人生不设限·你真的准备好了吗

在评估时，还得考虑时机。有时——特别是在你年轻时——一些诱人的机会出现的时机可能不太对。例如，你不会想在自己还不够格或还没准备好的情况下，接受某一份工作，就好像你不应该急着去进行自己负担不起的奢华之旅，因为要付出的代价太高了，事后你可能得花很长的时间才能恢复。

Timing is another consideration when making these assessments. Sometimes, especially when you are young, tempting offers present themselves, but the timing may be off. You don't want to accept a job that you aren't qualified for or prepared to master, just as you shouldn't rush off on a luxury vacation you can't afford. The cost is too high. It will take you too long to recover.

我演说生涯初期犯下的重大错误之一，就是我在其实还没准备好要面对一大群听众之前，就接了下一个大型演讲的邀约。当然，不是说我没啥好讲的，只是我还没把自己要讲的东西组织好，表达技巧也还锻炼得不够完善。所以，我缺乏完成那次演讲的自信。

One of the biggest mistakes I made early in my public speaking career was accepting an invitation to address a large audience before I'd really prepared for such a thing. It wasn't that I had nothing to say, I just hadn't organized my material or honed my presentation. As a result, I lacked the self-confidence to pull it off.

我结结巴巴地讲完，大家都对我很好，但我真的搞砸了。不过等情绪平复之后，我也从那次的经验中学到，我应该抓住的是那些我完全准备好、处理得来的机会。这不是说你不应该抓住某个机会或选择，好强迫自己借此扩展境界和成长，因为我们的状况有时比自己知道的要好，因此上帝会推我们一下，让我们应时而起，朝着自己的梦想迈一大步。

I stuttered and stammered through that speech. People were kind to me, but I had blown it. But I learned from the experience, recovered, and realized that I should seize only those moments that I am fully prepared to handle. That's not to say that you shouldn't jump on an offer or an option that forces you to stretch and grow. Sometimes we're more prepared than we realize, so God gives us a nudge that allows us to rise to the occasion and take a giant step toward our dreams.

当红的选秀节目《美国偶像》就是根据这样的概念制作的。有许多年轻的参赛者在压力之下崩溃，或是了解到他们根本还没准备好要进入演艺圈。然而偶尔总有些平凡人会冒出来，并且在强烈的压力下大放异彩。

American Idol, the hit television show, is built on that concept. In each episode, many of the young contestants crack under the pressure, or realize that they simply aren't ready for stardom. But now and then a raw talent emerges and blossoms under the intense pressure. A select few, notably Carrie Under-wood, Jennifer Hudson, Chris Daugherty, and Kelly Clarkson, have launched wonderful careers because they stretched, grew, and kept rising.

你必须衡量各种选择，并细心评估，看看哪些是能够带你到目的地的踏脚石，哪些又会让你失足跌倒。就像我遇上的第一个电影提案一样，你也会碰到那种可以带给你短期好处，却不符合你的长期目标的机会。别忘了，今天你作了什么样的决定，就会带给你什么样的明天——年轻人不太了解这一点，所以常常在还没想清楚这个人是否适合长久在一起时，就快速跳入一段亲密关系里。

You need to weigh your options and carefully consider which stepping-stones will lead you to your goals, and which might cause you to slip and fall. Like me and the first movie role I was offered, you will come across opportunities that would serve a short-term goal but don't match up to your long-term objectives. Your decisions today will follow you into tomorrow. Often young people jump into relationships without considering whether the person is good for them over the long term.

在网络上，我们要非常注意安全问题，不论是财务状况、名声或我们必须保护的私生活都要小心。我们要假设，你在网络世界所做的每一件事——有你出现在里头的照片和影片、你发的每封E-mail、在网志上发表的每篇文章、你网页上的每则评论——都会在某时某地出现在搜寻引擎上，而且它们在地球上存活的时间可能比你长。一旦你不假思索就把一些东西放到网络上，日后它们会如何对你纠缠不休?请仔细想想这样做的后果，然后要记住，在评估机会时也是如此。机会带来的结果可能会帮助你或伤害你，而无论是帮助或伤害，都会是长期的。短期的好处或许看来很棒，但长远的后果会是什么呢?

We're often reminded how security conscious we need to be when it comes to the Internet, whether it is our financial selves, our public reputation, or our private life that we need to protect. We're reminded that you've got to assume that everything you do—every photograph and video you appear in, every e-mail you send, every blog you write, every comment on your Web page—will show up in a search engine somewhere at some point and will exist on earth probably longer than you do. Just as you have to think carefully about how the things you post online without thinking can come back to haunt you, remember that the same is true in our lives when we evaluate opportunities that come our way. They have long-term consequences—which can help you or hurt you. The short-term benefits may look great, but what will the long-term repercussions be?

往后退一点，宏观地来看。请记住，你经常接受考验，但人生可不是一场考试，它是玩真的。你每天所作的决定会影响你的一生，所以请仔细评估，然后听听你的直觉和你的心怎么说。如果直觉告诉你，这不是个好主意，那就听直觉的吧。但如果你的心告诉你要把握机会，而这个机会又符合你的价值观及长期目标，那就去做吧!有时候，某些提议会让我兴奋到全身起鸡皮疙瘩，迫不及待想要赶紧投入，但我必须沉住气，祈求上帝赐给我智慧，作出正确的决定。

Step back and look at the big picture. Remember, you are often tested, but life itself is not a test. It's the real deal. The decisions you make every day impact the quality of your entire life. Assess carefully, then check your gut and your heart. If your gut tells you something's a bad idea, go with your gut. But if your heart tells you to leap at an opportunity—and it is aligned with your values and long-term goals—make the leap! There are still times when an offer arises that gives me goose bumps and I'm so excited that I want to just dive right in. But then I need to take a breath and pray for the wisdom to make the right decision.