聪明的人忽略的十件事

我认识的一些聪明的人都是不停地挣扎着取得成功，因为他们忘了处理一些简单的事情，而这些事实共同地支配着我们进步的潜能。简单提醒一下：

#1 – Education and intelligence accomplish nothing without action.

1.——没有行动，教育和智力是无所作为的

It doesn’t matter if you have a genius IQ and a PhD in Quantum Physics, you can’t change anything or make any sort of real-world progress without taking action. There’s a huge difference between knowing how to do something and actually doing it. Knowledge and intelligence are both useless without action. It’s as simple as that. For some practical guidance on taking action, I highly recommend The Now Habit.

你是天才或者拥有量子物理学的博士学位也没什么大不了，没有行动，你照样不能在现实世界中有任何改变或者进步。知道怎么去做和正在行动之间有很大的差距的。同样简单的是，没有行动，知识和才智都是没有用处的。我强烈推荐《The Now Habit》这本书，它会给你的行动提供实际意义的指导。

#2 – Happiness and success are two different things.

2. 快乐和成功是两回事。

I know an extremely savvy businesswoman who made almost a million dollars online last year. Every entrepreneur I know considers her to be wildly successful. But guess what? A few days ago, out of the blue, she told me that she’s depressed. Why? “I’m burnt out and lonely. I just haven’t taken enough time for myself lately,” she said. “Wow!” I thought. “One of the most successful people I know isn’t happy.”

我认识一位相当知性的女人，她去年通过网络获得将近百万的收入。我认识的每一位企业家都认为她成功得不得了。但是猜猜看？几天前，很意外地，她告诉我她很沮丧。这是为什么？她说：“哎，我很疲惫，我很寂寞。我最近都没有留足够的时间给自己。”我想，一个我认识的最成功的人是不开心的。

I also know a surfer who surfs almost all day, every day on the beach in front of our condo complex in San Diego. He’s one of the most lighthearted, optimistic guys I’ve ever met – always smiling from ear to ear. But he sleeps in a van he co-owns with another surfer and they both frequently panhandle tourists for money. So while I can’t deny that this man seems happy, I wouldn’t classify his life as a success story.

我还认识一位冲浪员，他几乎每天一天到晚都在我们住在圣地亚哥的公寓前的海滩上冲浪。他是我见过的最快乐，最乐观的人，他总是眉开眼笑的。但他却住在和另一个冲浪员共有的一个货车里，他们俩总是向游客讨钱。虽然我不否认这个人看起来很开心，但我也不认为他是个成功的人。

“What will make me happy?” and “What will make me successful?” are two of the most important questions you can ask yourself. But they are two different questions.

“什么可以使我开心？”和“什么可以使我成功？”这是你可以问自己的两个最重要的问题。但又是两个不一样的问题。

#3 – Everyone runs their own business.

3. 每个人都经营着自己的事业

No matter how you make a living or who you think you work for, you only work for one person, yourself. The big question is: What are you selling, and to whom? Even when you have a full-time, salaried, ‘Corporate America’ position, you are still running your own business. You are selling one unit of your existence (an hour of your life) at a set price (the associated fraction of your salary) to a customer (your employer).

不管你以何谋生或者为谁工作，你都是在为一个人工作，那就是自己。最大的问题就是：你在卖什么？卖给谁？甚至你有美国公司的全职工作，你依然是在经营着自己的事业。你在用你的价格(也就是你的薪水的几分之一)，出售的是你的存在(你生命中的一个小时)，卖给你的客户(也就是你的雇主)。

So how can you simultaneously save your time and increase your profit? The answer is slightly different for everyone. But it’s an answer you should be seeking. The 4-Hour Workweek is a good read on this topic.

所以，你如何节约你的时间，同时又提高你的利润？答案对每个人来说都不一样。但是，你应该去寻找一个答案。在这个问题上，最好读读《The 4-Hour Workweek》。

#4 – Having too many choices interferes with decision making.

4. 太多的选择会干扰最后的决定。

Here in the 21st century where information moves at the speed of light and opportunities for innovation seem endless, we have an abundant array of choices when it comes to designing our lives and careers. But sadly, an abundance of choice often leads to indecision, confusion and inaction.

21世纪是一个信息以光速发展的时代，改革创新的机会也是无止尽的，当这些机会来临的时候，我们有太多太多的选择，来设计我们的生涯。但是，悲伤的是，这么多的选择经常带来优柔寡断，困惑，以及毫无生气。

Several business and marketing studies have shown that the more product choices a consumer is faced with, the less products they typically buy. After all, narrowing down the best product from a pool of three choices is certainly a lot easier than narrowing down the best product from a pool of three hundred choices. If the purchasing decision is tough to make, most people will just give up.

