Nine Things Successful People Do Differently

Why have you been so successful in reaching some of your goals, but not others? If you aren't sure, you are far from alone in your confusion. It turns out that even brilliant, highly accomplished people are pretty lousy when it comes to understanding why they succeed or fail. The intuitive answer — that you are born predisposed to certain talents and lacking in others — is really just one small piece of the puzzle. In fact, decades of research on achievement suggests that successful people reach their goals not simply because of who they are, but more often because of what they do.

 

为什么你能顺利地达成某些目标，而在另一些任务上却遭遇滑铁卢？在这个问题上不仅是你，很多人都会感到不解和困惑。事实上，当谈及为什么会成功或失败时，即使是那些睿智并卓有成就的人也感到头疼。直觉的回答认为，这是由于人们天生往往只拥有某些天赋而缺少另一些造成的，但这种认识仅仅是此难题的一个小小的方面。事实上，几十年来对成功的研究表明，成功人士之所以能实现目标并不是因为他们是什么样的人，而在于他们做了哪些事情。

 

 

1. Get specific. When you set yourself a goal, try to be as specific as possible. "Lose 5 pounds" is a better goal than "lose some weight," because it gives you a clear idea of what success looks like. Knowing exactly what you want to achieve keeps you motivated until you get there. Also, think about the specific actions that need to be taken to reach your goal. Just promising you'll "eat less" or "sleep more" is too vague — be clear and precise. "I'll be in bed by 10pm on weeknights" leaves no room for doubt about what you need to do, and whether or not you've actually done it.

 

1. 制定具体的目标 当给自己下达目标时，尽量使目标越具体越好。   “瘦掉五磅”就是一个比“减掉一些体重”更好的目标，因为这让你对什么是成功有个清晰的概念。准确地理解自己希望达到的目标能不断激发自我前进。同样，想好具体的行动有助于实现你的目标。仅仅发誓说“少吃点”或“多睡些”太泛泛而谈了，你需要更清晰更明确的方案。而像“周一到周五晚上我一定在十点之前上床睡觉”这样的行动计划，就不会让你犹豫该做什么，也不会怀疑自己是否真的那样做了。

 

 

2. Seize the moment to act on your goals. Given how busy most of us are, and how many goals we are juggling at once, it's not surprising that we routinely miss opportunities to act on a goal because we simply fail to notice them. Did you really have no time to work out today? No chance at any point to return that phone call? Achieving your goal means grabbing hold of these opportunities before they slip through your fingers.

 

2. 抓住机会实现目标。   考虑到大多数人如此忙碌，同时又要尽力应付如此多的任务目标，所以经常与实现目标的机会失之交臂并不令人感到惊讶，因为我们压根就没留意到这些机会。你今天真的没时间做运动吗？你真的连回那通电话的时间都挤不出吗？实现目标意味着紧紧抓住任何机会，不让其从指缝间轻易溜走。

 

To seize the moment, decide when and where you will take each action you want to take, in advance. Again, be as specific as possible (e.g., "If it's Monday, Wednesday, or Friday, I'll work out for 30 minutes before work.") Studies show that this kind of planning will help your brain to detect and seize the opportunity when it arises, increasing your chances of success by roughly 300%.

 

要抓住机会，你必须提前部署计划，确定何时何地执行什么样的方案。再次强调，计划越具体越好（例如，每逢周一、周三和周五，我会在工作前健身30分钟）。研究表明这种规划方式会让你的大脑时刻保持警惕，随时抓住出现的机会。让你的成功机率增加300%左右。

 

 

3. Know exactly how far you have left to go. Achieving any goal also requires honest and regular monitoring of your progress — if not by others, then by you yourself. If you don't know how well you are doing, you can't adjust your behavior or your strategies accordingly. Check your progress frequently — weekly, or even daily, depending on the goal.

 

3. 准确知道自己离目标还有多远。    老老实实定期审查自己的进度是实现任何目标的条件，即使没有别人监督，也要做到自我监督。倘若你不知道自己的现状，你就无法相应地调整自己的行为和策略。根据实际目标的需要，每周甚至是每天定期检查工作进展。

 

 

4. Be a realistic optimist. When you are setting a goal, by all means engage in lots of positive thinking about how likely you are to achieve it. Believing in your ability to succeed is enormously helpful for creating and sustaining your motivation. But whatever you do, don't underestimate how difficult it will be to reach your goal. Most goals worth achieving require time, planning, effort, and persistence. Studies show that thinking things will come to you easily and effortlessly leaves you ill-prepared for the journey ahead, and significantly increases the odds of failure.

