英语美文朗读 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.

 

人生没有捷径，也不能投机取巧。如果你想轻松地过一生，它可能会比你想象中的要漫长和痛苦许多。之所以这么说是因为我栽过跟头。在我的生命中，我曾走过许多次捷径，但结局却总是不尽人意。

 

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.

人生中的高光时刻往往是那些面对重大挑战的时刻。我曾参过军，知难而进地选择了海军，最后一路撑到了海豹突击队。在那里，我有幸成为了领头兵。这一路当中，我在战场上体会到了许多从未体会过的成功法则。其中最值得一提的感悟是：选择越艰难的道路就越接近成功，这条法则同样也适用于你，你需要奋不顾身地去努力。不过，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.

我来分享一下助我成功的三条法则。第一条：纪律等于自由。二者并非矛盾，而是相辅相成的。纪律或许被视为自由的反面，但其实，纪律是执行任务的内驱力。纪律会让那些阻碍你的借口不攻自破。

 

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.

有人觉得动力会激励他们来达成目标，但动力其实只是一种情绪，一种感觉，和所有感觉一样，它是来去无常、飘渺不定的。动力可能不会帮你渡过一个个难关、越过一座座高山，但是纪律可以，纪律是你的内驱力。动力可能不会让你天天坚持锻炼身体，但是纪律可以。动力可能不会让你熬夜去完成任务，但是纪律可以。动力可能不能让你早起，但是纪律可以。如果纪律可以成为习惯，那么生活一定会更好。

 

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.

 

第二个法则是：谦虚。你经常会去做一些你并不想做的事情，一些你觉得不该去做的事情，一些违背了你原则的事情。当我通过了海豹突击队的初级训练之后，我收到的第一个任务居然是刷厕所。没错，当我通过了地狱级别的军事训练并且加入了“精英突击队”之后，我收到的第一个任务居然是刷厕所。一个难以启齿的任务。

 

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，我尽全力去完成，并且做的很漂亮。其中难能可贵的是态度：如果我把厕所打扫的十分干净，那么或许长官就可以分配更重要的任务给我。一段时间之后，我如愿以偿，而这就是谦逊的力量。谦虚并不意味着缺乏自信。你要相信你自己的能力，但千万不要过度自信甚至自负。所以保持适当的自尊心和谦虚的态度是非常重要的。

 

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.

 

第三条法则是责任，要有责任心，我叫它“极端责任制”。 在部队，最好的长官和最好的士兵是那些对最有责任心的人，能抗起所有艰难险阻，而并非做好自己的本职工作。当事情发生的时候，他们无怨无悔，正视问题、解决问题。你也可以学习这种态度，不仅仅只对工作负责，而是生活中的方方面面负责。让别人去责怪家长、上司或是体制吧，让弱者去抱怨世界的不公吧。我的人生我来做主。

 

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，不要被动力的字眼迷惑，凡事都要有纪律；保持谦逊并乐于解决问题；高度掌控你生活中的方方面面。然后，不要怕绕弯路，踏上一条充满着责任、努力和奉献的道路，一条布满自律、谦逊和掌控的道路，这些最终会给予你自由。如果你照我说的做，那么你将无往不胜。 我是 Prager 学院Jocko播客的主持人，和《极端领导力》的作者 Jocko Willink.