如何找到充滿成就感的工作：英語精讀講義

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

認為工作可以是令人滿足的，而不僅僅是痛苦且必要的，

is a strikingly recent invention.

這種觀念的出現驚人地晚。

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

翻開約翰遜博士在1755年出版的著名詞典，

and the word fulfillment doesn't even appear.

「滿足感 (fulfillment)」 這個詞甚至沒有出現。

Nowadays in the prosperous world,

如今，在繁榮的世界裡，

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

我們不只期望透過勞動獲得金錢。

We also,

我們還，

to a greater or lesser extent, 片語搭配

或多或少地，

expect to find meaning and satisfaction.

期望找到意義和滿足感。

It's a big ask 用詞

這是一個很高的要求，

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

也有助於解釋為什麼我們之中有這麼多人會有職涯危機，

often on a Sunday evening,

通常是在週日晚上，

as the sun begins to set.

當太陽開始落山時。

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

為了幫助我們尋求令人滿足的工作，

here are six useful ideas.

這裡有六個有用的建議。

Firstly,

第一，

accept that being confused about careers is perfectly normal.

接受對職涯感到困惑是完全正常的。

In the pre-industrial world,

在前工業世界，

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

外面最多只有大約2000種不同的行業。

Nowadays,

如今，

there are estimated to be half a million different options.

估計有五十萬種不同的選擇。

The result?

結果呢？

We can become so anxious about making the wrong choice,

我們會因為擔心做出錯誤的選擇而變得如此焦慮，

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

以至於我們最終什麼選擇也沒做。

Psychologists call this the paradox of choice, 用詞

心理學家稱之為「選擇的悖論」，

paralysis stemming from too many options. 片語動詞

即選項過多導致的癱瘓。

We should acknowledge that confusion is natural

我們應該承認困惑是自然的，

and fear entirely normal,

恐懼也完全正常，

but let neither of these scupper our chances forever. 文法

但不要讓這兩者永遠破壞我們的機會。

Secondly,

第二，

know yourself.

認識你自己。

It's the oldest philosophical recommendation

這是最古老的哲學建議，

and is of particular relevance to careers. 片語搭配

並且與職涯特別相關。

For 99% of us,

對我們99%的人來說，

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

知道自己想做什麼並不是自發產生的，

like, for example,

比如，

knowing what to eat.

知道自己想吃什麼。

Most of us don't have a calling, 用詞

我們大多數人並沒有什麼使命感，

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

我們聽不到某種神聖的聲音命令我們去從事會計或包裝配送工作。

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

這並不是說我們沒有興趣或傾向，

we just don't know them clearly enough,

我們只是對它們認識得不夠清楚，

which is a perilous position to be in,

這是一個危險的處境，

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

因為沒有計畫會很快讓我們受制於那些有計畫的人。

We only catch glimpses, 片語搭配

我們只能瞥見，

little hints of our tastes.

我們興趣的一些小線索。

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

所以我們需要做的是學會捕捉它們微弱的聲音。

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

首先，暫時擱置對金錢的任何擔憂。

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

財務恐慌往往會扼殺與個人天性中更真實、

passionate sides of one's nature.

更有熱情的方面進行的所有對話。

Write down without being too logical or analytical about it,

寫下來，不要太過邏輯化或分析化，

everything you've ever enjoyed doing or making,

所有你曾經喜歡做或製造的東西，

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

這可能包括建一個樹屋或整理冬裝。

The weirder and more offbeat the list, 文法

清單越奇怪、越不尋常，

the better.

越好。

In the long and confused tangle that follows,

在隨後漫長而混亂的糾葛中，

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

在某個地方，會有一個未來理想工作自我的雛形。

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

但它會非常混亂，需要徹底的分析。

That's where philosophy comes in. 片語動詞

這就是哲學發揮作用的地方。

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

哲學就是理清我們最初的想法並要求其符合邏輯的藝術。

Thirdly,

第三，

think a lot.

多思考。

If it might take a couple of days,

如果可能需要兩三天，

even a week to choose a new car,

甚至一週的時間來挑選一輛新車，

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

那麼花一年或更長時間堅持每天反思，來開始確定一份合適的職涯也是很合理的。

We tend to feel guilty about

我們往往對此感到內疚，

this, imagining we're being self-indulgent.

認為我們在放縱自己。

Far from it. 語氣意圖

遠非如此。

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

我們可能需要連續幾個月空出每個週末，來解決我們人生中最大的難題。

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, 文法

為了確保我們不會在餘生中繼續被困在一份由不懂事的16歲時的自己不知不覺為我們選擇的工作中，

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

我們需要對自己將要投入的充足時間保持寬容。

Fourthly,

第四，

try something.

去嘗試。

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

我們很容易想像，只需透過純粹的反思過程就能勾勒出職場和我們自身性格的輪廓，

but we need data.

但我們需要數據。

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

我們只有透過與現實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. 片語搭配

在這個過程中了解世界和我們自己的本性。

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

我們需要採取微小的、非不可挽回的步驟來收集資訊，

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

比如，透過觀摩學習、實習或做志工。

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

我們不能認為總得在星期一辭職。

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

我們可以透過在現有工作之外的分支專案來探索我們的未來。

Five,

第五，

reflect on what makes people unhappy.

反思是什麼讓人不開心。

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

每一項成功的生意，核心都是試圖解決別人的問題。

The bigger and more urgent the problem, 文法

問題越大、越緊迫，

the greater the opportunity.

機會就越大。

To flex your entrepreneurial muscles, 慣用語

為了鍛鍊你的創業肌肉，

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

想想平凡的一天，以及其中可能讓某人不開心的一切，

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

從丟了家門鑰匙，到覺得食物有點油膩，

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. 文法

這每一個都是等待被開發的商業機會。

It's a chance for us to serve,

這是我們提供服務的機會，

which is what work really is. 文法

而這正是工作的本質。

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

很容易讓人覺得一切都已經被做過、被嘗試過了。

Nonsense.

胡說八道。

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

我們的不開心足以讓資本主義在未來幾個世紀擁有更多的發明和創造力。

Six,

第六，

be confident.

要有信心。

So many bad self-help books are about confidence,

有很多糟糕的自助書籍都在談論自信，

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

很容易讓人想把整個話題當作胡說八道而不予理會。

But in a peculiar and rather humbling way,

但是，以一種奇特而讓人感到謙卑的方式，

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

似乎成功與失敗之間的區別有時真的不過就是放手一搏的勇氣。

The ability to imagine oneself into a role,

能把自己想像進一個角色的能力，

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

去推測自己不需要徵求任何人的許可，

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

許多頂尖職位僅僅屬於那些敢於大膽去要的人。

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

缺乏自信，核心是對世界運作方式的誤解。

It's an internalized feudalism, 慣用語

這是一種內化的封建主義，

which imagines that only certain people,

它想像只有某些人，

but not oneself,

而不是自己，

have the right preordained to get certain things.

有命中注定的權利去獲得某些東西。

It isn't true.

這不是真的。

As we know,

如我們所知，

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

在我們膽怯和懷疑的時刻，能做到的比我們想像的要多得多。

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

這是走向一份我們臨終時不會後悔的工作的開始。

Which should always be the ultimate criterion.

這應該始終是最終的標準。