如何找到充满成就感的工作：英语精读讲义

The idea that work might be fulfilling rather than just painfully necessary 語法

认为工作可以是令人满足的，而不仅仅是痛苦且必要的，

is a strikingly recent invention.

这种观念的出现惊人地晚。

Open Dr. Johnson's celebrated dictionary published in 1755,

翻开约翰逊博士在1755年出版的著名词典，

and the word fulfillment doesn't even appear.

“满足感 (fulfillment)” 这个词甚至没有出现。

Nowadays in the prosperous world,

如今，在繁荣的世界里，

we don't only expect to obtain money through our labor.

我们不只期望通过劳动获得金钱。

We also,

我们还，

to a greater or lesser extent, 短語搭配

或多或少地，

expect to find meaning and satisfaction.

期望找到意义和满足感。

It's a big ask 用詞

这是一个很高的要求，

and helps to explain why so many of us have career crises, 表達脈絡

也有助于解释为什么我们中有这么多人会有职业危机，

often on a Sunday evening,

通常是在周日晚上，

as the sun begins to set.

当太阳开始落山时。

To help us on the quest for fulfilling work, 短語搭配

为了帮助我们寻求令人满足的工作，

here are six useful ideas.

这里有六个有用的建议。

Firstly,

第一，

accept that being confused about careers is perfectly normal.

接受对职业感到困惑是完全正常的。

In the pre-industrial world,

在前工业世界，

there were at most some 2,000 different trades out there.

外面最多只有大约2000种不同的行业。

Nowadays,

如今，

there are estimated to be half a million different options.

估计有五十万种不同的选择。

The result?

结果呢？

We can become so anxious about making the wrong choice,

我们会因为担心做出错误的选择而变得如此焦虑，

we end up making no choice at all. 短語動詞

以至于我们最终什么选择也没做。

Psychologists call this the paradox of choice, 用詞

心理学家称之为“选择的悖论”，

paralysis stemming from too many options. 短語動詞

即选项过多导致的瘫痪。

We should acknowledge that confusion is natural

我们应该承认困惑是自然的，

and fear entirely normal,

恐惧也完全正常，

but let neither of these scupper our chances forever. 語法

但不要让这两者永远破坏我们的机会。

Secondly,

第二，

know yourself.

认识你自己。

It's the oldest philosophical recommendation

这是最古老的哲学建议，

and is of particular relevance to careers. 短語搭配

并且与职业特别相关。

For 99% of us,

对我们99%的人来说，

knowing what we want to do doesn't arise spontaneously,

知道自己想做什么并不是自发产生的，

like, for example,

比如，

knowing what to eat.

知道自己想吃什么。

Most of us don't have a calling, 用詞

我们大多数人并没有什么使命感，

we don't hear a commanding godlike voice directing us to accountancy or packaging and distribution.

我们听不到某种神圣的声音命令我们去从事会计或包装配送工作。

That isn't to say we don't have tastes or inclinations, 表達脈絡

这并不是说我们没有兴趣或倾向，

we just don't know them clearly enough,

我们只是对它们认识得不够清楚，

which is a perilous position to be in,

这是一个危险的处境，

as not having a plan quickly puts us at the mercy of those who do have one. 習語

因为没有计划会很快让我们受制于那些有计划的人。

We only catch glimpses, 短語搭配

我们只能瞥见，

little hints of our tastes.

我们兴趣的一些小线索。

So what we have to do is learn to pick up on their faint sounds. 短語動詞

所以我们需要做的是学会捕捉它们微弱的声音。

Start by parking any concerns for money for a time. 用詞

首先，暂时搁置对金钱的任何担忧。

Financial panic too often kills all dialogue with the more authentic,

财务恐慌往往会扼杀与个人天性中更真实、

passionate sides of one's nature.

更有激情的方面进行的所有对话。

Write down without being too logical or analytical about it,

写下来，不要太过逻辑化或分析化，

everything you've ever enjoyed doing or making,

所有你曾经喜欢做或制造的东西，

which might include building a treehouse or sorting out the winter clothes.

这可能包括建一个树屋或整理冬装。

The weirder and more offbeat the list, 語法

清单越奇怪、越不寻常，

the better.

越好。

In the long and confused tangle that follows,

在随后漫长而混乱的纠葛中，

there will somewhere be the shape of an ideal future working self.

在某个地方，会有一个未来理想工作自我的雏形。

But it'll be very messed up and in need of being analyzed thoroughly. 語法

但它会非常混乱，需要彻底的分析。

That's where philosophy comes in. 短語動詞

这就是哲学发挥作用的地方。

Philosophy is the art of clearing up and demanding logic of our first thoughts.

哲学就是理清我们最初的想法并要求其符合逻辑的艺术。

Thirdly,

第三，

think a lot.

