Week 1
寫在最前面，通過一個星期的閱讀，主要是發現自身的問題，意識到現在存在的不足。第一步便是“發現”。很多時候，我們沒有意識到自己的問題，然后繼續以錯誤的方式，不合適的方法，不良好的心態去學習工作，去面對生活，到頭來發現效果差強人意，付出的努力卻沒有得到預想的回報。所以好好審視自己，發現不足，慢慢改進吧。
Part 1 字詞精選
1.After a few weeks, I fizzle.
Fizzle:(1) to gradually end, often in a disappointing or weak way 逐漸終止，有始無終
e.g. I always make a promise for losing weight, but I fizzle after persistence on a few days.
(2) when sth, especially sth that is burning, fizzles, it makes a sound like a long 's' (火等)發出嘶嘶聲
e.g. The fire fizzled in the furnace.
2. I feel pressured and hassled all day.
Hassle: to annoy sb or cause them trouble, especially by asking them to do sth many times (不斷)煩擾,麻煩
e.g. The supervisor requires us to revise our paper format again and again, I really feel hassled.
3. I’m eating my heart out.
Eat one’s heart out: (1)to grieve bitterly (2) to be jealous
我認為文章的中意思是第二種，前面提到看到親朋好友取得成就或得到認可時，我表面上是微笑的衷心祝賀他們，但其實內心嫉妒不已，很不是滋味。
e.g. I have this kind of feeling that every time when my roommates do something better than me such as gaining the first class scholarship, I smile and congratulate them enthusiastically, but inside, I’m eating my heart out. Fortunately, I am aware it and try to overcome this shortcoming.
4. My marriage has gone flat.
這里的has gone flat用得很形象，把“我”的婚姻形同虛設，毫無意義都表現出來了。這讓我想到我最近學到的一個短語，也是描述婚姻關系的，on the rocks,即a relationship or business that is on the rocks is having difficulties and is likely to fail soon。
e.g. His marriage is on the rocks.
5. He was doing poorly academically.
這個句子我認為是寫得漂亮地道的，當說一個人學習不好的時候，我可能只會想到He does not do well in study, or he gets a low grade.所以這個句子讓我學習到新的更好的用法。
6. Now I was becoming exasperated.
Exasperate: to annoy or irritate sb very much使煩惱；使惱怒；激怒
e.g. Being bombarded with boring questions by somebody, I was exasperated.
7. For my fourth attempt, I resorted to fear and threat.
Resort: V. (1)to make use of sth, especially sth bad, as a means of achieving sth, often because there is no other possible solution 訴諸；求助于；依靠
e.g. I felt obliged to resort to violence to get my money back.
N. (2) a place where a lot of people go on holiday / vacation 旅游勝地；度假勝地:
e.g. In summer, people always go to a seaside resort to take their vacations.
8. It says if you want to have a happy marriage, be the kind of person who generates positive energy and sidesteps negative energy rather than empowering it.
Sidesteps: to avoid answering a question or dealing with a problem回避,規避(問題等)
e.g. As we can see, a great number of stars always neatly sidestep the questions that people want to know.
9. And for a while we can get by with it----at least in public.
Get by (with sth): to manage to live or do a particular thing using the money, knowledge, equipment, etc. that you have
e.g. After learning French for three months, I can get by with it.
10.? I've seen unhappy marriages where each spouse wants the other to change, where each is confessing the other's "sins," where each is trying to shape up the other.
Shape up: to improve your behaviour or your work
e.g. My mother warned me to shape up, otherwise I could not go to play games.
11. Nevertheless, the current social paradigm enthrones independence.
Enthrone: if an idea is enthroned, it has an important place in people's life or thoughts. 尊崇;推崇
e.g. Many people enthrone a simple way of life.
12. If necessary, yell at them, intimidate them, insist on your way.
Intimidate: to frighten or threaten someone, usually in order to persuade them to do something that you want them to do 恫嚇，恐嚇
e.g. When your children are not obedient to your wishes, you should not intimidate them into achieving your goals.
13. It was the serendipitous fruit of a PC investment.
Serendipitous: A serendipitous event is one that is not planned but has a good result. 偶然發生的;有意外收獲的
e.g. It was a serendipitous discovery for me to encounter Eric’s public accounts, which I could benefit a lot.
14. The production is phenomenal, costs are down, and profits skyrocket.
Phenomenal: extremely successful or special, especially in a surprising way 非凡的，杰出的
e.g. The performance of Thousand-Hand Kwan-yin has been absolutely phenomenal.
