極端的成功源自極端的個性,并且要在其他方面付出代價。我認為,極端的成功與你所說的“成功”不同,所以你要清楚,你不必像理查德?布蘭森或埃隆?穆斯克一樣富有,成就卓絕,或者保持高的生活水準。這樣一來,你便更有可能獲得幸福。 但如果你也屬于極端的人,你必須堅持自己的方式,這意味著幸福或多或少已經(jīng)無關(guān)緊要。 極端的人往往與社會格格不入,他們不得不用常人難以想象的、具有挑戰(zhàn)性的方式,來體驗這個世界。他們會形成一套自己的生存策略,隨著年齡的增長,他們會通過各種方式將這些策略應(yīng)用到其他方面,從而為他們創(chuàng)造出強大的獨特優(yōu)勢。他們的思維方式異于常人。他們看待事物的角度與眾不同,能夠啟發(fā)新的想法和見解。其他人甚至?xí)J為他們是瘋子。 沉迷! 沉迷??! 沉迷?。?! 如果你沒有沉迷于自己所作的事情,不妨停下來,尋找一件能夠真正讓你著迷的事情去做。擁有自我意識會有所幫助,但要想激勵優(yōu)秀人才來幫助你,那你必須獻身于更大的事業(yè)。也許,人們會圍繞在你身邊,贊美你多了不起,你的成就多么偉大,即便這些并非事實。此時,“更大的事業(yè)”可以防止你因為這些恭維而變得飄飄然。 不要因為你想變得偉大而去做一件事情。致力于某件事情的原因在于它令你著迷——因為追求的過程本身便能吸引你,促使你為之努力。極端的人會將聰明智慧與瘋狂的工作態(tài)度相結(jié)合,所以,如果工作本身不能驅(qū)動你,你會感覺精疲力竭甚至半途而廢,或者會有同樣極端的競爭對手將你打垮,讓你品嘗失敗的苦果。 追隨你所癡迷的事業(yè),等待問題的出現(xiàn)。這個問題非常重要,發(fā)人深省,并且極富挑戰(zhàn)性,會影響到許多人,你下定決心去解決它或為之付出全部。而要找到這樣的問題可能需要數(shù)年時間,因為你必須探索不同領(lǐng)域的知識,收集不同的細節(jié),然后將它們聯(lián)系起來,勾勒出一個完整的問題。 擁有超出常人的精力和毅力也會有所幫助。如果你沒有上天賜予的優(yōu)秀基因,那就應(yīng)該努力達到最佳身體狀態(tài)。你將面對時差反應(yīng)、心理疲勞、瘋狂的派對、孤獨且毫無意義的會面、重大的挫折、家庭變故、與聚少離多的另一半的問題、在深夜拷問靈魂、令你感到厭煩和煩惱的人、睡眠過少甚至徹夜不眠等等。身體健康才能保證頭腦清醒。這將給你帶來回報。 學(xué)會處理超越大多數(shù)人極限的壓力。 不要走前人走過的路,也不要想著模仿你的偶像。永遠沒有“下一步”。極端的成功不同于其他類型的成功——對某個人有效的方法,不見得適合你。他們都有大膽的觀點,知道如何利用自己獨一無二的特殊優(yōu)勢。他們特立獨行,他們之所以能夠成為今天的成功企業(yè)家,原因之一是他們不能或者不愿適應(yīng)公司生活的結(jié)構(gòu)和例行程序。他們有閱讀障礙癥,孤獨癥,注意力缺陷障礙,與這個世界格格不入,時常惹怒他人,陷入爭執(zhí),惹是生非,看不起文書工作。他們會通過我前文所說的那些策略,將劣勢變成新的優(yōu)勢,并且對于自己能力不足的領(lǐng)域,他們會尋找其中的出類拔萃者,使其成為自己的合作伙伴。 他們從不害怕失敗——或者即便他們害怕失敗,也依舊會勇往直前。他們將經(jīng)歷巨大的、慘烈的、令人蒙羞的、公開的失敗,但他們會不斷嘗試,直到重新獲得成功。他們經(jīng)歷過他人無法經(jīng)歷的失敗,因此他們也將學(xué)到其他人沒有學(xué)到而且永遠無法學(xué)到的東西。他們有驚人的勇氣和韌性。 他們不可能閱讀這樣的文章。(這樣說并不是在抨擊或批評本文的讀者。我本人也喜歡閱讀這樣的內(nèi)容。)他們可能會直接讀一本書,如名人傳記,例如亞歷山大大帝、葉卡捷琳娜二世或他們心目中的其他偉人。上網(wǎng)非常浪費時間,并且他們知道自己的時間極其寶貴,即便在他們的時間尚沒有如此寶貴的時候,他們也不敢浪費。 我還可以列舉更多這類人的特點。這是一個有趣的話題,但你應(yīng)該能明白我的意思。祝你好運,希望你獲得力量。如果有需要,你或許可以來一杯烈酒。 譯者:劉進龍/汪皓 審校:任文科 |
Extreme success results from an extreme personality and comes at the cost of many other things. Extreme success is different from what I suppose you could just consider “success,” so know that you don’t have to be Richard or Elon to be affluent, accomplished and maintain a great lifestyle. Your odds of happiness are better that way. But if you’re extreme, you must be what you are, which means that happiness is more or less beside the point. These people tend to be freaks and misfits who were forced to experience the world in an unusually challenging way. They developed strategies to survive, and as they grow older they find ways to apply these strategies to other things, while creating for themselves a distinct and powerful advantage. They don’t think the way other people think. They see things from angles that unlock new ideas and insights. Other people consider them to be somewhat insane. Be obsessed. Be obsessed. Be obsessed. If you’re not obsessed, then stop what you’re doing and find whatever does obsess you. It helps to have an ego, but you must be in service to something bigger if you are to inspire the people you need to help you (and make no mistake, you will need them). That “something bigger” prevents you from going off into the ether when people flock around you and tell you how fabulous you are when you aren’t