Day 307: On Breaking Your Rules

第307天：关于打破规则

Laws and principles are not for the times when there is no temptation: they are for such moments as this, when body and soul rise in mutiny against their rigour. (...) If at my convenience I might break them, what would be their worth?

法律和原则不是为了没有诱惑的时候而存在的：它们是用来对付这种时刻的——当身体和灵魂反抗它们的严酷时候。

(......)如果我可以随心所欲地破坏它们，它们又有什么价值呢？

—Charlotte Brontë

We’ve already talked about adopting principles you’ll live by in order to make your decision-making process more efficient and make choices that are more aligned with your true desires.

我们已经讨论过要采纳一些原则，以便更有效地做出决定，并做出更符合自己真正愿望的选择。

It’s important to note that those principles aren’t for the times when everything goes smoothly. In fact, you don’t necessarily need them when things are going well. It’s primarily when there’s a temptation to give up that you can experience the power of rules. You create them to prevent yourself from making the wrong choices, no matter what the circumstances are and which temptations you feel.

需要注意的是，这些原则并不是针对一切顺利的时候而存在的。

事实上，在一切顺利的时候，你并不一定需要它们。

主要是当你面临放弃的诱惑时，你才能体会到规则的力量。

无论在什么情况下，无论你感受到了什么诱惑，你都要制定规则来防止自己做出错误的选择。

For example, I have a rule that growth happens outside my comfort zone. I don’t always feel like subjecting myself to discomfort and fear. However, there’s a reason why I adopted such a rule: without it, I know that I would back out more often, and thus miss out on those opportunities to grow.

例如，我有一个原则：成长要在舒适区之外进行。

我并不总是喜欢让自己承受不适和恐惧。

然而，我采用这样的原则是有原因的：如果没有它，我知道我会经常退缩，从而错失成长的机会。

Whenever you feel a temptation to break your rule, remind yourself that it’s there for a reason. Breaking it means that the principle — and the reason why you chose it — isn’t important to you. What does breaking your own rules say about your reliability? Can you trust yourself if you fail to keep a promise that you made to yourself?

无论何时你有打破规则的冲动时，提醒自己这样做是有原因的。

打破规则意味着原则（以及你选择它的原因）对你来说并不重要。

打破自己的规则说明了什么？

如果你无法信守对自己做出的承诺，你还能信任自己吗？