: the launch of a new business, brainstorming ideas for a project, tracking training for a marathon.
　　另一個跟蹤進步的方法是記錄一句話日記。寫真正的日記--那種在羊皮紙日記本中漂亮語言寫下的那種日記--令人畏怯，但是寫“每天一句話”的日記卻是可以做到。我的一句話日記不過是普通家庭內容，但是有人用它跟蹤明確方面的進步: 創業、為一個計劃想電子，為訓練跑馬拉松。
　　Have you found any good ways to track your progress? -and does it help you achieve your goals and keep your resolutions?
　　你有沒有發現任何跟蹤自己進步的好方法呢?--它能幫助你實現目標、保持決議嗎?