你的大腦是否在妨礙你獲得財富？快測一測！

Have you ever wondered why you’re not rich yet? Maybe you’re perplexed on why you can’t seem to save more or get your spending under control, despite your best efforts. In theory, managing your money should be simple: spend less, earn more. But as humans our brains are wired in a certain way based on our experiences and conditioning, and that wiring may be partly to blame for your money woes.

你是否曾經思考過爲什麼自己還不是有錢人？也許你在自己多省錢，控制花錢的問題上迷惑了，儘管你已經盡了最大的努力。理論上來說，管理你的金錢應該是簡單可行的：少花，多賺。但是作爲人類，我們的大腦在一定程度上與我們的經歷與自我調節是相關聯的，這種關聯性也許就是你的金錢問題的一部分罪魁禍首了。

1. You Have a Scarcity Mindset

1. 你有稀缺心態

If you constantly feel like you never have enough money, you may be suffering from a ‘scarcity mindset’.

如果你總是認爲自己永遠不會有足夠的金錢，你可能就受到了“稀缺心態”的折磨了。

According Psychology Today, “A scarcity mindset narrows our time frame, causing us to make impulsive, short-term decisions that increase our difficulties in the long-term, like putting off paying credit card bills or not opening bills, hoping they will magically disappear.”

根據《今日心理學》的報道，“稀缺心態縮小我們的時限，導致我們去做出衝動短期的決定，從而增加了長期的困難，就像延遲交付信用卡賬單或者不開賬單，希望它們會神奇地消失。”

Having a scarcity mindset can lead to a feeling of deprivation that can lead to poor judgement. For example, you can overspend to try and fill the void of not having enough. Conversely, it could also lead to extreme penny pinching — and the inability to enjoy life — because you feel like there will never be enough.

稀缺心態會導致剝奪感，這就能導致判斷失當。例如，你可以過度花費，去嘗試並填滿自己“不足”的空虛感。相反的，它還會導致極端的錙銖必較，也無法很好地享受生活，因爲你永遠都不滿足。

You may not get over your scarcity mindset over night, but you can work towards getting over it by writing all the things you do have in your life right now. Focus on what you do have, not what you don’t.

你可能無法突然擺脫稀缺心態，但你可以努力去擺脫它，通過寫下當下生活中確實擁有的東西。專注於你所擁有的，而不是你沒有的。

2. You’re Not Aware of Your Spending Triggers

2. 你沒有意識到你的“花錢觸發器”

Our relationship to money and spending can be deeply personal.

我們對於金錢與花錢的關係可以算得上是深深與個人相關的。

We may all have our own beliefs about money, but all of us have psychological ‘spending triggers’. Spending triggers are places, environments, or emotions that can trigger you to spend more than you normally would. For example, if you have a spending problem and walk by your favorite store, you might be triggered to spend.

我們可能都有對於金錢的信仰，但是我們人人都有心理上的“花錢觸發器”。不同的地點，不同的環境，或者情緒都可以促使你花上比平時更多錢。例如，如果你有一個花錢上的問題，然後走路經過了你最喜愛的商店，你可能就有到裏面買東西的衝動了。

And if you’re tired or sad, you might find yourself shopping online.

而如果你很累或者傷心，你可能會上網購物。

The key is to recognize your spending triggers. What situations or emotions tend to trigger a spending spree? Write down your spending triggers and modify your behavior so that you can try to avoid those landmines that can lead to increased spending.

關鍵在於分辨出自己的花錢觸動器有哪些。什麼樣的情況或者情緒會傾向於觸發消費熱潮？寫下你的衝動來源，修整自己的行爲，這樣你就能避免這些導致消費增加的地雷。

3. The Status Quo Bias Is Keeping You Stagnant

3. 安於現狀讓你停滯不前

As we grow older, we tend to get pretty comfortable with our surroundings and how we do things. Unfortunately, this may not be so great for our financial lives.

當我們的年紀增長，我們更傾向於安於我們的環境和工作的方式，不巧的是，這對於我們的經濟生活卻不是什麼好的消息。

In order to improve your financial life, you need to change aspects of your current lifestyle. Whether you’re paying off debt or trying to save for retirement, reaching your financial goals means making some serious shifts in behavior — and that’s something most people aren’t willing to do, according to the status quo bias.

爲了提高經濟生活，你需要改變當前的生活方式。不管你交付了債務或者努力爲退休存錢，想要實現經濟目標就意味着要在行爲方面認真地做出調整——那也是大多數人不願意去做的，與他們安於現狀的態度很相符。

The status quo bias is a cognitive bias that states that most people prefer to stick with the familiar and prefer things to remain the same. However, if you’re trying to improve your finances, you can’t do things the way you’ve always done them. Getting out of debt or building wealth typically requires changing mindsets getting out of your comfort zone.

現狀偏見（即安於現狀）是一種認知偏見，表示大多數人更傾向於堅持熟悉的人事物，更喜歡保持不變。然而，如果你正嘗試改善個人財務狀況，你就不能按照舊的方式去辦事。擺脫債務危機或者積累財務通常需要改變你心態走出舒適圈。

And it also means recognizing how inertia is holding you back.

這也意味着要意識到阻礙你前進的慣性。

To break the status quo, try doing things a little differently and recognize it will be a bit uncomfortable. That’s okay. Our greatest achievements tend to occur outside of our comfort zones.

爲了打破現狀，學會有點不一樣地做事，並且承認這麼做會有一點不舒服。那是沒關係的。我們最大的成就常常就在我們的舒適圈以外出現了。

4. The Ostrich Effect Has You Keeping Your Head in the Sand

4. 鴕鳥效應讓你退縮

As humans, we generally seek out pleasure and try to avoid pain. When it comes to your finances, it’s no different. Researchers Dan Galai and Orly Sade found that investors tend to avoid negative information and avoid risky situations. They dubbed this behavior as the ‘Ostrich Effect’, the process of avoiding risky financial situations by burying your head in the sand and not acknowledging they exist.

作爲人類，我們一般都會趨利避害。當談論到財務問題時也無異。研究人員Dan Galai和Orly Sade發現，內向者一般都避免負面的信息和危險的場景。他們把這種行爲稱之爲“鴕鳥效應”，避免財務情況的過程，把你的頭埋在沙子裏，不承認它們的存

Though their study was based on investors, it’s easy to see how this can relate to other areas of finance.

儘管他們的研究對象是內向人羣，但不難看出這也可以與財務的其他方面聯繫起來。

Perhaps you’re avoiding that credit card bill or put off logging into your checking account because it’s too depressing.

也許你在逃避交付信用卡費，或者拖延登錄個人賬戶，因爲這是一件太讓人傷心的事情了。

In order to combat the Ostrich Effect, it’s important to face your money troubles head on. Avoidance can only lead to more troubles down the line, so take action with your finances and acknowledge that it may be tough or painful — but will lead to better financial management.

爲了避免“鴕鳥效應”的陷阱，你就必須面對當前的金錢問題。逃避只會造成以後更多的問題，所以要行動起來，並意識到這個過程可能是艱難或痛苦的，但會讓你培養更好的財務管理能力。

聲明：本雙語文章的中文翻譯系滬江英語原創內容，轉載請註明出處。中文翻譯僅代表譯者個人觀點，僅供參考。如有不妥之處，歡迎指正。