The alarm bell goes off. You slowly open your eyes. A new day lies before you. A day of unexplored potential and opportunities. How can you make it more likely to become a positive and good day?

闹铃响起,你慢慢睁开眼睛。眼前又是新的一天。充满未知可能与机遇的一天。该怎样让这一天过得积极而美好呢?

可以让你每天精神抖擞的好习惯

1. Have a reminder on your bedside table.

床头柜放上提醒物品

How will you start your very first moments and minutes of the day? One good way to get off to a good start is to have a note, a reminder on your bedside table that will be one of the first things you see after you have woken up.

你将怎样开始每天的最初时刻呢?有个好开端的妙方就是在床头柜上放纸条或提示物品,这样你一醒来就能看见它们了。

A couple of suggestions for what to write down on your note:

关于纸条内容,可以参考以下建议:

Your top 4 priorities in life. To keep your attention in the right place it is essential to remind yourself every day of what is truly most important. So what is most important for you this year? An important project at work? Your family? Improving your social life? Your blog, photography, soccer or debt? Think about it and reduce what is important in your life to the top 4 most important priorities.

你生命中最重要的4件事情。要保证用对精力,就得每天提醒自己什么才是真正最重要的。对你而言,今年最重要的是什么呢?工作上的一个大项目?家庭?社会交际的改善?还是你的博客、摄影、足球或债务呢?用心想想,然后只保留生命中最重要的4件吧。

2. Give one genuine compliment.

发自内心地赞美

Giving one genuine compliment to your partner, a family member, friend or co-worker during your morning can not only lift his or her day but also make yours a little brighter and happier.

早上发自内心地赞美伴侣、家人、朋友或同事不仅能让他/他一整天神采飞扬,也会使你自己更阳光更快乐。

So tap into what you can appreciate about a person in your life. Then tell him or her that.

所以,请发掘生活中身边人值得赞赏的地方,然后告诉他们吧。

If you can, make it something that may be a bit unexpected and something that person hasn’t heard a hundred times before. For example, a compliment about her great taste in music or his wonderful way with animals may be more appreciated and powerful than a compliment about looks and other more superficial stuff.

如果可以,或许你能让赞美带点惊喜,不至于那个人觉得已经听了上百遍了。比如,与其赞美他人外貌或其他表面特征,还不如赞美她出色的音乐品味或他特别的动物情缘呢。

3. Positive information intake over breakfast.

早餐时只接纳正面信息

Instead of watching the news or reading the papers and getting a negative and perhaps depressing start to your day do something that will inspire you.

与其看新闻或读报纸,然后阴郁沮丧地开始新的一天,还不如做点激励人心的事情。

Read one or a couple of new posts from positive, funny and uplifting blogs or websites. Or simply have a fun and warm conversation with the people around your kitchen table.

阅读有趣的、积极向上的博客或网页中的新消息。或者干脆和共进早餐的人开心和气地聊聊天。

4. Start your workday with your most important task of the day.

从最重要的工作任务着手

If you do then the rest of the day will feel lighter and easier. You will feel better about yourself and more confident as you move on to other tasks.

如果这样做,剩下的时间你会觉得轻松自在得多。你处理其他任务时也会感觉更好更自信。

If you have trouble getting started with the most important task then just make a deal with yourself to work on it for 3 minutes. Then you can stop if you like. But you may not want to once you have gotten started. That seems to be the case for me most of the time.

如果最重要的任务处理起来比较棘手,那至少保证花3分钟时间面对它。然后你可以先放一放。不过,或许一旦开始你就停不下来了呢。反正很多时候我就是这样的。

Getting started is most often the hardest part. So make that part easier for yourself.

行动起来往往是最难做到的。何不让行动来得更容易些呢?

5. Go slow.

放慢节奏

When I go a bit slower it becomes easier to fully focus, to keep the stress down and I most often do a better job with something the first time around. I work with more clarity and I do not get stuck in doing busy work very often.

每当放慢节奏,我都更容易做到全神贯注、放下压力,并能在第一时间将工作处理得更棒。我工作更有条理,忙起来时也不至于总是手足无措了。

It may feel like I’m not getting enough done but at the end of the day I usually get more quality work done than if I tried to maintain a high speed through the day. Partly because the lower stress levels keeps my mind fresh and energy up even through the last few afternoon hours of the workday.

听上去好像我做不了多少事情,但事实上下班前我反倒能比快节奏时做得更多更有质量。部分原因可能在于,哪怕是下午那几小时我都能压力减轻、思维活跃、精力充沛吧。

6. Work out.

锻炼身体

My favorite time to do some free-weight exercise is about an hour or two after breakfast. By doing this 2-3 times a week I boost my energy and hormone levels. This makes the rest of the day lighter and I feel more decisive. Inner doubts and tensions lessen and my mind becomes more optimistic.

我最享受的时刻便是在早餐一两个小时后做减肥运动。一周坚持2-3次后,我的精力和荷尔蒙大为改善。这么做使得我在剩下的时间轻松而敏锐。内心的犹疑和紧张减少了,思绪变得更加乐观明朗。

I highly recommend doing some kind of exercise in the morning. If you can’t go to a gym or work out from home early in the day then maybe you can walk or bicycle to work or school.

我强烈建议在早上做点运动。如果你去不了健身馆或无法早起做运动,可以走路或骑车去上班上学。

7. Do the right thing in some small or big way.

事无巨细做好你认为正确的事情

This one boosts your self-esteem. It puts a spring in your step and it at least makes me feel happier. So do what you deep down think is the right thing.

这能激发你的自尊心,让你步履欢快。至少我觉得自己更开心了。所以,做好内心认为正确的事情吧。

A few examples that may resonate with you:

以下几个例子或许能引起你的共鸣:

Perform a random act of kindness. Hold up the door or point out the way for someone who seems lost.

随时与人为善。替人开门或给看似迷路的人指路。

Help someone out practically or just by listening.

真正帮人解决问题或只是聆听也好。

Encourage someone.

鼓励他人。

Get started with putting a dent in the most important challenge in your life.

现在开始就攻克改变你生活中最艰巨的挑战吧。

Build upon just a small step, a small thing if you like. Start building an upward spiral of positivity and good feelings within. And then take further steps upward. Towards what you know you really want and you know are the right things for you in your life.

你可以先从点滴小事做起,在内心塑造盘旋向上的积极正面情绪,然后继续向着生活中你最想获知的、正确的方向前行吧。