i was inspired by an observation by voltaire to make my resolution, "don't let the perfect be the enemy of the good." in other words, instead of pushing yourself to an impossible "perfect," and therefore getting nowhere, accept "good." many things worth doing are worth doing badly.

在做出一項決意時,我謹記伏爾泰的箴言:"至善者,善之敵".換言之,不要逼迫自己實現不可能的"完美",而是去接受"好".許多事情值得去做,但不需要事事完美.

i have a friend who never exercises unless she's training for a marathon; as a consequence, she almost never exercises. i never push myself when i exercise, and although i suspect she scoffs at my wimpy(= wimpish:懦弱的,無用的)work-outs, i've managed to get myself to exercise several times a week for years. if i'd tried to have a more ambitious work-out, i'm sure i wouldn't have exercised at all.

我有一個朋友從來不鍛煉,除非去練馬拉松.結果,她幾乎一直都沒有鍛煉.而我鍛煉的時候,從來不會勉強自己.雖然我懷疑她看不起我的低鍛煉強度,可是數年來我能堅持每周鍛煉幾次.如果我設定一個更高的鍛煉目標,我肯定根本不會去鍛煉.

along the same lines, i told a friend that one of my happiness-project resolutions was to "remember birthdays," and so i was sending out happy-birthday emails. he said, "oh, you shouldn't email! you should call or write a hand-written note, that's much nicer." true – but i won't. and it's better to get something done imperfectly than to do nothing perfectly.

同理,我曾告訴一位朋友,在我的"快樂計劃"中,有一條是"記住生日",因此我會發送生日祝福電子郵件.他說:"哦,你不該發電子郵件!應該打電話、寫留言,這讓人感覺更好." 是啊--但是我不會去做.不完美地做了某件事總比追求完美而一事無成的好.

the perfect can also become the enemy of the good in the quest for perfect information. there are two ways to approach decision-making: as a satisficer (yes, that is a word) or as a maximizer.

在獲得詳盡信息上,"完美"也會成為"好"的敵人.有兩種決策者:滿足者(這個詞是有的)和最大化者.

satisficers are those who make a decision or take action once their criteria are met. that doesn't mean they'll settle for mediocrity; their criteria can be very high, but as soon as they find the pasta sauce or the business card that has the qualities they want, they're satisfied.

"滿足者"是指那些一旦滿足了標準后即做出決定或采取行動的人.這不表示他們甘愿接受平庸:他們的標準可能很高,但是一旦找到了希望中的東西,比如意粉醬或名片,他們就滿足了.

maximizers want to make the optimal decision. even if they see a bicycle or a backpack that meets their requirements, they can't make a decision until after they've examined every option, to make the best possible choice. studies suggest that satisficers tend to be happier than maximizers; maximizers spend a lot more time and energy to reach a decision, and they're often anxious about whether they did, in fact, make the best choice. (for a fascinating discussion, read barry schwartz's the paradox of choice.)

"最大化者"希望做出最優化的決定.即便找到了滿足需求的東西,例如自行車或背包,為了做出最佳選擇,他們要檢查每一個候選后才能做出決定.研究表明滿足者往往比最大化者更快樂;最大化者為了做出一個決定要花更多的精力和時間,而且經常會為自己是不是真的做出最佳選擇而煩惱.(對此的精彩討論,請參閱《選擇的矛盾》一書,作者barry schwartz)

in almost every category, i'm a satisficer, and in fact, i often felt guilty about not doing more research before making decisions. but it's one of my secrets of adulthood: most decisions don't require extensive research. in picking a girls' summer camp, a friend got information from twenty-five camps and visited five in person. we got information from five camps and picked the one that a friend's daughter loved. i used to think that my lack of diligence was a sign of laziness, and my resolution "don't let the perfect be the enemy of the good" has made me feel a lot better.