双语：人生的7个残酷事实

　　1. Life Will Never Be Perfect

　　生活并不完美

　　If you are waiting for the “right” time to do something —pursue self-employment, begin a fitness plan, dive into the dating pool, or move to a new town —you’re going to be waiting forever. There is no such thing as a “right” time to do anything. This reaction is based on your fear-of-change, plain and simple.

　　如果你还在等待“最佳时机”去做某事——诸如创业、健身、恋爱或搬去新城市，那你也只能这么等待下去了。世上根本就没有所谓的“最佳时机”，你之所以这么想，完全是因为自己害怕改变，只想简单舒服混日子罢了。

　　If you keep waiting for that mysterious “perfect time to act” (please tell me, when have you ever experienced such a thing?), this means you will never actually have to take action and confront your fear. Do the scary thing. You will be so glad you did.

　　如果你一直在等待传说中的“最佳行动时机”（请问，你可曾真正亲身经历过呢？），那你永远都不会直面内心恐惧并拿出行动来。现在就去做“可怕的”事情吧！相信你做了以后绝不会后悔。

　　2. No One Is Going to Fix You

　　没人会来拯救你

　　If you are waiting for a knight in shining armor to gallopinto your life and heal your broken heart, you will be waiting forever. The only person who can help you is yourself. Be happy for the other people in your life, but do not become dependent on them for happiness unlike you like to be on a never-ending emotional roller-coaster that is far beyond the realm of your control.

　　如果你还在期盼白马王子帅气闯入你的生活、呵护你受伤的心灵，那你只能永远等待下去了。能够救你的人只有你自己。你可以为生活中有人陪伴而开心，但不要因此把幸福完全托付给他们；否则，你的情绪会像不停歇的过山车，永远无法自我控制。

　　Are you alone? No, far from it. But no one is going to fix you, so it is in your best interest to take personal responsibility for your own life. When you do that, you’ll discover you are more powerful than you ever thought possible.

　　还是一个人？哈，更残酷的是，不会有谁来拯救你。所以，你最好还是为自己负起责任吧。只有这样，你才会发现自己变得愈加坚强。

　　3. You Might Fail (a Lot)

　　你可能会失败（很多次）

　　If you attempt to achieve an ambitious new goal, then it is possible that you will fall on your face while pursuing said goal. Welcome to reality. It’s time to change your thinking about failure.

　　如果你雄心万丈想征服新目标，那你极可能在努力的过程中摔得鼻青脸肿。回到现实，改变自己对失败的看法吧。

　　It is not a big, bad thing that you should be frightened of. Failure is a learning opportunity and nothing more. If successful people quit pursuing their goal after failing the first time they tried something new, then there would be approximately zero successful people ever. There is no such thing as a “hole-in-one” in life. Do you want to know how many times I’ve failed? Over a hundred.

　　失败并不是多么糟糕透顶的大事，你完全没必要害怕。失败只是一次学习的机会罢了。如果成功的人因刚开始尝试新鲜事物遭遇挫折而放弃梦想，那他们很可能就一事无成，何谈成功二字！生活中从来就没有“一发即中” 这回事。你知道我失败过多少次吗？上百次。

　　The only reason I’ve managed to accomplish anything is because I am a firm believer in continuous improvement. If you fail in something, distance from the event for a day or two, because agonizing over the problem will not make it go away (and will make it a lot worse). Read a good book, catch up with some friends you haven’t seen in a long time, or go on a nature hike. You will be able to look at the issue with a fresh perspective. After you have done that, ask yourself: “Why didn’t this work out and how can I do better next time?”

　　如果说我确实有所成就的话，那也只是因为我坚信不断尝试就会成功。遇到挫折时，你可以暂时把问题放一放，一味纠结不仅无济于事，有时反倒使情况更糟。先去读一本好书、见见久未谋面的好友或去户外骑游一番；再回头看待问题，你或许会感到柳暗花明。这样做后，别忘了多加反省：“为什么这个方法会奏效？下次能不能做得更好呢？”

　　This process very well could repeat itself several times depending on the nature of your goal, but if you keep making a firm commitment to continuously improve yourself, you will develop so much that the only option left is success. Consistent hustlealways wins.

　　看你定的是什么目标，这种方法可以被反复有效应用。如果你坚定不移地持续提升自己，最后成功肯定非你莫属。孜孜不倦向来无敌。

　　4. The Past Is Already Written

　　过去已成定局

　　Have you ever made a mistake so monumental that you wish you could go back in time and do it all over again? Join the club. It’s called being human. I know you might feel immense regret, but beating yourself up over something that is already done serves no purpose. Shift your attention to the present, where you can take control of your life and move forward into a better future.