 

4. 做一个现实的乐天派。   在确立目标的同时，你大可竭尽所能地正面想象自己将很有把握实现这一目标。相信自己能够取得成功，对建立和维持个人的动力大有裨益。然而，无论做什么，都别低估前进道路上的艰难险阻。大多数目标的实现都需要我们付出时间和努力，仔细规划并坚持不懈。研究表明当一个人认为自己能毫不费力地完成某件事时，他就会对日后的征途准备不足，并且大大增加了失败的可能性。

 

 

5. Focus on getting better, rather than being good. Believing you have the ability to reach your goals is important, but so is believing you can get the ability. Many of us believe that our intelligence, our personality, and our physical aptitudes are fixed — that no matter what we do, we won't improve. As a result, we focus on goals that are all about proving ourselves, rather than developing and acquiring new skills.

 

5. 专注于精益求精。   相信自己拥有完成目标的能力很重要，同样重要的是相信自己能获得完成目标所需的能力。大多数人认为个人的智力、性格、天赋是不变的，无论我们多么努力，都不会得到改善。因此，我们只关注那些可以证明自己能力的目标，而不是那些可以让自己获取和发展新能力的目标。

 

Fortunately, decades of research suggest that the belief in fixed ability is completely wrong — abilities of all kinds are profoundly malleable. Embracing the fact that you can change will allow you to make better choices, and reach your fullest potential. People whose goals are about getting better, rather than being good, take difficulty in stride, and appreciate the journey as much as the destination.

 

值得庆幸的是，几十年的研究表明认为能力不变的看法是完全错误的，人的各种能力都是可以塑造的。信奉自身可以变化这一事实能帮助自己做出更好的选择，充分发挥个人的潜力。那些追求“百尺竿头，更进一步”的人，面临困难时仍大踏步地前进，注重结果也享受过程。

 

 

6. Have grit. Grit is a willingness to commit to long-term goals, and to persist in the face of difficulty. Studies show that gritty people obtain more education in their lifetime, and earn higher college GPAs. Grit predicts which cadets will stick out their first grueling year at West Point. In fact, grit even predicts which round contestants will make it to at the Scripps National Spelling Bee.

 

6. 坚韧不拔。   坚韧不拔是一种全心全意投入长期目标并且面对困难坚持不懈的精神。研究显示有毅力的人，在其一生中受教育程度更高，大学GPA分数也更突出。在西点军校第一年的魔鬼训练中，坚持到底的往往都是些有毅力的学员。事实上，毅力的高低甚至可以预测在斯克里普斯全国拼字比赛中某个选手能够坚持到第几轮。

 

The good news is, if you aren't particularly gritty now, there is something you can do about it. People who lack grit more often than not believe that they just don't have the innate abilities successful people have. If that describes your own thinking .... well, there's no way to put this nicely: you are wrong. As I mentioned earlier, effort, planning, persistence, and good strategies are what it really takes to succeed. Embracing this knowledge will not only help you see yourself and your goals more accurately, but also do wonders for your grit.

 

值得高兴的是，此刻若你觉得自己的意志还不够坚定，你可以做一些努力来改变它。通常来说，缺少毅力大的人会认为这是因为自己不具备成功人士所拥有的天赋造成的。如果你也是这么想的，你就大错特错了！正如我之前所说的，付出努力、仔细规划、坚持不懈、做好统筹安排才是成功之道。认可这一点，不仅能使你更准确地看待自己及目标。还能奇迹般地提升你的毅力。

 

 

7. Build your willpower muscle. Your self-control "muscle" is just like the other muscles in your body — when it doesn't get much exercise, it becomes weaker over time. But when you give it regular workouts by putting it to good use, it will grow stronger and stronger, and better able to help you successfully reach your goals.

