段落A

Psychologists have long held that a person’s character cannot undergo a transformation in any meaningful way and that the key traits of personality are determined at a very young age. However, researchers have begun looking more closely at ways we can change. Positive psychologists have identified 24 qualities we admire, such as loyalty and kindness, and are studying them to find out why they come so naturally to some people. What they’re discovering is that many of these qualities amount to habitual behaviour that determines the way we respond to the world. The good news is that all this can be learned.

Some qualities are less challenging to develop than others, optimism being one of them. However, developing qualities requires mastering a range of skills which are diverse and sometimes surprising. For example, to bring more joy and passion into your life, you must be open to experiencing negative emotions. Cultivating such qualities will help you realise your full potential.

    段落A：

心理学家长期以来一直认为一个人的性格不能发生任何有意义的转变，并且个性的关键特质是在很小的年龄确定的。然而，研究人员开始更加密切地研究我们如何进行改变。正向心理学家已经确定了24种我们羡慕的品质，例如忠诚和善良，并正在研究它们，以找出为什么这些品质对某些人来说是如此自然的原因。他们发现，许多这些品质实际上都是习惯性行为，决定了我们对世界的反应方式。好消息是，所有这些都是可以学会的。

有些品质相对不那么具有挑战性，乐观就是其中之一。然而，培养这些品质需要掌握各种各样的技能，有时候还会有些出人意料。例如，为了给生活带来更多的快乐和激情，你必须敞开心扉去经历负面情绪。培养这样的品质将有助于你实现自己的全部潜力。

段落B

‘The evidence is good that most personality traits can be altered,’ says Christopher Peterson, professor of psychology at the University of Michigan, who cites himself as an example. Inherently introverted, he realised early on that as an academic, his reticence would prove disastrous in the lecture hall. So he learned to be more outgoing and to entertain his classes. ‘Now my extroverted behaviour is spontaneous,’ he says.

段落B：

密歇根大学的心理学教授克里斯托弗·彼得森表示：“有证据表明，大多数人格特质都是可以改变的。”他以自己为例，自己天生内向，但他很早就意识到作为一名学者，在讲堂上保持沉默会带来灾难性后果。因此，他学会了更加外向并且富有娱乐性地教授课程。“现在我展示外向行为已经变得自然而然了，”他说。

段落C

David Fajgenbaum had to make a similar transition. He was preparing for university; when he had an accident that put an end to his sports career. On campus, he quickly found that beyond ordinary counselling, the university had no services for students who were undergoing physical rehabilitation and suffering from depression like him. He therefore launched a support group to help others in similar situations. He took action despite his own pain – a typical response of an optimist.

段落C：

大卫·法朱根宾面临着类似的转变。他正在准备进入大学，但一次事故结束了他的运动生涯。在校园里，他很快发现除了普通的咨询外，大学没有为像他这样正在进行身体康复和遭受抑郁的学生提供服务。因此，他发起了一个支持小组，以帮助其他处于类似困境中的人。他在自己痛苦的同时采取了行动，这是一个乐观主义者的典型反应。

段落D

Suzanne Segerstrom, professor of psychology at the University of Kentucky, believes that the key to increasing optimism is through cultivating optimistic behaviour, rather than positive thinking. She recommends you train yourself to pay attention to good fortune by writing down three positive things that come about each day. This will help you convince yourself that favourable outcomes actually happen all the time, making it easier to begin taking action.

段落D：

肯塔基大学的心理学教授苏珊·塞格斯特罗姆认为，增加乐观主义的关键是培养乐观的行为，而不是积极思考。她建议你训练自己关注好运气，每天写下三件发生的积极的事情。这将帮助你相信有利的结果实际上时常发生，从而更容易开始采取行动。

段落E

You can recognise a person who is passionate about a pursuit by the way they are so strongly involved in it. Tanya Streeter’s passion is freediving – the sport of plunging deep into the water without tanks or other breathing equipment. Beginning in 1998, she set nine world records and can hold her breath for six minutes. The physical stamina required for this sport is intense but the psychological demands are even more overwhelming. Streeter learned to untangle her fears from her judgment of what her body and mind could do. ‘In my career as a competitive freediver, there was a limit to what I could do – but it wasn’t anywhere near what I thought it was,’ she says.