多思考。

If it might take a couple of days,

如果可能需要两三天，

even a week to choose a new car,

甚至一周的时间来挑选一辆新车，

it could fairly take a year or more of sustained daily reflection to start to identify a career that fits.

那么花一年或更长时间坚持每天反思，来开始确定一份合适的职业也是很合理的。

We tend to feel guilty about

我们往往对此感到内疚，

this, imagining we're being self-indulgent.

认为我们在放纵自己。

Far from it. 語氣意圖

远非如此。

We may need to empty every weekend for months to sort out the biggest conundrum of our lives. 短語動詞

我们可能需要连续几个月空出每个周末，来解决我们人生中最大的难题。

To make sure we don't continue to spend the rest of our lives trapped in a job unwittingly chosen for us by our unknowing 16-year-old selves, 語法

为了确保我们不会在余生中继续被困在一份由不懂事的16岁时的自己不知不觉为我们选择的工作中，

we need to be properly generous about the amount of time we'll need to give this.

我们需要对自己将要投入的充足时间保持宽容。

Fourthly,

第四，

try something.

去尝试。

It's tempting to imagine we'll be able to work out the shape of the workplace and of our own characters simply through pure process of reflection, 講解

我们很容易想象，只需通过纯粹的反思过程就能勾勒出职场和我们自身性格的轮廓，

but we need data.

但我们需要数据。

And we can only understand ourselves and others by colliding with the real world, 習語

我们只有通过与现实世界碰撞才能了解自己和他人，

in the process getting to know both it and our own natures. 短語搭配

在这个过程中了解世界和我们自己的本性。

We need to take small, non-irrevocable steps to gather information, 短語搭配

我们需要采取微小的、可挽回的步骤来收集信息，

for example, by shadowing, interning, or volunteering. 用詞

比如，通过观摩学习、实习或做志愿工作。

We mustn't think we always have to resign on Monday.

我们不能认为总得在星期一辞职。

We can investigate our futures through branching projects on the side of existing jobs.

我们可以通过在现有工作之外的分支项目来探索我们的未来。

Five,

第五，

reflect on what makes people unhappy.

反思是什么让人不开心。

Every successful business is at heart an attempt to solve someone else's problem. 習語

每一项成功的生意，核心都是试图解决别人的问题。

The bigger and more urgent the problem, 語法

问题越大、越紧迫，

the greater the opportunity.

机会就越大。

To flex your entrepreneurial muscles, 習語

为了锻炼你的创业肌肉，

consider an average day and everything in it that might make someone unhappy,

想想平凡的一天，以及其中可能让某人不开心的一切，

from losing the house keys to finding the food a little greasy,

从丢了家门钥匙，到觉得食物有点油腻，

to arguing yet again with their spouse.

再到又一次和配偶吵架。

Each of these is a business opportunity waiting to be exploited. 語法

这每一个都是等待被开发的商业机会。

It's a chance for us to serve,

这是我们提供服务的机会，

which is what work really is. 語法

而这正是工作的本质。

It's easy to imagine that everything's been done and tried.

很容易让人觉得一切都已经被做过、被尝试过了。

Nonsense.

胡说八道。

We're unhappy enough for capitalism to have many more centuries of invention and creativity to it. 語法

我们的不开心足以让资本主义在未来几个世纪拥有更多的发明和创造力。

Six,

第六，

be confident.

要有信心。

So many bad self-help books are about confidence,

有很多糟糕的自助书籍都在谈论自信，

it can be tempting to dismiss the whole topic as nonsense. 短語搭配

很容易让人想把整个话题当作胡说八道而不予理会。

But in a peculiar and rather humbling way,

但是，以一种奇特而让人感到谦卑的方式，

it really does seem as if the difference between success and failure is sometimes nothing less than the courage to give it a go. 講解

似乎成功与失败之间的区别有时真的不过就是放手一搏的勇气。

The ability to imagine oneself into a role,

能把自己想象进一个角色的能力，

to surmise one doesn't need to ask anyone for permission, 短語搭配

去推测自己不需要征求任何人的许可，

that many of the top positions simply belong to those who dare to boldly ask for them.

许多顶尖职位仅仅属于那些敢于大胆去要的人。

A lack of confidence is at heart a misunderstanding of the way the world works.

缺乏自信，核心是对世界运作方式的误解。

It's an internalized feudalism, 習語

这是一种内化的封建主义，

which imagines that only certain people,

它想象只有某些人，

but not oneself,

而不是自己，

have the right preordained to get certain things.

有命中注定的权利去获得某些东西。

It isn't true.

这不是真的。

As we know,

如我们所知，

a lot more is possible than we might think at our moments of timidity and doubt. 語法

在我们胆怯和怀疑的时刻，能做到的比我们想象的要多得多。

That's the start of the path towards a job we won't regret on our deathbeds. 習語

这是走向一份我们临终时不会后悔的工作的开始。

Which should always be the ultimate criterion.

这应该始终是最终的标准。