Truly happy and successful people get that way by becoming the best, most genuine version of themselves they can be. Not on the outside--on the inside. It's not about a brand, a reputation, a persona. It's about reality. Who you really are.
真的快乐成功的人会长成最好最真实的自己——从内心而非外表上。要紧的不是品牌、名誉或者外表形象，而是真实的自我。
Sounds simple, I know. It is a simple concept. The problem is, it's very hard to do, it takes a lot of work, and it can take a lifetime to figure it out.
道理非常简单，讲出来也比较容易。但问题是，做起来就不简单了：这需要付诸不少努力，甚或一辈子才能达成。
Nothing worth doing in life is ever easy. If you want to do great work, it's going to take a lot of hard work to do it. And you're going to have to break out of your comfort zone and take some chances that will scare the crap out of you.
需要穷尽毕生精力的事情一定困难。成大事者必先苦其心志。因此，你需要走出舒适区，去历程、去体验那些会叫你害怕的机会。
But you know, I can't think of a better way to spend your life. I mean, what's life for if not finding yourself and trying to become the best, most genuine version of you that you can be?
况且，人这一辈子，若到头来都认不清自己、未能长成最好最真实的自己，还有哪些意义呢？
That's what Steve Jobs meant when he said this at a Stanford University commencement speech:
正如史蒂夫-乔布斯在斯坦福大学的毕业典礼上所言：
Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life. Don't let the noise of others' opinions drown out your own inner voice.
时间宝贵，不要虚掷光阴过着别人的生活。不要让周遭的聒噪言论蒙蔽你内心的声音。
You have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something--your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever. This approach has never let me down, and it has made all the difference in my life.
你要相信，日常的偶然冥冥中也能引导将来。你要心怀信念——相信你的直觉、命、生活抑或因缘。这个办法一直给我力量，促进我过得卓然不同。
The only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven't found it yet, keep looking. Don't settle.
成大事的唯一渠道就是做自己喜欢的事情。若你还没有找到，那就继续追寻吧，不要停下来。
Now, let's for a moment be realistic about this. Insightful as that advice may be, it sounds a little too amorphous and challenging to resonate with today's quick-fix culture. These days, if you can't tell people exactly what to do and how to do it, it falls on deaf ears.
目前大家来实质一点：建议可能非常深刻，但听完却叫人无从着手，很难运用到当今的快步伐文化中。而今，假如一个建议讲不清具体干什么、该如何做的话，那样说了也等于白说。
Not only that, but what Jobs was talking about, what I'm talking about, requires focus and discipline, two things that are very hard to come by these days. Why? Because, focus and discipline are hard. It's so much easier to give in to distraction and instant gratification. Easy and addictive.
不只这样，乔布斯的讲话和我要说的话都需要集中和自制——这两个品质在当今社会很难能可贵。何以见得？由于集中和自制都困难做到。大家比较容易分散注意力、寻求即时快感——舒服且容易上瘾。
To give you a little incentive to take on the challenge, to embark on the road to self-discovery, here are three huge benefits from working to become the best, most genuine version of yourself.
为勉励你迎接挑战、踏上寻求自我的旅途，我列出了成为最好最真实自己后的三大益处：
It will make you happy. Getting to know yourself will make you feel more comfortable in your own skin. It will reduce your stress and anxiety. It will make you a better spouse, a better parent, a better friend. It will make you a better person. Those are all pretty good reasons, if you ask me.
你会感到快乐。知道自己后会叫你更愉悦地同意自己，减轻你的重压和焦虑，使你成为更好的伴侣、爸爸妈妈、朋友，叫你成为一个更美好的人。这类益处难道不够说服你为之努力吗？
Besides, you really won't achieve anything significant in life until you know the real you. Not your brand, your linkedIn profile, how you come across, or what anyone thinks of you. The genuine you. There's one simple reason why you shouldn't try to be something you're not, and it's that you can't. The real you will come out anyway. So forget your personal brand and start spending time on figuring out who you really are and trying to become the best version of that you can be.
而且，只有知道真实的自己方能收获大事。你需要知道那个真实的你，而不是你的品牌、名誉、linkedlIn资料、你的过去抑或别人对你的怎么看。为何你不应该过别人的生活？非常简单，由于第一你不是“别的人”，你的本性总有一天会现形。所以，请放开你的品牌形象，努力挖掘真实自我、努力把自己经营成最好的自己吧。
You pay a huge price when you engage in mindless distraction. The only people that really care about you are your loved ones, your friends and family. Everyone else is too busy living his own little mini drama. To put it bluntly, your network couldn't care less about you.
盲目分心的代价非常大。真的在乎你的只有你所爱的人、你的亲人和朋友。而别的人都只围着我们的小日子转罢了。说穿了，社交关系中的人并不靠谱。
That's why engaging yourself and others in mindless distraction isn't worth your time or theirs. More important, it will absolutely keep you from focusing on accomplishing whatever great things you might manage to achieve in life if you set your mind to it.
所以，费时盲目分心应对自己或别人都没意义。更紧急的是，当你决心着手日常的大计划时，分心会有碍你集中完成目的。
There's a business concept called opportunity cosplayt. When you choose one course of action, you miss out on all the other opportunities you might have chosen to pursue but didn't. People rarely sTOP to consider that until it's too late.
有一个商业术语叫“机会本钱”。当你选定某个行为时，你也会错过其他原本可以选择的机会。极少有人能意识到这一点，即使意识到也为时已晚。
It's the most exciting journey you will ever embark on. We're all enthralled by adventure. We love to read and watch movies about other people's journeys, real or imagined. The Hobbit. Raiders of the Lost Ark. Into Thin Air.
这将是一段前所未有些有趣旅程。大家都乐于于冒险，热爱阅读和观看有关别人或真实或虚构的旅程电影，比如，《霍比特人》、《夺宝奇兵》或《走进空气稀薄地带》。
We love to take vacations, to travel to all sorts of places. And when we do, we revel in the natural beauty of Kauai's Na Pali Coast, the Grand Canyon, the Alps. We marvel at the great works of others: the art, the architecture, the Pyramids, Stonehenge.
大家热爱假期，喜欢到各地旅游。大家会惊叹于考艾岛上纳波利海岸的自然风光，迷上美国大峡谷、阿尔卑斯山。大家也会惊叹于别人的杰作：艺术、建筑、金字塔、巨石阵等等。
And yet, the opportunity for adventure is right there in front of each and every one of us. Until you take it, you'll never know what you might achieve. What marvels you might create. What you might discover. All you have to do is start the journey.
而且，冒险之门向每一个人打开。打开这扇门之前，哪个也不了解能获得什么收成，会创造什么奇迹，又或有什么新的发现……你所要做的，只是启程。
（翻译：商绮羽）