15. If I were intellectually dependent, I would count on you to do my thinking for me, to think through the issue and problems of my life.
Count on: If you count on someone or count upon them, you rely on them to support you or help you. 指望;依靠;依賴
e.g.The only one you can count on is yourself.
16. His basic identity was intact.
Intact：Something that is intact is complete and has not been damaged or changed.完整無缺的;未受損傷的
e.g. In order to keep their reputation intact, the stars cannot do the illegal things such as drug abuse and tax evasion.
17. It isn't a function of whether the weather is conducive to it or not.
Conducive: providing the right conditions for something good to happen or exist 有利的，有助的，有益的
e.g.? Reading is conducive to broaden our horizons and understand the world better.
18. He constantly harps at me and finds fault with everything I do.
Harp：to keep talking about sth in a boring or annoying way喋喋不休地談論；嘮叨
e.g.? Do not always harp on what you want to do, just take action.
19. These visions are disjointed and out of proportion.
Out of proportion:? if a reaction or result is out of all proportion, it is too strong or serious for the thing or situation that has caused it.
e.g. Her head is out of proportion to the size of her body.
這樣我想到了Blow things out of proportion夸大事實（這個短語在美國描述媒體時常用）
e.g. The media may be blowing it up out of proportion.
Part 2 中文感悟
From day 1 to day 4
1. I've started a new diet -- for the fifth time this year. I know I'm overweight, and I really want to change. I read all the new information, I set goals, I get myself all psyched up with a positive mental attitude and tell myself I can do it. But I don't. After a few weeks, I fizzle. I just can't seem to keep a promise I make to myself.
看到這一段時，我自己也有切身的體會，我一直想改變現狀，想多看幾本書，練好口語，多去跑步鍛煉身體等等，并且一直都有設定目標與計劃。但我總會被這樣或那樣的事情所牽絆，堅持幾天，就開始完成不了任務。我似乎對自己的承諾沒有當做一定要履行的事情，沒有完成就會懊惱一兩天，然后不了了之。
2. 今天看完part one，最大的感觸就是，單詞大部分都懂，可是就是不能很好的理解文章的內容，不能內化成自己的見解，我能明白文章大部分內容，但不深刻，也不透徹。我想應該多讀幾遍，好好體會，自己平時習慣閱讀太快了，所以思維還跟不上翻書的速度，anyway, I will keep it up.
3.And what we see is highly interrelated to what we are. We can't go very far to change our seeing without simultaneously changing our being, and vice versa.
看到這句的時候，還是挺有感觸的，我們所看到，所理解的總與我們是什么樣的人息息相關，比如說一個和悲觀的人，他會總是對各種各樣的事情不滿意，抱以消極的看法。只有改變他自身的態度，自身悲觀的性格特征，他才能看到不一樣的世界。
4.It says if you want to have a happy marriage, be the kind of person who generates positive energy and sidesteps negative energy rather than empowering it. If you want to have a more pleasant, cooperative teenager, be a more understanding, empathic, consistent, loving parent. If you want to have more freedom, more latitude in your job, be a more responsible, a more helpful, a more contributing employee. If you want to be trusted, be trustworthy. If you want the secondary greatness of recognized talent, focus first on primary greatness of character.
這一段真的讓自己挺有感觸的，如果想要擁有好的婚姻，快樂合作的孩子，更多的自由，被信任等等，那么就從自己開始做起，而不是去期待別人為你做這些，為你而改變。被動等待不如主動改變，從自己開始，改變心態，改變不好的地方，只有這樣自己才會獲得想要的，擁有更好的。
5.For our purposes, we will define a habit as the intersection of knowledge, skill, and desire.? Knowledge is the theoretical paradigm, the what to do and the why. Skill is the how to do. And desire is the motivation, the want to do. In order to make something a habit in our lives, we have to have all three.
我現在終于明白我想養成一些良好的習慣，但總是被這樣過那樣的借口所擱淺的原因。如堅持跑步，做仰臥起坐，看多一點書，不要把太多的時間消磨在玩手機和看綜藝節目上，因為我想擁有健康的完美的體魄，想開闊自己的知識面，在書里去游覽沒有到過的地方，去體驗不同的風俗文化，去發現真實的自己(這就是knowledge)。而且我知道該怎么做，去足球場跑跑，拿起瑜伽墊就可以做，翻起一本書，放下手機，安定下來就可以在書里遨游(這便是skill), 但我缺乏的便是desire, 堅持下去的動力，我只是表面想改變，想養成習慣，當完成不了時總對自己說我沒有時間，所以做不了。但實際上是我的內心并沒有這樣的動力，這樣的強烈念想去改變，所以我總是三天打魚兩天曬網。就如平時所說的道理全都懂，但是就不是想去改變，因為沒有一個desire去驅使自己改變。所以我要做便是找到自己的desire，才能夠堅持下去，才不被任何的理由所打敗。
6.Life is, by nature, highly interdependent. To try to achieve maximum effectiveness through independence is like trying to play tennis with a golf club -- the tool is not suited to the reality.
