The idea that work might be fulfilling, rather than just painfully necessary, is a strikingly recent invention.
工作能讓人獲得滿足，而非無可避免的痛苦，出乎意料是近期才發(fā)現(xiàn)的事。
Open Dr. Johnson's celebrated dictionary, published in 1755,
打開 Johnson 博士 1755 年出版的著名辭典，
and the word fulfillment doesn't even appear.
會(huì)發(fā)現(xiàn)"fulfillment"（滿足）這個(gè)詞根本沒被記載在上面。
Nowadays in a prosperous world, we don't only expect to obtain money through our labor,
在現(xiàn)今繁榮的社會(huì)中，我們不僅僅預(yù)期從勞動(dòng)中獲得金錢，
we also, to a greater or lesser extent, expect to find meaning and satisfaction.
我們也同時(shí)希望能在其中找到意義和滿足感。
It's a big ask and helps to explain why so many of us have career crises often on a Sunday evening as the sun begins to set.
這是個(gè)令人為難的要求，所以才會(huì)發(fā)現(xiàn)有很多人在星期天日落之際，開始感到職業(yè)生涯危機(jī)。
To help us on the quest for fulfilling work here are six useful ideas.
以下六個(gè)方法將有助于我們找到有滿足感的工作。
Firstly, accept that being confused about careers is perfectly normal.
首先，因?yàn)槁殬I(yè)而感到困惑，是再正常不過的事。
In a pre-industrial world there were, at most, some 2,000 different trades out there.
在工業(yè)革命前，約有 2000 個(gè)不同的行業(yè)。
Nowadays there are estimated to be half a million different options.
而現(xiàn)今，市場(chǎng)上大約有 50 萬種的工作選擇。
The result? We can become so anxious about making the wrong choice,
結(jié)果顯示：我們會(huì)因?yàn)楹ε伦龀鲥e(cuò)誤的決定而感到焦慮，
we end up making no choice at all.
所以最后干脆不做任何決定。
Psychologists call this "the paradox of choice,"
心理學(xué)家稱之為"選擇的悖論"，
paralysis stemming from too many options.
因?yàn)樘噙x擇而導(dǎo)致麻木不仁。
We should acknowledge that confusion is natural, and fear entirely normal,
我們應(yīng)該接受感到困惑是很自然的，恐懼也是極為正常的事，
but let neither of these scupper our chances forever.
但不要讓這些負(fù)面情緒使機(jī)會(huì)泡湯。
Secondly, know yourself.
第二，了解自己。
It's the oldest philosophical recommendation, and has particular relevance to careers.
這是最古老的哲學(xué)建議，與職業(yè)生涯有緊密的關(guān)聯(lián)。
For 99 percent of us knowing what we want to do doesn't arise spontaneously like for example, knowing what to eat.
99% 的人都知道，我們的想法并不會(huì)憑空出現(xiàn)，就象是無法憑空知道要吃什么。
Most of us don't have a calling,
大部分的人都沒有天職，
we don't hear a commanding God like voice directing us to accountancy, or packaging and distribution.
我們沒有聽到上帝般威嚴(yán)的聲音指引我們進(jìn)到會(huì)計(jì)、包裝或物流的領(lǐng)域。
That isn't to say we don't have taste or inclinations,
并不是說我們沒有興趣或愛好，
we just don't know them clearly enough, which is a perilous position to be in,
只是我們了解得還不夠清楚，這是一個(gè)很危險(xiǎn)的處境，
as not having a plan quickly puts us at the mercy of those who do have one.
因?yàn)闆]有計(jì)劃就很容易被有計(jì)劃的人影響。
We only catch glimpses, little hints of our tastes.
我們只知道自己喜好的一小部分而已。
So what we have to do is learn to pick up on their faint sounds.
我們必須要學(xué)習(xí)傾聽那些微弱的聲音。
Start by parking any concerns for money for a time,
首先，將對(duì)于金錢的煩惱放在一邊，
financial panic too often kills all dialogue with the more authentic, passionate sides of one's nature.
經(jīng)濟(jì)恐慌往往會(huì)扼殺所有與自己更真實(shí)、更有熱忱那一面對(duì)話的機(jī)會(huì)。
Write down, without being too logical or analytical about it, everything you've ever enjoyed doing or making,
寫下你一直以來喜歡做的事情或制作的東西，不需要有邏輯或做任何分析，
which might include building a tree house, or sorting out the winter clothes.
比方說，蓋樹屋或是整理冬季衣物。
The weirder and more offbeat list, the better.
越是稀奇古怪且不落俗套的清單越好。
In the long and confused tangle that follows there will, somewhere, be the shape of an ideal future working self,
在漫長(zhǎng)的糾結(jié)中，終究會(huì)找出未來在職場(chǎng)上發(fā)光的理想自我，
but it'll be very messed up, and in need of being analyzed thoroughly.
但過程會(huì)非?；靵y，也就是需要徹底分析。
That's where philosophy comes in.
這就是哲學(xué)發(fā)揮作用的時(shí)候了。
Philosophy is the art of clearing up, and demanding logic of our first thoughts.
哲學(xué)是一門能清晰化并理清思想的藝術(shù)和邏輯。
Thirdly, think a lot.
第三，多思考。
If it might take a couple of days, even a week, to choose a new car,
如果選購一臺(tái)新車需要花幾天、甚至是一周的時(shí)間，
it could, fairly, take a year or more of sustained daily reflection to start to identify a career that fits.