and how great your stuff is when it isn’t. Don’t pursue something because you want to be great. Pursue something because it fascinates you — because the pursuit itself engages and compels you. Extreme people combine brilliance and talent with an insane work ethic, so if the work itself doesn’t drive you, you will burn out or fall by the wayside, or your extreme competitors will crush you and make you cry. Follow your obsessions until a problem starts to emerge — a big, meaty, challenging problem that impacts as many people as possible — that you feel hellbent to solve or die trying. It might take years to find that problem, because you have to explore different bodies of knowledge, collect the dots and then connect and complete them. It helps to have superhuman energy and stamina. If you are not blessed with godlike genetics, then make it a point to get into the best shape possible. There will be jet lag, mental fatigue, bouts of hard partying, loneliness, pointless meetings, major setbacks, family drama, issues with the significant other you rarely see, dark nights of the soul, people who bore and annoy you, little sleep, and less sleep than that. Keep your body sharp to keep your mind sharp. It pays off. Learn to handle a level of stress that would break most people. Don’t follow a pre-existing path, and don’t look to imitate your role models. There is no next step. Extreme success is not like other kinds of success — what has worked for someone else probably won’t work for you. They are individuals with bold points of view who exploit their very particular set of unique and particular strengths. They are unconventional, and one reason they become the entrepreneurs they become is because they can’t or don’t or won’t fit into the structures and routines of corporate life. They are dyslexic, they are autistic, they have ADD, they are square pegs in round holes, they piss people off, get into arguments, rock the boat, and laugh in the face of paperwork. But they transform weaknesses in ways that create added advantage — the strategies I mentioned earlier — and seek partnerships with people who excel in the areas where they have no talent whatsoever. They do not fear failure — or they do, but they move ahead anyway. They will experience heroic, spectacular, humiliating, very public failure but find a way to reframe until it isn’t failure at all. When they fail in ways that other people won’t, they learn things that other people don’t and never will. They have incredible grit and resilience. They are unlikely to be reading stuff like this. (This is not to slam or criticize people who do. I love to read this stuff myself.) They are more likely to go straight to a book, perhaps a biography of Alexander the Great, Catherine the Great or someone else they consider great. Surfing the Internet is a deadly timesuck, and given what they know their time is worth — even back in the day when technically it was not worth that — they can’t afford it. I could go on. It’s a fascinating subject, but you get the idea. I wish you luck and strength and perhaps a stiff drink should you need it. |