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. A长期以来，心理学家们都认为一个人的性格在任何形势下都不可能经受转变，并且还认为人们的主要性格特质在很年轻时就被确定了。 However, researchers have begun looking more closely at ways we can change. 但是，研究者已经开始更仔细地观察一些我们可以改变的方式。 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. 积极的心理学家已经确认了 24 个受人钦佩的品质，比如忠诚和善良。并且，他们还在研究这些品质以期望发现为什么在某些人中这些品质是如此自然。 What they're discovering is that many of these qualities amount to habitual behaviour that determines the way we respond to the world. 他们发现这些品质中有很多实际上是惯常的行为决定了人们对世界做出的响应。 The good news is that all this can be learned. 好消息是所有这些品质都可以后天习得。 Some qualities are less challenging to develop than others, optimism being one of them. 某些品质的发展与其他品质相比具有更小的挑战，而乐观就是其中之一。 However, developing qualities requires mastering a range of skills which are diverse and sometimes surprising. 但是发展品质要求掌握一系列不同的，甚至有时是令人倍感惊讶的技能。 For example, to bring more joy and passion into your life, you must be open to experiencing negative emotions. 比如，要想在你的人生中注入更多的快乐和激情，你必须愿意经历一些消极的情感。 Cultivating such qualities will help you realise your full potential. 培养这些品质将会帮助你认识到自己全面的潜能。

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. B 美国密歇根大学的心理学教授 Christopher Peterson 以自己为例讲到“有良好的证据表明大部分个人特征能够被改变。 Inherently introverted, he realised early on that as an academic, his reticence would prove disastrous in the lecture hall. ”由于天生内向，他早年意识到作为一名大学教师，在讲堂里的沉默寡言简直是一种灾难。 So he learned to be more outgoing and to entertain his classes. 所以他学会更加外向并且娱乐自己的课堂。 ‘Now my extroverted behaviour is spontaneous,’ he says. 他说“现在我的外向行为已经是自然而然的了。

C David Fajgenbaum had to make a similar transition. C David Fajgenbaum 不得不做出相似的转变。 He was preparing for university; when he had an accident that put an end to his sports career. 在他为进入大学做准备时，发生了一次事故，这导致了他运动生涯的结束。 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. 在校园里，他很快发现在普通的心理辅导之外，大学对于经受身体复原并且遭受抑郁的同学，比如他自己，没有什么服务。 He therefore launched a support group to help others in similar situations. 因此，他发起了一个支持小组来帮助那些有相似经历的人。 He took action despite his own pain - a typical response of an optimist. 尽管自己也有痛苦，他还是采取行动，这正是一个乐观主义者的典型反应。

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. D 肯塔基大学的心理学教授 Suzanne Segerstrom 认为提高乐观主义的关键是通过培养乐观的行为而不是积极的思考。 She recommends you train yourself to pay attention to good fortune by writing down three positive things that come about each day. 她建议人们通过写下每天发生的三件积极的事情来训练自己去注意那些值得高兴的事情。 This will help you convince yourself that favourable outcomes actually happen all the time, making it easier to begin taking action. 这有助于说服自己有利的结果一直都在发生，可以使人们更容易去开始采取行动。

E You can recognise a person who is passionate about a pursuit by the way they are so strongly involved in it. E 通过他们如此全身心投入的方式，你可以确定某个人对于一个爱好是多么富有热情。 Tanya Streeter’s passion is freediving - the sport of plunging deep into the water without tanks or other breathing equipment. Tanya Streeter 对于自由潜水充满热情。自由潜水是指不使用气瓶或其他呼吸设备而深潜入水中的一种体育运动。 Beginning in 1998, she set nine world records and can hold her breath for six minutes. 从 1998 年起，她创造了 9 项世界纪录，并且能够在水下屏住呼吸达 6 分钟之久。 The physical stamina required for this sport is intense but the psychological demands are even more overwhelming. 这项运动对体能要求极高，但是心理要求更是压倒性的。 Streeter learned to untangle her fears from her judgment of what her body and mind could do. Streeter 学会在自己的身体和心理所能做到的判断中清理自己的恐惧。 ‘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. 她说：“在我作为竞技自由潜水员的生涯中，我所能做到的是有极限的，但是这个极限远远超出我原以为的极限。

