Day 341: On When Not to Make Important Decisions

第341天：关于何时不宜作出重要决策

I’ve found that it’s a good rule to never make an important decision when your emotions are in control. I try to program myself in advance to remember this rule when I need it. When I’m in an emotional state (either positive or negative), I try to keep just enough intellect working to tell me one thing: don’t decide now. I wait until I’ve relaxed and can think more clearly.

我发现，当情绪主导时，千万不要做重要决定，这是一条很好的原则。

我试图提前给自己设定程序，以便在需要时记住这条原则。

当我处于情绪状态（无论是积极还是消极）时，我都会努力保持足够的理智来提醒自己一件事：现在不要做决定。

等到我放松下来，可以更清晰地思考时再做决定。

—Harry Browne

If you want to greatly increase the chances of making a bad decision, make it when you’re “under the influence” of strong emotions (either negative or positive). The same is true in reverse: to make a good decision, only do so when you’re in a neutral emotional state, relaxed enough to think clearly and weigh all the pros and cons.

如果你想大大增加做出糟糕决定的几率，那就当你“受”强烈情绪（无论是消极还是积极）“影响”时去做决定。

反之亦然：要做出好的决定，只有在你处于中性情绪状态、足够放松能够清晰思考并权衡所有利弊时才行。

For example, I have a rule to never agree to make any big purchases over the phone or in person without giving myself at least a day to think it over. That way, I can think objectively about whether I really need to make such a purchase, and if so, research whether I was given a good offer.

例如，我有一条原则，在没有给自己至少一天时间考虑之前，绝不通过电话或当面同意进行任何大额采购。

这样，我就可以客观地思考自己是否真的需要进行这样的采购，如果需要，研究一下我是否得到了一个好的报价。

Establish a similar rule in your life and always wait before making any big decisions. This also applies to setting big new goals. It’s better to set them when you’re in a neutral state of mind than when you’re pumped up, because if you do so while being influenced by a temporary strong rush of endorphins, you’ll probably overestimate your abilities and set goals that are beyond your reach.

在你的生活中建立类似的原则，在做出任何重大决定之前都要等待。

这也适用于设定新的重大目标。

当你处于中立的心态时设定目标比在兴奋时设定更好，因为如果你在受到暂时强烈的内啡肽冲击的影响下这样做，你可能会高估自己的能力并设定超出自己能力范围的目标。