我一直認為做一個獨立自主的人就足夠了，這樣的想法有點類似于各自掃門前雪，不管他人瓦上霜，可是當看到interdependence時，我就知道遠遠不夠了，人與人之間是相互依存的，我們總要與他人交流，合作等等，我們不可能完全獨立于人之外，活在自己狹窄的世界里，那樣最終也是被這個世界所遺棄的。
7.
我發現自己就是reactive person, 很容易受周圍的環境與別人的觀點影響。比如說，我不太喜歡下雨天，特別是那種綿綿細雨，一下就是半個月，那種潮濕，那種給生話帶來的不便之感，讓我不適，影響自己的心情，真的很郁悶。還有我曾經很在乎別人對我的看法，對自己的評價，我可能是打心里想給別人好的印象，對我有好感，所以很輕易因為別人一句話，一個眼神就敏感起來了，而且那樣子真的會很累，要不斷的去迎合甚至是討好，才能做到讓別人滿意。后來有一天也許開竅了，發現無論你怎么做，做的再好，總會有人不喜歡你，那又何苦去熱臉貼冷屁股，吃力不討好呢。所以我有在慢慢改進，但我還達不到proactive person, 因為我還不能主宰自己的“天氣” 。一步步來咯，慢慢變得強大，終有一天也會是proactive person.
Part 3 Accumulating good sentences
1.There is no real excellence in all this world which can be separated from right living.
要好好思考自己想要什么樣的人生，是否是有意義的，正確的，能否給自己帶來無限的興趣與激情的，唯有這樣，才能活出卓越吧。
2.A thousand mile journey begins with the first step.
千里之行，始于足下
每天腳踏實地的做好每一件事情，進步一點點，不好高騖遠，空想不干，keep it up
3.That which we obtain too easily, we esteem too lightly.
太輕易得到總是不珍惜。
4.No one can hurt you without your consent.
這句話讓我思考頗多，“沒有你的允許任何人都不能傷害你"。平時總覺得受到了傷害，那是因為沒有意識到自己打心里給了別人傷害自己的權利。
Part 4 Summary
From Inside-Out to Be Proactive
At the very first of the beginning, the author has a list of deep and painful problems that most of us have encountered, which creates our empathy. But how to solve these problems?
The author firstly proposes the power of a paradigm and paradigm shift. Paradigm is the way we “see” the world----not in the terms of our visual sense of sight, but in terms of perceiving, understanding, and interpreting. Everyone has his own paradigm----our ways of viewing and comprehending the society and the world, which distinguishes us from others. But sometimes our paradigms are not always on the right way such as having prejudice against others and falling from grace. Therefore it is necessary for us to shift our paradigms-----to break our ways of thinking and form a new level one and mould a new and right value.
Secondly, the author makes the definition of habits clear before we form a habit so that we are able to know what exactly habits mean and form them effectively. Habits include three aspects: knowledge (the what to do and the why), skill (the how to do) and desire (the motivation). Lack of one of them will not foster a habit. The most important thing is to find out our desires so as to have ample power to insist in. In addition, the author advocates that it is crucial for us achieve the transformations from dependence to independence to interdependence. Consequently, we can have the strong muscle to form helpful habits.
At last, the author proposes the habit 1----be proactive which means that as human beings, we are responsible for our own lives; our behavior is a function of our decisions, not conditions; we can subordinate feelings to values; we have the initiative and the responsibility to make things happen. However it is not easy to be proactive because most of us are reactive persons affected by social environment and feelings. Take myself for example: I don’t like raining days, which easily makes me feel melancholy. This typically shows that reactive people is susceptible to environment. However, in order to become better and better, it is high time for us to be proactive. For one thing, we need to take the initiative, recognizing our responsibility to make things happen and being driven by our value not feelings. For another, focusing on and expanding the circle of influence are essential. We can turn shortcomings into merits rather than complaining and waiting all the time when we focus on the circle of influence. Besides, we are not ““the have’s” but “the be’s” so that we have aspiration to make and keep commitments.
? ? In short, we need to take actions from inside-out and be proactive to change the terrible situation and become the person we want.