F Finding a pursuit that excites you can improve anyone's life. F找到一个令自己兴奋的爱好可以改善任何人的生活。 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. 根据北卡罗来纳大学的心理学家Paul Silvia 的理论，强烈激情的秘密在于“这些激情要求纪律、努力工作和能力，正是因此它们是如此的有益处。 ’ 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. ”心理学家 Todd Kashdan 对于那些拥有新的爱好的人们给予如下建议：“作为一个新人，你不得不忍受并且嘲笑自己的无知。 You must be willing to accept the negative feelings that come your way,’ he says. 你必须愿意接受随之出现的消极情绪。

G In 2004, physician-scientist Mauro Zappaterra began his PhD research at Harvard Medical School. G 在 2004 年，内科医生兼科学家 Mauro Zappaterra 开始了自己在哈佛医学院的博士学位研究。 Unfortunately, he was miserable as his research wasn't compatible with his curiosity about healing. 不幸的是，他很痛苦，因为他的关于康复的研究无法与自己的好奇相匹配。 He finally took a break and during eight months in Santa Fe, Zappaterra learned about alternative healing techniques not taught at Harvard. 最终，他休息了一下并且在圣达菲待了 8 个月。在那里，Zappaterra 学到一些在哈佛没有的另类的康复技术。 When he got back, he switched labs to study how cerebrospinal fluid nourishes the developing nervous system. 回来以后，他转变自己的实验去研究脑脊液是如何滋养发展中的神经系统的。 He also vowed to look for the joy in everything, including failure, as this could help him learn about his research and himself. 他也立誓在每件事情中寻找快乐，包括失败，因为这可以帮助他了解自己的研究以及自己。 One thing that can hold joy back is a person's concentration on avoiding failure rather than their looking forward to doing something well. 能够抑制快乐的一件事情是一个人专注于避免失败而不是期望去把某件事情做好。 ‘Focusing on being safe might get in the way of your reaching your goals,’ explains Kashdan. Kashdan 解释道：“专注于保证安全可能会妨碍你达到自己的目标。 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? ”比如，你是期望在一次商业午餐中不令自己尴尬，还是你在考虑彼此的交谈有可能会多么令人陶醉呢？

H Usually, we think of courage in physical terms but ordinary life demands something else. H 我们通常认为勇气是一种物理术语，但是日常生活要求一些别的东西。 For marketing executive Kenneth Pedeleose, it meant speaking out against something he thought was ethically wrong. 对于市场专员 Kenneth Pedeleose 来说，勇气意味着公然反对某些他认为伦理上错误的事情。 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. 新来的经理威吓员工，所以 Pedeleose 仔细地记录每一个欺凌事件，并且在明知道自己工作处于危险的情况下，最终将证据提交给一名高级总监。 Eventually the manager was the one to go. 最终，经理被辞退。 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. 据克莱姆森大学的心理学家 Cynthia Pury 所说，Pedeleose 的故事证明了勇气不是由于恐惧而来的，而是受到道德职责的激励产生的。 Pury also believes that people can acquire courage. Pury 还认为人们可以获得勇气。 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. 她的很多学生说，在面临一种危险情况时，他们首先努力使自己平静下来，然后寻求一种方式去减轻这种危险，正像 Pedeleose 通过记录自己的指控所做的一样。 Over the long term, picking up a new character trait may help you move toward being the person you want to be. 长期来看，发展一种新的性格特征可以帮助一个人逐步成为自己想要成为的那个人。 And in the short term, the effort itself could be surprisingly rewarding, a kind of internal adventure. 同时，短期来看，做这件事情本身的努力会产生令人吃惊的益处，可以说是一种内在的冒险奇遇。