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I remember a couple of years ago I used to get very little sleep.
我记得几年以前我经常失眠。
And I really struggled with making the right decisions.
而且很难做出正确的决定。
I'd be running on four hours of sleep, and when I was presented with something healthy to eat
我的睡眠时间是四个小时，当我面临一些健康的饮食
and an unhealthy choice, it was really hard for me to pick the healthy one.
和不健康的选择的时候，我真的很难选出健康的一种。
And now a couple of years later, I get plenty of sleep and it's so much easier to make the better decisions.
几年之后的现在，我有了充足的睡眠，就更容易做出更好的决定了。
So whether you need to refrain from eating something unhealthy,
所以无论是你需要避免食用不健康的食物，
or you need to actually do something productive like working on your project,
还是想做一些高效率的事情，比如在你的项目上花心思，
getting plenty of sleep will make it so much easier, and I can attest to this from my own experience.
获得充足的睡眠都会让这些简单起来，我自身经历就足以证明。
So the first big idea for strong willpower is to get adequate amounts of sleep.
所以对于强大的意志力来说第一要点就是获得充足的睡眠。
When you don't get enough sleep you're prone to all kinds of stress, and cravings, and temptation.
当你睡眠不足时，就会有各种各样的压力，渴望和诱惑。
Research has shown that being sleep deprived is very similar to being mildly intoxicated
研究表明缺乏睡眠就类似于轻度迷醉，
which is probably not the best time to be making decisions.
此状态不是做出决定的最佳时机。
And too little sleep has been shown to cause problems that mimic those associated with ADHD.
睡眠太少会导致一些与ADHD（注意缺陷多动障碍）相关的问题。
So getting enough sleep is absolutely one of the most important things you can do for your willpower.
所以获取足够的睡眠绝对是你能为意志力所做的最重要的事情之一。
Now just like you go to the gym to build muscle and get stronger,
就像是你去健身房锻炼肌肉并变得强壮，
you can do the same thing for your brain. And the activity that trains your brain is meditation.
你也可以为大脑做同样的事。训练大脑的活动就是冥想。
It makes your brain grow denser, packing in more grey matter just like a muscle bulking up from exercise.
它会让大脑变得更稠密，生出更多的灰色神经组织，就像是经过锻炼变得强壮的肌肉一样。
And research has shown that those who meditate really do have more grey matter in their prefrontal cortex.
研究表明在那些冥想的人的前额皮质里真的有更多的灰色神经组织。
And the prefrontal cortex is the area associated with decision making and willpower.
并且前额皮质与做决定和意志力有关。
It's the part of the brain that gets you to say no to something unhealthy,
它是大脑中让你否定不健康东西的部分，
and it's the part of the brain that gets you to get up and start working on your project.
是大脑中让你起床并开始工作的部分。
And the impact of meditation is fascinating.
冥想真的很吸引人。
Even after only a few weeks of being consistent with it,
尽管只是短短几周的持续冥想，
we can already observe the brain structure physically changing.
我们就可以发现大脑结构产生的物理变化。
You don't need to meditate for hours either.
你也不用冥想好几个小时。
Even a very short period of meditation is effective.
就算是非常短时间的冥想也是有效的。
You can start with five minutes of meditation focusing on your breath
刚开始你可以先做五分钟专注于呼吸的冥想，
and move up to ten, fifteen, or however long you like,
然后增加到十分钟，十五分钟，或者是你喜欢的时间长度，
but it's much better to be consistent and do only five minutes than be inconsistent.
但是持续的只做五分钟比不持续的要好的多。
So I would personally highly recommend starting with five minutes if you're just starting out.
所以我个人强烈建议，如果你刚刚开始就冥想五分钟。
I also get a ton of emails and messages, and what I used to do before was wake up
我也会收到很多的邮件和信息，我之前都是早上醒来之后
and check all that stuff first thing in the morning.
先处理那些事情。
And I would spend hours doing that, and then when it was time for me to actually do creative work,
我会花好几个小时处理那些事情，然后当我应该做创造性工作的时候，
I was just completely exhausted.
我完全没有精力了。
And this is because willpower's like a muscle. It gets tired.
这就是因为意志力就和肌肉一样，也会疲劳。
It's kind of like going to the gym to deadlift, and instead deadlifting first,
有点类似于去健身房练举重，却没有先练它，
you decide it's a good idea to run on the treadmill for two hours first and then deadlift.
你觉得先在跑步机上跑两个小时再去练举重是个好主意。
So by the time you're done running, you probably won't have the energy to deadlift,
所以当你结束跑步的时候，你可能没有力气再去练举重了，
and if you somehow do, it's not going to be the most effective workout.
如果你那么做，也不是最有效的锻炼。
And that's exactly how the brain works too.
大脑也是那样工作的。
You start out with your willpower for the day and then it just keeps getting depleted and depleted.
一天开始就伴随着意志力的不断消耗。
So one of the most important things I've done is to wake up and start with my creative work.
所以我要做的一件重要的事就是醒来后先做创造性工作。
I never check any of the messages first thing in the morning anymore
早上我再也不查收任何消息。
because I know my willpower's going to get depleted.
因为我知道意志力会逐渐消耗。
And I know so many people who wake up and go straight to Facebook or do something else that isn't important.
我还知道很多人醒来后直接登Facebook或者做一些不重要的事情。
Don't do that. You'll deplete your willpower,
不要那么做。你会消耗掉你的意志力，
and then you won't be able to do what's actually important.
然后就无法去做真正重要的事情。
Instead, wake up and do that important thing first before your willpower gets depleted.
反之，醒来后，在意志力消耗之前，先做重要的事情。
So those are the three of my favorite ideas from the book that I've found to be really effective in my life.
以下是我从书中得到的三个我最欣赏的观点。这本书在我人生中真的很有意义。
And to recap them briefly…
简单重述一下…
1. Make sure you're not sleep deprived.
一定不要失眠。
Not getting enough sleep is one of the biggest enemies to your willpower.
得不到足够的睡眠是你意志力的最大敌人。
2.Just like you workout to build up muscle, you can meditate to build up your prefrontal cortex.
就像锻炼肌肉一样，你可以通过冥想来增强你的前额皮质。
3. Willpower's like a muscle. It gets tired.
意志力像肌肉一样，也会疲劳。
Don't wake up and get on Facebook first thing in the morning or do anything else that isn't important,
醒来后不要先登Facebook或者做一些其他的不重要的事情，
instead do the most important thing first before your willpower gets depleted.
在你意志力消耗之前先做一些重要的事情。