段落E：

通过对一个人对某项追求的热情的表现，你可以认识到他们对这个追求的深度参与。塔尼娅·斯特里特对自由潜水充满激情——这种在水中深入地潜水而不使用氧气罐或其他呼吸设备的运动。从1998年开始，她创下了九项世界纪录，并能屏气达六分钟。这项运动需要非常强大的体力，但心理上的要求更加压倒一切。斯特里特学会了将恐惧与对自己身体和思维能力的评判分开。“在我作为一名竞技自由潜水运动员的职业生涯中，有一些我能做到的极限，但它远未达到我想象中的程度，”她说。

段落F

Finding a pursuit that excites you can improve anyone’s life. The secret about consuming passions, though, according to psychologist Paul Silvia of the University of North Carolina, is that ‘they require discipline, hard work and ability, which is why they are so rewarding.’ Psychologist Todd Kashdan has this advice for those people taking up a new passion: ‘As a newcomer, you also have to tolerate and laugh at your own ignorance. You must be willing to accept the negative feelings that come your way,’ he says.

段落F：

找到激发你的追求可以改善任何人的生活。然而，据北卡罗来纳大学的心理学家保罗·西尔维亚表示，“他们需要纪律、努力和能力，这就是为什么它们如此有回报。”心理学家托德·卡什丹对那些开始新的热情追求的人提出了建议：“作为一个新手，你还必须容忍并嘲笑自己的无知。你必须愿意接受那些负面情绪，”他说。

段落G

In 2004, physician-scientist Mauro Zappaterra began his PhD research at Harvard Medical School. Unfortunately, he was miserable as his research wasn’t compatible with his curiosity about healing. He finally took a break and during eight months in Santa Fe, Zappaterra learned about alternative healing techniques not taught at Harvard. When he got back, he switched labs to study how cerebrospinal fluid nourishes the developing nervous system. He also vowed to look for the joy in everything, including failure, as this could help him learn about his research and himself.

One thing that can hold joy back is a person’s concentration on avoiding failure rather than their looking forward to doing something well. ‘Focusing on being safe might get in the way of your reaching your goals,’ explains Kashdan. For example, are you hoping to get through a business lunch without embarrassing yourself, or are you thinking about how fascinating the conversation might be?

段落G：

2004年，医学科学家毛罗·扎帕特拉开始在哈佛医学院攻读博士学位。不幸的是，他感到非常痛苦，因为他的研究与他对治愈的好奇心不一致。最终，他休息了八个月，在圣塔菲学习了哈佛没有教授的替代疗法。回来后，他转换了实验室，研究脑脊液如何滋养发育中的神经系统。他还发誓要在任何事物中寻找快乐，包括失败，因为这可以帮助他了解自己的研究和自己。

一个可以阻碍快乐的事情是一个人集中精力去避免失败，而不是期待做好某件事。“专注于安全可能妨碍你实现目标，”卡什丹解释道。例如，你是希望在商务午餐上不尴尬，还是在思考对话可能有多么有趣呢？

段落H

Usually, we think of courage in physical terms but ordinary life demands something else. For marketing executive Kenneth Pedeleose, it meant speaking out against something he thought was ethically wrong. The new manager was intimidating staff so Pedeleose carefully recorded each instance of bullying and eventually took the evidence to a senior director, knowing his own job security would be threatened. Eventually the manager was the one to go. According to Cynthia Pury, a psychologist at Clemson University, Pedeleose’s story proves the point that courage is not motivated by fearlessness, but by moral obligation. Pury also believes that people can acquire courage. Many of her students said that faced with a risky situation, they first tried to calm themselves down, then looked for a way to mitigate the danger, just as Pedeleose did by documenting his allegations.

Over the long term, picking up a new character trait may help you move toward being the person you want to be. And in the short term, the effort itself could be surprisingly rewarding, a kind of internal adventure.

段落H：

通常，我们会将勇气与身体上的表现联系起来，但日常生活需要另一种勇气。对于市场营销主管肯尼斯·佩德洛斯来说，勇气意味着对一些他认为不道德的事情说出来。新任经理在威胁员工，所以佩德洛斯仔细记录了每一次欺凌行为，并最终将证据提交给高级主管，知道自己的工作安全会受到威胁。最终，这位经理被解雇了。克莉茜亚·普里，克莱姆森大学的心理学家表示，佩德洛斯的故事证明了勇气并不是源于无畏，而是出于道义责任。普里还认为人们可以获得勇气。她的许多学生表示，在面临风险的情况下，他们首先试图平静自己，然后寻找减轻危险的方法，就像佩德洛斯通过记录他的指控来做的一样。

长期来看，培养新的性格特质可以帮助你成为你想成为的人。而在短期内，这个努力本身可能会带来意外的回报，成为一种内心的冒险。