How to Keep Working When You’re Just Not Feeling It

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Continuous

Harness the Influence of Others

利用他人的影响

认识社会性动物，有的时候只是简单的坐在一个高效员工的旁边，就能让我们的效率更高。永远不要被动地做雄心勃勃、高效成功同事的旁观者，这样依靠别人的刺激极有风险会让你失去动力。反之，你要与这些同事讨论他们努力工作要达成的结果，以及他们建议这样做的原因。倾听榜样对目标的讨论，能帮助你找到更多灵感并提升眼界。另外

提出而非寻求建议可能是克服动力不足的更有效方法，因为这样能够增强信心，在向别人阐述的时候，你无形中指定了具体的实施计划，从而刺激行动

为目标苦战的人们，比如求职者，会认为他们需要专家建议才能成功。实际上，向其他求职者分享自己的智慧更加有效。因为他们无形中制定了具体的实施计划，这样做已被证明可以增加动力和成就。

Humans are social creatures. We constantly look around to see what others are doing, and their actions influence our own. Even sitting next to a high-performing employee can increase your output. But when it comes to motivation, this dynamic is more complex. When we witness a colleague speeding through a task that leaves us frustrated (沮丧的), we respond in one of two ways: Either we’re inspired and try to copy that behavior, or we lose motivation on the assumption that we could leave the task to our peer. This is not entirely irrational (不合理的): Humans have thrived as a species through individual specialization and by making the most of their comparative advantages.

The problem is that, especially at work, we can’t always delegate (委托给他人,代表). But we can still use social influence to our advantage. One rule is to never passively watch ambitious, efficient, successful coworkers; there’s too much risk that it will be demotivating (使失去动力，使变得消极). Instead, talk to these peers about what they’re trying to accomplish with their hard work and why they would recommend doing it. My research shows that when a friend endorses (认可，赞同) a product, people are more likely to buy it, but they aren’t likely to if they simply learn that the friend bought the product. Listening to what your role models say about their goals can help you find extra inspiration and raise your own sights.

Interestingly, giving advice rather than asking for it may be an even more effective way to overcome motivational deficits, because it boosts confidence and thereby spurs action. In a recent study I found that people struggling to achieve a goal like finding a job assumed that they needed tips from experts to succeed. In fact, they were better served by offering their wisdom to other job seekers, because when they did so, they laid out (安排，布置) concrete (具体的) plans they could follow themselves, which have been shown to increase drive (动力) and achievement.

有趣的是，提出而非寻求建议可能是克服动力不足的更有效方法，因为这样能够增强信心，从而刺激行动。最近一项研究中，我发现为目标苦战的人们，比如求职者，会认为他们需要专家建议才能成功。实际上，向其他求职者分享自己的智慧更加有效。因为他们无形中制定了具体的实施计划，这样做已被证明可以增加动力和成就。

See you tomorrow