很多商业和市场研究表明，顾客面对的选择越多，事实上他们买的越少。毕竟，三种选择中挑出最好的要比三百种选择中挑出最好的容易的多。如果购买的最终决定太难敲定的话，很多人只会选择放弃。

So if you’re selling a product line, keep it simple. And if you’re trying to make a decision about something in your life, don’t waste all your time evaluating every last detail of every possible option. Choose something that you think will work and give it a shot. If it doesn’t work out, choose something else and keep pressing forward.

因此，如果你在出售一系列产品，就让它保持简单。如果你在努力做出生命里的某个决定，就不要把时间浪费在评价每一个可选项的细节上。选择一样你认为好用的，并试一试。如果不好用了，再选择其他的，不断努力向前。

#5 – All people possess dimensions of success and dimensions of failure.

5. 每个人都有小小的成功和小小的失败。

This point is somewhat related to point #2 on happiness and success, but it stands strong on its own as well…

这个观点多少和第二点(快乐与成功)有关系，但是它同样有自己的立场。

Trying to be perfect is a waste of time and energy. Perfection is an illusion.

努力变得完美是在浪费时间和精力。完美是一种幻觉。

All people, even our idols, are multidimensional. Powerful business men, polished musicians, bestselling authors, and even our own parents all have dimensions of success and dimensions of failure present in their lives.

每个人，包括我们的偶像，都是多面性的。伟大的商人，优美作曲的音乐人，畅销书的作者，甚至我们的父母，在他们的生活当中，都会有小小的成功和小小的失败。

Our successful dimensions usually encompass the things we spend the most time doing. We are successful in these dimensions because of our prolonged commitment to them. This is the part of our lives we want others to see – the successful part that holds our life’s work. It’s the notion of putting our best foot forward. It’s the public persona we envision as our personal legacy: “The Successful ABC” or “The Award Winning XYZ.”

我们成功的大小通常是看我们花了多少时间。我们通常会成功是因为我们会一直坚持。这是我们生活中想让别人看见的那一部分——这一成功的部分维持着我们的生活。这是一种理念，一种我们要一步步向前走的理念。这也是一种公众角色，我们把它想象为个人遗物“成功的某某”或者“获奖的某某”

But behind whichever polished storyline we publically promote, there lies a multi-dimensional human being with a long list of unprofessed failures. Sometimes this person is a bad husband or wife. Sometimes this person laughs at the expense of others. And sometimes this person merely takes their eyes off the road and rear-ends the car in front of them.

但是，无论哪个被美化，被大家追捧的故事情节，在它们背后，都有一个有着失败史的多面人物。有时候，这种人是一个不好的丈夫或者妻子，有时候，他嘲笑他人的付出，还有的时候，这种人只走自己的路，只看前车之鉴。

#6 – Every mistake you make is progress.

6. 每一个错误都让人进步。

Mistakes teach you important lessons. Every time you make one, you’re one step closer to your goal. The only mistake that can truly hurt you is choosing to do nothing simply because you’re too scared to make a mistake.

错误是最重要的课程。每犯一次错误，你都离目标更近了。唯一会伤害你的错误就是什么都不做，因为你太害怕去犯错。2

So don’t hesitate – don’t doubt yourself. In life, it’s rarely about getting a chance; it’s about taking a chance. You’ll never be 100% sure it will work, but you can always be 100% sure doing nothing won’t work. Most of the time you just have to go for it!

所以，不要犹豫，不要怀疑自己。生活中，没有得到机会，只有抓住机会。你也许认为这不一定能成功，但是你不去行动，是一定不会成功的。很多时候，你只要去做就可以了！

And no matter how it turns out, it always ends up just the way it should be. Either you succeed or you learn something. Win-Win. Remember, if you never act, you will never know for sure, and you will be left standing in the same spot forever.

不管结果如何，事情总是按照它应有的方向去走。或者成功，或者你从中学习，都是双赢的。如果你不行动，你一定会一无所知，你只能永远停留在一个地方。

#7 – People can be great at doing things they don’t like to do.

7. 优秀的人，不喜欢的事一样可以做到很成功。2

Although I’m not suggesting that you choose a career or trade you dislike, I’ve heard way too many smart people say something like, “In order to be great at what you do, you have to like what you do.” This just isn’t true.

尽管我建议大家不要去选择自己不喜欢的事情或者行业，但我还是听不少聪明的人说譬如“为了在你所做的行业里强大起来，你必须先喜欢上你所做的事情”的话。这并不是真理。3

A good friend of mine is a public accountant. He has told me on numerous occasions that he dislikes his job – “that it bores him to death.” But he frequently gets raises and promotions. At the age of 28, out of nearly a thousand Jr. Accountants in his division, he’s one of only two who were promoted to be Sr. Accountants this past year. Why? Because even though he doesn’t like doing it, he’s good at what he does.