　　你以前是不是犯过重大错误，以至你真心希望时光倒流、从头再来？得了吧，你只是普普通通的人而已。或许你悔得肠子都青 了，但盯着过去的事情耿耿于怀又能怎样呢？还是活在当下，经营好现在的生活，努力创造更好的未来吧。

　　5. Tomorrow Is Not Guaranteed

　　明天是不确定的

　　Steve Jobs said it best, so I’m going to defer to him for this harsh truth:

　　史蒂夫·乔布斯说得很好，我引申为下面这个残酷事实：

　　“Remembering that I’ll be dead soon is the most important tool I’ve ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life. Because almost everything – all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure – these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important.”

　　“因为意识到自己不久将辞别人世，我竟能更好地做出人生重大抉择。要知道，所有一切——不论是外界期许、个人骄傲、对窘迫或失败的恐惧，在死亡面前都显得毫无意义，唯留下那些真正重要的。”

　　The next time you catch yourself playing the “I will do it tomorrow” game, remember that tomorrow is not guaranteed. Traffic accidents, heart attacks, and acts of violence do happen. Live in the present and take action today, because that is where progress happens.

　　下次你再说“明天再做”时，请提醒自己：明天是不确定的。说不定你就会遇到交通事故、心脏病或暴力行为。所以，活在当下，今天就去行动，这样才能取得进步。

　　6. You Have More Time Than You Think You Do

　　时间比你认为的多

　　You should eliminate the phrase, “I don’t have the time,” from your vocabulary, because it is profoundly untrue. There are 168 hours every week. Let that sink in for a moment. That is a monumentalamount of time. Where could it possibly go? The average person spends 4.09 hours on leisure activities per day according to a survey by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

　　你应该把“我没时间”从你的字典中删除，因为这完全不符合事实。一周有168小时，用心想想，这绝对是大把大把的时间啊。这些时间都用来干嘛了？根据劳动统计局调查显示，一般人每天要花4.09小时用来娱乐。

　　Most of that time, 2.8 hours per day, is devoted to the television. I don’t know about you, but I don’t think watching TV does much to help me grow as a person. You could spend that time creating art that adds value to the world, reading books that will help you improve your life, or exercising for a better body and health. The next time you say you “don’t have the time,” change your wording to say “it isn’t a priority.”

　　其中，每天有2.8小时贡献给了电视机。我不清楚你怎么想，但我觉得看电视对个人成长并无益处。有这个时间，还不如搞搞艺术，为世界创造价值，或阅读来改善个人生活，或健身塑型保养呢。下次你再说“我没时间”时，赶紧改口告诉自己“这事儿不是当务之急”。

　　No time to exercise? Your fitness isn’t a priority. No time to prepare healthy meals at home? Your health isn’t a priority. No time to do something nice for the love of your life? Your relationship isn’t a priority. It’s harsh, but it’s true. How you spend your time is a choice, so spend it wisely.

　　没时间运动？健身不是当务之急；没时间在家做健康饭菜？健康不是当务之急；没时间为爱人制造浪漫？伴侣关系不是当务之急。很讽刺，不是？可这也都是现实啊。时间怎么分配在于你如何选择，所以，请明智利用时间吧。

　　7. Just Because You’re “Busy” Doesn’t Mean You’re Accomplishing Something

　　“忙碌”并不代表你完成了什么事情

　　If you like to brag about how great you are at multitasking, stop it, because you are only kidding yourself. Changing tasks without rhyme or reason is wasting your productivity, stressing you out, and possibly causing you to make mistakes.

　　如果你喜欢吹嘘自己多么擅长同时处理多项任务，那还是算了吧，别自欺欺人了。毫无节拍或理由地换任务只会浪费精力、徒增压力，甚至使你犯错。

　　It will probably take you longer to complete two tasks that you are switching back-and-forth between than it would to complete each one separately. If you want to save time, instead of multitasking, try grouping similar tasks together. Have a bunch of e-mails you need to send? Do them all at once.

　　相比一次只完成一个任务而言，同时反复处理两个任务或许要花更多功夫。如果你想节约时间，与其同时处理多个任务，不如尝试分批处理类似任务。是不是要发多封邮件？那就一次发出去吧。

　　Have an article or essay you need to write? Get it done before moving onto anything else. Different tasks require different mind-sets, so focus on one thing at a time. Being “busy” does not guarantee that you are doing something useful (it probably just means you are doing a lot of things badly).

　　有文章或论文要写？写好了再做其他事吧。不同任务需要不同的思维状态，所以，最好一次只专注一件事。“忙忙碌碌”并不表示你在有效做事，或许你只是在焦头烂额斡旋于多个事情中罢了。