那么要找到適合自己的職業(yè)，何嘗不用一年或更長(zhǎng)的時(shí)間進(jìn)行日常反思。
We tend to feel guilty about this, imagining we're being self-indulgent,
我們往往為此感到內(nèi)疚覺得在自我放縱，
far from it, we may need to empty every weekend for months to sort out the biggest conundrum of our lives.
但其實(shí)不盡然，我們可能需要騰出好幾個(gè)月的周末時(shí)間來整理我們生活中最大的難題。
To make sure we don't continue to spend the rest of our lives trapped in a job unwittingly chosen for us by our unknowing 16 year-old selves,
要確保我們不會(huì)永遠(yuǎn)困在 16 歲懵懂時(shí)期選擇的工作里，
we need to be properly generous about the amount of time we'll need to give this.
就需要給自己更多寬裕的時(shí)間思考。
Fourthly, try something.
第四，嘗試做點(diǎn)什么。
It's tempting to imagine we'll be able to work out the shape of the workplace,
我們不免認(rèn)為自己可以靠著單純的反復(fù)思考，就能想象未來工作的樣貌，
and of our own characters simply through pure process of reflection.
或者了解自己的性格。
But we need data,
但我們需要的是數(shù)據(jù)，
and we can only understand ourselves and others by colliding with the real world,
唯有透過與世界接軌碰撞才能真正了解自己和他人，
in the process getting to know both it and our own natures.
在過程中了解世界的運(yùn)作和自己的天性。
We need to take small, non-irrevocable steps to gather information,
我們必須踏出小而扎實(shí)的一步，去搜集信息，
for example, by shadowing, interning, or volunteering.
例如去當(dāng)學(xué)徒、去實(shí)習(xí)或當(dāng)志愿者。
We mustn't think we always have to resign on Monday,
不必每次都覺得自己星期一就非得辭職，
we can investigate our futures through branching projects on the side of existing jobs.
我們可以透過現(xiàn)有工作，去延伸探索我們的未來。
Five, reflect on what makes people unhappy.
第五，思考有什么事讓人們不愉快。
Every successful business is at heart an attempt to solve someone else's problem.
每一個(gè)成功事業(yè)的本質(zhì)，都是在試圖解決他人的問題。
The bigger and more urgent problem, the greater the opportunity.
若該問題越大且越是急迫，機(jī)會(huì)就越大。
To flex your entrepreneurial muscles, consider an average day and everything in it that might make someone unhappy,
為鍛煉你創(chuàng)業(yè)的敏感度，思考一下平凡的一天和其中可能使人不愉快的事，
from losing the house keys, to finding the food a little greasy, to arguing yet again with their spouse.
從遺失家里鑰匙、吃到油膩的食物到和配偶之間始終不斷的爭(zhēng)吵等。
Each of these is a business opportunity waiting to be exploited.
每一項(xiàng)問題都是等待被開發(fā)的商業(yè)機(jī)會(huì)。
It's a chance for us to serve, which is what work really is.
這是我們服務(wù)的機(jī)會(huì)，也是工作的真諦。
It's easy to imagine that everything's been done and tried—
我們很容易覺得所有的事情都已經(jīng)被其他人試過也做過——
nonsense.
這是胡說。
We're unhappy enough for capitalism to have many more centuries of invention and creativity to it.
人們不開心的程度，用往后幾世紀(jì)資本主義下激發(fā)的發(fā)明和創(chuàng)意來填補(bǔ)都還綽綽有余。
Six, be confident.
第六，要有自信。
So many bad self-help books are about confidence.
很多差勁的勵(lì)志書籍都在談?wù)撟孕拧?br>It can be tempting to dismiss the whole topic as nonsense.
所以人們很容易將該主題視為胡扯。
But in a peculiar and rather humbling way,
然而令人感到不可思議和震撼的是，
it truly does seem as if the difference between success and failure is sometimes nothing less than the courage to give it a go.
往往成功與失敗之間的差異就在于愿意嘗試的勇氣。
The ability to imagine oneself into a role, to surmise one doesn't need to ask anyone for permission,
想象或揣摩自己在某種職務(wù)里的行為，并不需要經(jīng)過他人的同意，
that many of the top positions simply belong to those who dare to boldly ask for them.
許多高層職位只屬于那些敢大膽爭(zhēng)取的人。
A lack of confidence is at heart a misunderstanding of the way the world works.
內(nèi)心缺乏自信是對(duì)世界運(yùn)作方式的誤解。
It's an internalized feudalism which imagines that only certain people but not oneself, have the right, preordained, to get certain things.
這是一種內(nèi)心的封建制度，認(rèn)為某些人而不是自己，才有權(quán)利或注定獲得某些東西。
It isn't true.
這是錯(cuò)誤的思維。
As we know, a lot more is possible than we might think at our moments of timidity and doubt.
我們知道，在我們感到羞怯或存有懷疑時(shí)，事情成就的可能性其實(shí)比想象中更大。
That's a start of the path towards a job we won't regret on our death beds, which should always be the ultimate criterion.
這是通往至臨終前都不會(huì)后悔的工作道路上的開端，這也永遠(yuǎn)應(yīng)該是最基本的標(biāo)準(zhǔn)。
用戶評(píng)論