我有一个朋友，是公共会计师，他很多次告诉我他不喜欢他的工作，因为他的工作让他无聊得要死。但是他又不断在工作中提升自己，晋升职位。在他28岁的时候，手下就有了近一千人的初级会计师，去年仅提拔了两名资深会计师，他就是其中一个。这是为什么？因为虽然他不喜欢他所做的工作，但他擅长他所做的。

I could come up with dozens of other examples just like this, but I’ll spare you the details. Just realize that if someone dedicates enough time and attention to perfecting a skill or trade, they can be insanely good at doing something they don’t like to do. For an insightful read in this department, I highly recommend The Talent Code.

我可以例举出很多像那样的例子，但我会省略细节。我们要知道，如果一个人他可以用尽所有的时间和精力去让自己的技能和事业变得完美，他也可以疯狂地去擅长做一件他不喜欢做的事情。要说在这方面比较有见地的一本书，我强烈推荐《The Talent Code》

#8 – The problems we have with others are typically more about us.

8. 和他人之间的问题，很大一部分在于我们自己。

Quite often, the problems we have with others – our spouse, parents, siblings, etc. – don’t really have much to do with them at all. Because many of the problems we think we have with them we subconsciously created in our own mind. Maybe they did something in the past that touched on one of our fears or insecurities. Or maybe they didn’t do something that we expected them to do. In either case, problems like these are not about the other person, they’re about us.

通常来说，我们与他人，比如配偶，父母，兄妹等等之间，都会有一些矛盾，根本不要认为这和他们有关系。因为都是我们自己潜意识的认为我们和他们之间有很多问题。也许在过去，他们做了一些事情让我们感到恐惧和不安，或者也许，他们并没有做到我们所期望的。无论是什么情况，像这样的问题都不是因为其他人，而是我们自己。

And that’s okay. It simply means these little predicaments will be easier to solve. We are, after all, in charge of our own decisions. We get to decide whether we want to keep our head cluttered with events from the past, or instead open our minds to the positive realities unfolding in front of us.

没有关系，意思很简单，这种小问题很容易去处理。总之，我们应该对我们所做的决定负责任。我们要断定，是想让自己的大脑被过去的事情搞乱，还是让大脑去面对眼前的值得肯定的事实。

All we need is the willingness to look at things a little differently – letting go of ‘what was’ and ‘what should have been,’ and instead focusing our energy on ‘what is’ and ‘what could be possible.’

我们所需要的是用稍微不一样的眼光去看待事物，认为曾经是什么和他已经成为了什么，而不是让我们的精力集中在他是什么和它可能是什么。

#9 – Emotional decisions are rarely good decisions.

9. 情绪化做出的决定通常不是好的决定。

Decisions driven by heavy emotion are typically misguided reactions rather than educated judgments. These reactions are the byproduct of minimal amounts of conscious thought and primarily based on momentary ‘feelings’ instead of mindful awareness.

比起理性的决定来说，感性的决定通常是被误导的反应。这些反应是我们的意识的副产物，主要基于瞬间的感觉，而不是经过考虑的。

The best advice here is simple: Don’t let your emotions trump your intelligence. Slow down and think things through before you make any life-changing decisions.

最好的建议，很简单：不要让你的情绪超过你的智力。慢下来，做任何决定前请三思。1

#10 – You will never feel 100% ready when an opportunity arises.

10. 当机会来临时，你无论如何都不会觉得有百分百的准备的。

The number one thing I persistently see holding smart people back is their own reluctance to accept an opportunity simply because they don’t think they’re ready. In other words, they believe they require additional knowledge, skill, experience, etc. before they can aptly partake in the opportunity. Sadly, this is the kind of thinking that stifles personal growth.

我不断发现的一件事情是，聪明的人总是出于自己的不情愿去接受一次机会，居然是因为我们没有准备好。另一方面来说，他们总认为在拥有这次机会之前，自己还需要更多的知识，技能，经验等等。很不幸，这就是思想被扼杀在个人的成长中。

The truth is nobody ever feels 100% ready when an opportunity arises. Because most great opportunities in life force us to grow emotionally and intellectually. They force us to stretch ourselves and our comfort zones, which means we won’t feel totally comfortable at first. And when we don’t feel comfortable, we don’t feel ready.

当机会到来的时候，没有人有百分百的把握，这就是真理。因为生命力的绝大多数的良机都促使我们的情商和智商得到成长。他们还促使我们舒展自己，以及我们的舒适空间，这也意味着，在一开始，我们没有完全感觉到舒适。当我们感觉不好的时候，就觉得没有准备好。

Just remember that significant moments of opportunity for personal growth and development will come and go throughout your lifetime. If you are looking to make positive changes in your life you will need to embrace these moments of opportunity even though you will never feel 100% ready for them.

只要记住，对个人成长和发展有意义的时机来往于我们的生命之中。如果你想做出人生中的积极的改变，你就要抓住这些瞬间的机会，哪怕你不觉得你有百分百的把握。