新年是立下决心的时候。
The New Year is a time for resolutions.
至少在心理上，我们大多数人都能列出一份令人望而生畏的"该做之事"和"不该做之事"的清单。
Mentally, at least, most of us could compile formidable lists of 'dos' and 'don'ts'.
那些老掉牙的惯常决心年复一年地以令人厌倦的规律性重复出现。
The same old favourites recur year in year out with monotonous regularity.
我们下决心每天早起、少吃、多花时间陪孩子们玩、把家里里里外外的事情做完、对不喜欢的人友善、小心驾车，以及每天带狗出去散步。
We resolve to get up earlier each morning, eat less, find more time to play with the children, do a thousand and one jobs about the house, be nice to people we don't like, drive carefully, and take the dog for a walk every day.
过去的经历告诉我们，某些成就是无法实现的。
Past experience has taught us that certain accomplishments are beyond attainment.
如果我们依然是积习难改的烟鬼，那只是因为我们太频繁地体验过戒烟失败所带来的挫败感。
If we remain inveterate smokers, it is only because we have so often experienced the frustration that results from failure.
我们大多数人在自我改进的努力中归于失败，因为我们的计划过于雄心勃勃，而我们又从来没有时间去付诸实践。
Most of us fail in our efforts at self-improvement because our schemes are too ambitious and we never have time to carry them out.
我们还犯了一个根本性的错误，那就是向所有人宣告自己的决心，以至于当我们故态复萌、重蹈旧习时，显得更加可笑。
We also make the fundamental error of announcing our resolutions to everybody so that we look even more foolish when we slip back into our bad old ways.
意识到这些陷阱，今年我试图将自己的决心独自保留，不告诉任何人。
Aware of these pitfalls, this year I attempted to keep my resolutions to myself.
我将自己限定在两个适度的目标上：每天早晨做体操，以及每天傍晚多读些书。
I limited myself to two modest ambitions: to do physical exercises every morning and to read more of an evening.
除夕夜通宵派对给了我一个很好的借口，让我在新年第一天没有履行这两个新决心中的任何一个；但到了第二天，我勤勤恳恳地投入到了这项任务中。
An all-night party on New Year's Eve provided me with a good excuse for not carrying out either of these new resolutions on the first day of the year, but on the second, I applied myself assiduously to the task.
每日体操只需十一分钟，我打算在早上趁家人都还没起床时完成它。
The daily exercises lasted only eleven minutes and I proposed to do them early in the morning before anyone had got up.
要强迫自己比平时早起11分钟，所需要的自我约束力是相当强的。
The self-discipline required to drag myself out of bed 11 minutes earlier than usual was considerable.
尽管如此，我还是设法蹑手蹑脚地下楼到客厅里锻炼了两天，才被人发现了秘密。
Nevertheless, I managed to creep down into the living room for two days before anyone found me out.
在地毯上蹦来蹦去、把人体扭成各种难受的姿势之后，我精疲力竭地坐到了早餐桌旁。
After jumping about on the carpet and twisting the human frame into uncomfortable positions, I sat down at the breakfast table in an exhausted condition.
正是这件事暴露了我。
It was this that betrayed me.
第二天早上，全家人鱼贯而入，来看这场"演出"。
The next morning the whole family trooped in to watch the performance.
这确实令人心烦，但我以好脾气挡开了家人的嘲讽和讥笑，很快大家都习以为常了。
That was really unsettling but I fended off the taunts and jibes of the family good-humouredly and soon everybody got used to the idea.
然而，我的热情渐渐减退了。
However, my enthusiasm waned.
我用在体操上的时间逐渐减少了。
The time I spent at exercises gradually diminished.
一点一点地，那十一分钟减少到了零。
Little by little the eleven minutes fell to zero.
到1月10日，我已经回到了原点。
By January 10th, I was back to where I had started from.
我自我辩解道：如果我早上少花时间在体操上把自己累垮，那么下班回家后，我的头脑就能保持清醒，可以用来阅读。
I argued that if I spent less time exhausting myself at exercises in the morning, I would keep my mind fresh for reading when I got home from work.
为了抵抗电视的催眠效果，我有几个傍晚坐在房间里，眼睛紧盯着一本书。
Resisting the hypnotizing effect of television, I sat in my room for a few evenings with my eyes glued to a book.
然而某天晚上，感到寒冷和孤独，我下楼坐在了电视机前，假装在读书。
One night, however, feeling cold and lonely, I went downstairs and sat in front of the television pretending to read.
这被证明是我走向失败的原因，因为我很快就重拾了在屏幕前打瞌睡的老习惯。
That proved to be my undoing, for I soon got back to my old bad habit of dozing off in front of the screen.
我仍然没有放弃多读书的决心。
I still haven't given up my resolution to do more reading.
事实上，我刚刚买了一本题为《如何一分钟读一千词》的书。
In fact, I have just bought a book entitled How to Read a Thousand Words a Minute.
也许它能解决我的问题，但我就是还没时间读它！
Perhaps it will solve my problem, but I just haven't had time to read it!