17年之末，估计又是一大波人在互联网上敲锣打鼓齐呐喊，千呼万唤使出来「年终总结」和「新年计划」，然后静静躺着，新年的年底再来重蹈一次。

出了什么问题?

是的，因为这些所谓的「计划」大部分是我们把过去的一年的「遗憾」罗列了一番，带着悔恨和懊恼情绪之余，寄希于来年不再遗憾，一股脑儿装进了新年的「口袋」中。所以，这听起来不像是「计划」，而更像是「梦想」。心愿没有计划，没有行动的堆积，梦想剩下的只是「梦」。

撒汤，讲大道理，今年，凯撒不再干。本次更文，是新年事宜的第一步。

新年之前，掀起了一波18岁晒图风，大部分人都去过去的社交平台扒出所谓黑历史，在新的平台发一波。凯撒也跟了一波，但有意外收获。翻到过去用英文写的小文，不胜感慨。于是，18年有件事儿必须捡起来，英文。

那就从今儿开始吧。前方文体要变，不适可绕开(笑脸)

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计划2018？2019才是王道

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People like planning especially the new year comes. They listed all the To-Dos on the listing including the new stuff and something they failed to achieve previously and the pray for their souls, hoping that all of them will come true. Then, they go to bed and sleep tight with satisfaction till the end of the new year to do it over and over again.

What if, yeah I mean it seriously, you were living this year based on what you intend to do in 1, 3, and 5 years from now? It’s all in the set up.

Goals are means, not ends.

Everything you do is positioning. Are you positioning yourself to do AMAZING things in 1, 3, or 5 years from now?

Obviously, the world is changing fast. We can’t plan for everything. Hence, Tony Robbins has said,

Stay committed to your decisions, but stay flexible in your approach

And that’s the difference. Most people don’tmake committed decisions, which is why only 8% of people go on to accomplish their New Years Resolutions.

Interesting as you noticed, after setting goals in several areas of your life  such as health, spirituality, finances, relationships, service, etc., and for 1, 3, 5, and 25 years out, your consciousness asked you,

“Are you interested in achieving these goals, or are you committed?”
“What’s the difference?”

Your consciousness responded:

“If you’re interested, you come up with stories, excuses, reasons, and circumstances  about why you can’t or why you won’t. If you’re committed, those go out the window. You just do whatever it takes.”

Clearly, our life probably isn’t exactly how we planned it to be when we set those goals at the age of our 19 or even younger.

I check the books to have a good explanation to know what has been wrong. If psychological science has found anything in the history, it’s that people with high selfefficacy and an internal locus of control radically outperform others.

Selfefficacy = your belief in your own ability to achieve your goals. Think “confidence.”

Internal locus of control = a belief that you, not externals, determine the outcomes of your life.

External locus of control = a belief that factors outside of you determine the outcomes of your life.

The majority of the population have low selfefficacy and an external locus of control.

Problems?

Sure. If you want me to list it, it would be:

Don’t set challenging goals

Don’t take on leadership roles

Experience learned helplessness

Have a higher chance of depression and anxiety

Lack motivation

Have a pessimistic view of the future

Have low job satisfaction and low job performance

Have low life satisfaction

Have low engagement in both work and life

Have greater health problems

Experience more stress

...

Trust me, if I need to list, I won't stop for there is no end of this never ends.

Is the world changing fast?

Yes.

Are factors outside of your control unpredictable?

Yes.

Do you have little control over the outcomes of your own life?

No!

I recalled that once Peter Thiel had said:

Indefinite attitudes to the future explain what’s most dysfunctional in our world today. Process trumps substance: when people lack concrete plans to carry out, they use formal rules to assemble a portfolio of various options. This describes Americans today. In middle school, we’re encouraged to start hoarding “extracurricular activities.” In high school, ambitious students compete even harder to appear omnicompetent. By the time a student gets to college, he’s spent a decade curating a bewilderingly diverse résumé to prepare for a completely unknowable future. Come what may, he’s ready—for nothing in particular.”

When you build a house, you have a plan. You follow the plan and you follow principles,such as mathematical laws. Thus, you’re not surprised by the outcome. In other words, you don’t expect crooked walls that don’t line up. You don’t expect to have the bathroom where you intended the kitchen.

What Should We Do?

There are 3 components to having the power to make choices:

The right to choice

The responsibility to choose

The results of choice

If you don’t believe you have the ability to make choices, you have been deceived. You make choices every single day.

When you take responsibility for your choices, you realize there is no neutral ground. Every decision you make has inherent meaning and consequence. Every decision you make also reflects what you truly believe, far louder than any words you speak. Thus, what you do with your time actually does matter. Who you spend your time with does matter. Everything you do matters when you take responsibility.

Have I done any good in the world today?

Have I helped anyone in need?

Have I cheered up the sad and made someone feel glad?

If not, I have failed indeed. There are chances for work all around just now.

Opportunities right in our way. Do not let them pass by, saying, “Sometime I’ll try,” But go and do something today.” Every choice has a ripple effect.

You must believe YOU ARE IN CONTROL of what happens to you (i.e., internal locus of control)

You must believe in YOUR OWN ABILITY to make things happen (i.e., self-efficacy/confidence)

You must believe you, and only you, are RESPONSIBLE for the choices you make

You must have HOPE that what you seek will come about.

According to psychology’s Hope Theory, hope reflects your perceptions regarding your capacity to:

1.clearly conceptualize goals

2.develop the specific strategies to reach those goals (i.e., pathways thinking)

3.initiate and sustain the motivation for using those strategies (i.e., agency thinking)

You are MOTIVATED, even when life is difficult. According to one of the core theories of motivation, motivation involves three components:

the value you place on your goal
your belief that specific behaviors will actually facilitate the outcomes you desire
your belief in your own ability to successfully execute the behaviors requisite to achieving your goals

If you don’t truly value the goal, you won’t be motivated. If you don’t believe you have effective means of achieving your goal, you won’t be motivated. If you don’t expect yourself to do what it takes, you won’t be motivated.

So, if we make the right choice with more responsibility, the rights would be more close to what we once had expected. That is not the thing that our 2018 Plan could do about it, we need to look ahead, plan long and commit small.

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后记

好久没写了，有些生疏，逻辑性上肯定不如以前那么严谨，一步一步来。本文非完全原创，在Medium上的一篇名为"Why You Should be Planning for 2019, Not 2018" 基础上，做了调整，借鉴，旨在把词句段的熟悉度先找回来，思辨是下一步。正如文中所说，对于重拾英文是长期大目标，长远投资，但落实到没一小步，从下笔开始。其他事情，亦然。

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