英語美文朗讀 第366期 There Are No Shortcuts In Life

There are no shortcuts. There are no hacks. If you want to take the easy road, I promise you: It’s longer and more painful than the hard road. I know. I’ve lived it. I’ve ventured down the easy road at times in my life and it never led to anywhere good.

 

人生沒有捷徑，也不能投機取巧。如果你想輕松地過一生，它可能會比你想象中的要漫長和痛苦許多。之所以這么說是因為我栽過跟頭。在我的生命中，我曾走過許多次捷徑，但結局卻總是不盡人意。

 

The positive things in my life always came when I faced the biggest challenges. I joined the Navy. I took the hard road in the Navy and made it into the SEAL Teams. There, I had the honor of leading men in combat. I learned some lessons along the way, lessons that have been tested on the battlefield and, when implemented, lead to success in any arena. One of the best things I’ve learned is that anyone has what it takes to travel the hard road—to walk The Path that leads to success. That includes you. It won’t be easy. It will demand everything you’ve got to give. But you can do it.

人生中的高光時刻往往是那些面對重大挑戰(zhàn)的時刻。我曾參過軍，知難而進地選擇了海軍，最后一路撐到了海豹突擊隊。在那里，我有幸成為了領頭兵。這一路當中，我在戰(zhàn)場上體會到了許多從未體會過的成功法則。其中最值得一提的感悟是：選擇越艱難的道路就越接近成功，這條法則同樣也適用于你，你需要奮不顧身地去努力。不過，要相信你是可以的。

 

I want to give you three key principles I’ve learned that will help you to get it done. Principle number one: Discipline. Equals. Freedom. That’s not a contradiction—it’s an equation. Discipline might appear to be the opposite of freedom. But, in fact, discipline is the path to freedom. Discipline is the driver of daily execution. Discipline defeats the infinite excuses that hold you back.

我來分享一下助我成功的三條法則。第一條：紀律等于自由。二者并非矛盾，而是相輔相成的。紀律或許被視為自由的反面，但其實，紀律是執(zhí)行任務的內(nèi)驅力。紀律會讓那些阻礙你的借口不攻自破。

 

Some people think motivation is what will compel them to get things done. But motivation is just an emotion—a feeling, and like all feelings, it’s fickle: It comes and goes. You can’t count on motivation to be there when you need to get through truly challenging times. But you can count on discipline. Discipline is something you dictate. Motivation won’t make you exercise every day; discipline will. Motivation won’t stay up late and finish a project for you; discipline will. Motivation isn’t going to get you out of bed in the morning; discipline will. Make discipline part of your daily life and your daily life will get better.

有人覺得動力會激勵他們來達成目標，但動力其實只是一種情緒，一種感覺，和所有感覺一樣，它是來去無常、飄渺不定的。動力可能不會幫你渡過一個個難關、越過一座座高山，但是紀律可以，紀律是你的內(nèi)驅力。動力可能不會讓你天天堅持鍛煉身體，但是紀律可以。動力可能不會讓你熬夜去完成任務，但是紀律可以。動力可能不能讓你早起，但是紀律可以。如果紀律可以成為習慣，那么生活一定會更好。

 

Principle Number Two: Stay. Humble. In life, you are going to have to do things that you don’t want to do. Maybe things that you don’t think you should have to do—things that offend your precious ego. When I got done with Basic SEAL Training and reported on board SEAL Team One, you know what I was assigned to do? I was assigned to clean toilets. That’s right—despite having just graduated some of the most difficult military training in the world, despite being assigned to an “elite” commando unit—my first mission at the actual SEAL Team was to clean toilets. Not exactly a glorious job.

 

第二個法則是：謙虛。你經(jīng)常會去做一些你并不想做的事情，一些你覺得不該去做的事情，一些違背了你原則的事情。當我通過了海豹突擊隊的初級訓練之后，我收到的第一個任務居然是刷廁所。沒錯，當我通過了地獄級別的軍事訓練并且加入了“精英突擊隊”之后，我收到的第一個任務居然是刷廁所。一個難以啟齒的任務。

 

But you know what? I did it. I did it to the best of my ability and took pride in doing it well. And that attitude got noticed: If I cared that much about how clean the toilets were, people knew I would do a good job with even more important assignments. After a short period of time, I got those more important assignments. But it was humility that opened the door for me. Now, being humble does not mean that you shouldn’t be confident. You certainly have to believe that you are a capable person. But don’t let confidence turn into arrogance. So keep your ego in check and stay humble.

但是，我盡全力去完成，并且做的很漂亮。其中難能可貴的是態(tài)度：如果我把廁所打掃的十分干凈，那么或許長官就可以分配更重要的任務給我。一段時間之后，我如愿以償，而這就是謙遜的力量。謙虛并不意味著缺乏自信。你要相信你自己的能力，但千萬不要過度自信甚至自負。所以保持適當?shù)淖宰鹦暮椭t虛的態(tài)度是非常重要的。

 

The third and final principle: Take. Ownership. Of. Everything. I call this “Extreme Ownership.” In the military, the best leaders and the best troops were the ones that took ownership of everything in their world—not just the things they were responsible for, but for every challenge and obstacle that impacted their mission. When something went wrong: They cast no blame,

they made no excuses. They took ownership of the problem and fixed it. You can implement this attitude as well—not only in your job, but in your life. Let other people blame their parents, their boss, or the system. Let weaker people complain that the world isn’t fair. You are the leader of your life: Take ownership of everything in it.

 

第三條法則是責任，要有責任心，我叫它“極端責任制”。 在部隊，最好的長官和最好的士兵是那些對最有責任心的人，能抗起所有艱難險阻，而并非做好自己的本職工作。當事情發(fā)生的時候，他們無怨無悔，正視問題、解決問題。你也可以學習這種態(tài)度，不僅僅只對工作負責，而是生活中的方方面面負責。讓別人去責怪家長、上司或是體制吧，讓弱者去抱怨世界的不公吧。我的人生我來做主。

 

So: Be disciplined in all that you do. Don’t subject yourself to the whims of motivation. Stay humble and be willing to do what needs to be done. And: Take extreme ownership of your life and everything in it. Then: Choose the hard path—the path of responsibility, hard work, and sacrifice. The Path of discipline, humility, and ownership that ultimately leads to freedom. If you follow these principles, then nothing in the world will stop you. I’m Jocko Willink, host of the Jocko Podcast and author of Extreme Ownership, for Prager University.

所以，不要被動力的字眼迷惑，凡事都要有紀律；保持謙遜并樂于解決問題；高度掌控你生活中的方方面面。然后，不要怕繞彎路，踏上一條充滿著責任、努力和奉獻的道路，一條布滿自律、謙遜和掌控的道路，這些最終會給予你自由。如果你照我說的做，那么你將無往不勝。 我是 Prager 學院Jocko播客的主持人，和《極端領導力》的作者 Jocko Willink.