 

7. 增强意志力。   每个人的自我约束力就像身体的肌肉组织一样，不用则废，多用则强。当你经常锻炼它，意志力会不断增强，并更有助于你实现个人目标。

 

To build willpower, take on a challenge that requires you to do something you'd honestly rather not do. Give up high-fat snacks, do 100 sit-ups a day, stand up straight when you catch yourself slouching, try to learn a new skill. When you find yourself wanting to give in, give up, or just not bother — don't. Start with just one activity, and make a plan for how you will deal with troubles when they occur ("If I have a craving for a snack, I will eat one piece of fresh or three pieces of dried fruit.") It will be hard in the beginning, but it will get easier, and that's the whole point. As your strength grows, you can take on more challenges and step-up your self-control workout.

 

增强意志力，需要你参与一些自己并不乐意接受的挑战。比如说，不再吃高脂肪零食、每天做100个仰卧起坐、当感觉没精打采时站直身姿、试着学习一项新技能等。当你退缩、想要放弃或者感到厌烦时，挺住！从一件事情开始着手，为可能出现的困难制定应对措施（“若我很想吃零食，我就吃一口新鲜水果或三块干果。”）。万事开头难，但逐渐会变得容易，这就是要领。当你的意志力增强时，就可以接受更多的挑战，加快自我约束的训练步伐。

 

 

8. Don't tempt fate. No matter how strong your willpower muscle becomes, it's important to always respect the fact that it is limited, and if you overtax it you will temporarily run out of steam. Don't try to take on two challenging tasks at once, if you can help it (like quitting smoking and dieting at the same time). And don't put yourself in harm's way — many people are overly-confident in their ability to resist temptation, and as a result they put themselves in situations where temptations abound. Successful people know not to make reaching a goal harder than it already is.

 

8. 不要冒不必要的险。    不管你的意志力有多么强大，都得接受这样一个事实，个人的意志力是有限的，如果你超负荷工作，也会暂时性地感到筋疲力尽。如果条件允许的话，不要同时执行两件很有挑战性的任务（例如同时戒烟与节食）。不要到处挑战困难，多数人过度自信于自己抵制诱惑的能力，结果是自己沉浸于诱惑的泥沼中无法自拔。成功人士在实现目标的道路上会见好就收。

 

 

9. Focus on what you will do, not what you won't do. Do you want to successfully lose weight, quit smoking, or put a lid on your bad temper? Then plan how you will replace bad habits with good ones, rather than focusing only on the bad habits themselves. Research on thought suppression (e.g., "Don't think about white bears!") has shown that trying to avoid a thought makes it even more active in your mind. The same holds true when it comes to behavior — by trying not to engage in a bad habit, our habits get strengthened rather than broken.

 

9. 专注于你要做的，而非你不要做的事情。    你想成功地瘦身、戒烟和改掉坏脾气吗？那么就考虑如何用一些好习惯来取代这些坏习惯吧，不要成天只盯着这些坏习惯。关于思维抑制的研究表明，你越是抑制一个念头（如“不要想白熊！”），它就会在你的大脑中愈加活跃。这一研究结果同样适用于人类的行为，人们越是努力不要养成坏习惯，这习惯反而会变得根深蒂固。

 

 

If you want to change your ways, ask yourself, What will I do instead? For example, if you are trying to gain control of your temper and stop flying off the handle, you might make a plan like "If I am starting to feel angry, then I will take three deep breaths to calm down." By using deep breathing as a replacement for giving in to your anger, your bad habit will get worn away over time until it disappears completely.

 

如果你想改变自己的行为方式，问问你自己，我能做点其他什么事呢？例如，你想努力控制脾气，不要再大发雷霆，你就需要制定一个计划类似于“如果我开始生气，我就深呼吸三下让自己镇定。”作为一个替代行为，像这样通过深呼吸来控制住怒气会使你的坏习惯慢慢减弱直至完全消失。

 

 

It is my hope that, after reading about the nine things successful people do differently, you have gained some insight into all the things you have been doing right all along. Even more important, I hope are able to identify the mistakes that have derailed you, and use that knowledge to your advantage from now on. Remember, you don't need to become a different person to become a more successful one. It's never what you are, but what you do.

 

我希望大家读过此文后，在了解成功人士九个不同做法的基础上，你可以对自己以前之所以成功的原因有更深的了解。更重要的是，你可以识别出那些是曾经阻碍你前进的障碍，从今开始应用上述知识增强自己的竞争优势。请记住，你不需要为了成功而变成另外一个人，你是谁并不重要，重要的是你做了什么。