Why you feel stuck — and how to get motivated - Shannon Odell · TED-Ed
探讨为何人们在追求目标时会感到停滞，并提供心理策略帮助重新找回动力。适合练习目标设定与自我激励。
You're in the middle of a project when suddenly moving forward seems impossible.
当你正在做一个项目时，突然间发现继续推进这个项目似乎变得不可能了。
Maybe you don't know what the next step is.
也许你不知道下一步该做什么。
Or perhaps you’ve faced setbacks, and you’re starting to think, “what’s even the point?”
或者，你可能遭遇了一些挫折，开始怀疑：“这一切到底有什么意义呢？
Many of us have experienced feeling stuck.
我们中的许多人都有过感到自己陷入困境（或无法前进）的经历。
It can happen when tackling something as simple as a term paper, or as monumental as social inequality or the climate crisis.
无论是在完成一篇简单的学期论文，还是在探讨诸如社会不平等或气候危机这类重大问题时，都可能遇到这种情况。
So, are there ways to get unstuck?
那么，有没有办法摆脱这种困境呢？
People often report feeling highly motivated at the start and end of a project, but the middle can feel untethered.
人们常常表示，在项目的开始和结束时，他们会感到充满动力；然而在项目进行到中途时，这种动力感往往会减弱甚至消失。
Psychologists call this the “stuck in the middle” effect,
心理学家将这种现象称为“陷入僵局”效应（即个体在两个对立的选择之间无法做出决定，从而陷入持续的矛盾或困惑中）。
and it’s thought to be caused by a shift in perspective that happens as you move closer to your goals.
人们认为这种现象是由于在接近目标的过程中，人们的视角发生了变化所导致的。
When you start working towards something, any progress can feel like a win, as we tend to compare ourselves against where we started.
当你开始为某个目标努力时，任何一点进步都会让你感到像是取得了胜利——因为我们总是将自己当前的状态与开始时的状态进行比较。
For example, when someone starts training for a marathon, accomplishing even a short jog can feel motivating.
例如，当有人开始为马拉松训练时，即使只是完成一次短距离的慢跑，也会让人感到充满动力（即这种活动能够激发人们的训练积极性）。
But the longer you work on something, the more likely it is that your focus shifts to your end goal.
不过，你花在某件事上的时间越长，你的注意力就越有可能转移到最终目标上。
In other words, rather than seeing how far you've come, it’s easy to become frustrated by how far you still need to go.
换句话说，人们往往不会去关注自己已经取得了多大的进步，反而容易因为自己还有多少路要走而感到沮丧。
A simple way to avoid these motivational sinkholes is to break your pursuits into smaller, more achievable sub-goals.
避免这些“动机陷阱”的一个简单方法是将你的目标分解为更小、更易于实现的子目标。
This creates less daunting, incremental benchmarks to compare your progress to.
这样一来，用于比较你进展情况的基准指标就不再那么令人望而生畏（即不再那么复杂或难以理解），而是变得更加易于理解和使用。
It also creates more opportunities to celebrate wins along the way.
这同时也为在过程中庆祝胜利创造了更多机会。
This is especially important when working towards bigger societal goals.
在为实现更宏大的社会目标而努力时，这一点尤为重要。
These issues are, by nature, large-scale and complex— no single action or person is likely to solve them.
这些问题本质上具有大规模性和复杂性，因此单靠任何一项行动或个人的力量都难以解决它们。
So if you only focus on the end goal, it’s easy to feel personally powerless.
因此，如果你只关注最终目标，就很容易感到自己无能为力。
And the enormity of these problems may be why so many people, including those who care deeply about the issues,
这些问题的严重性或许正是为什么有如此多的人（包括那些非常关心这些问题的人）……
think that progress is impossible, leading them to disengage.
他们认为进步是不可能的，因此选择放弃参与（或继续努力）。
In fact, one 2021 global survey of young people found that over half believe humanity is doomed.
事实上，2021年的一项针对年轻人的全球调查显示，超过一半的人认为人类注定会走向灭亡。
But despite these obstacles, some people do manage to stay motivated, engaged, and unstuck.
尽管存在这些障碍，仍有一些人能够保持积极性、持续投入精力，并避免陷入停滞状态。
So, how do they do it?
那么，他们究竟是怎么做到的呢？
Surprisingly, it’s not all about how concerned you are or how much you care about the issue in front of you.
令人惊讶的是，关键并不在于你有多么担忧，也不在于你对眼前这个问题有多么关心。
For instance, research has found that among those who feel the most alarmed about climate change, only about a third take regular climate action.
例如，研究发现，在那些对气候变化感到最为担忧的人中，只有大约三分之一的人会定期采取应对气候变化的行动。
However, a unifying factor among those who do take action is the confidence that their personal involvement could make a difference.
然而，在那些确实采取行动的人中，有一个共同的因素：他们相信自己的参与能够带来改变。
And this belief isn't misguided.
这种信念并没有错。
The long history of social progress proves that change is possible.
社会进步的悠久历史证明，变革是完全可以实现的。
And individual actions— whether it’s volunteering, voting, protesting,
以及个人的行动——无论是志愿服务、投票、抗议，
or personally contributing to a communal goal— are key to building the collective momentum that has tackled seemingly impenetrable issues.
无论是通过集体行动来实现目标，还是个人为共同目标做出贡献，这些因素都是推动集体前进的关键。正是这种集体力量帮助我们解决了那些看似无法解决的问题。
It’s not to say that concern and passion have no place.
这并不是说关心和热情没有存在的价值。
Moral outrage, or anger, can help us focus on what’s at stake.
道德上的愤怒或义愤可以帮助我们集中注意力，看清真正重要的问题（即哪些事情处于危险之中）。
And when it’s correctly harnessed, outrage can be a powerful unifier.
当这种愤怒被正确地利用起来时，它就能成为一种强大的凝聚力量。
In the American Civil Rights Movement, shared anger over systemic racism, injustice, and violence against Black people
在美国民权运动中，人们对系统性种族主义、不公正行为以及针对黑人的暴力行为普遍感到愤怒。
galvanized diverse communities to work together in the fight for equality.
这种做法激励了来自不同背景的社区成员共同努力，为争取平等而奋斗。
And bringing together people of different backgrounds and mindsets is essential to building longevity and resilience in any movement.
将来自不同背景和具有不同思维方式的人聚集在一起，对于任何一场运动来说，都是实现其长期发展与韧性的关键所在。
In this way, thinking about how you can apply your own unique perspective, knowledge, and expertise to promoting change can be helpful.
通过这种方式，思考如何运用自己独特的视角、知识及专长来推动变革，会非常有帮助。
And finding community has plenty of other benefits.
找到属于自己的社群还能带来许多其他好处。
Just witnessing other people at work has been shown to motivate personal action, creating a positive feedback loop.
研究表明，仅仅观察他人在工作中的表现，就能激发个人采取行动的积极性，从而形成一个正向的反馈循环。