英語故事:如何做你一直想要做的事

【英文原文】

I’m willing to bet that there’s something you’ve always wanted to do.

It could be that you’ve always wanted to write a novel. Maybe you want to visit Africa or want to see the Northern Lights. Perhaps you’d love to open a little coffee shop or brasserie in your neighbourhood or maybe you’ve had brainwave for a neat little product that just might change the world.

You’re not alone. We all have things we dream about and things we’d love to do, and it’s rare that these things ever see the light of day.

Fear steps in – sometimes in the guise of practicality and sometimes wearing the hat of playing it safe – and provides all kinds of reasons why you can’t have what you want.

So you persuade yourself that it’s a pipe dream and that it could never actually happen because you wouldn’t know where to start, couldn’t afford it and it probably wouldn’t work anyway. You lose faith in your ability to make your dream reality, and lose a little faith in yourself in the process.

The tragedy is that the more you apply a filter to what you wish for and train yourself to think small, the less confident you become in your ability to do anything that matters very much. Worse than that, you set yourself tiny dreams that aren’t hard to reach, and you reach them.

But hang on a second. What if those big things were possible? What if you really could make some or all of it happen? What if it turned out that you did have what it takes to see something special come to life? Wouldn’t that be something you’d leap at?

Here are my 3 steps to doing what you’ve always wanted to do.

1. Open it up
First of all you need to do some leg work. Investigate what might be needed to get going, look for resources that can inform and help, seek out other people who might have done something similar and talk to those who’ve been there, done that.

There’s no risk here – it’s simply learning about what’s involved, picking up the key strategies that have been used successfully before and gathering together the ideas and resources that you believe will help you to get things moving.

Write down all the questions you have about what you want to do and then go answer them. It’s possible that as you open things up you find that the reality isn’t what you expected and that it isn’t really your thing after all. That’s fine – now you know. But the opportunity to answer the questions you have and fill in those blanks is invaluable, and you might just find yourself getting pretty darn excited about what you’re discovering.

2. Make your choice
You’ve opened it up and answered a heap of questions you had – now you need to make your choice. There are 2 ways to help with this decision making.

Look at what really matters to you, not what doesn’t matter. If engaging with this project is something that really resonates with you then listen to that. If you’ll grow and get enjoyment out of doing this, no matter how it turns out, then listen to that. Don’t let any fears you have squash and stamp on what matters.
Consider where your priorities are and what might need to change. You have other things going on (your family, finances, career, hobbies, relationship, etc) and you need to be clear about what’s at the top of your list. You need to figure out what compromises you’re willing to make in terms of the time and energy you have available, and you need to figure out the boundaries and deal breakers of your priorities. You might find that your priorities are such that now isn’t the right time to get going with this, but that doesn’t have to be the end of it. Just figure out what criteria needs to be satisfied for you to start.
Once you’ve figured those 2 things out, make your choice and commit to it. That commitment is what will carry you through, and it’s an attitude and a way of behaving that shapes your experience and behaviour as you go forwards.

3. Do one thing
When you’ve made your choice to start, do one thing today. Just one thing. Then do one more thing tomorrow.

That’s all.

Do one thing, then another, then another (no matter how big or small) and you’ll make progress. By doing just one thing a day you’ll be 365 steps forward a year from now. Don’t get overwhelmed with the apparent size or complexity of what you’re tackling. No task is bigger than your capability and you just need to chunk it down into bite-sized pieces and tackle each one in turn.

And if something doesn’t turn out the way you expected or hoped, don’t sweat it. You have the next day to try things a different way or tackle things from another direction. You’ll never be able to control how everything turns out so don’t beat yourself up – just keep checking where you are, making your choice and taking another step.

These 3 steps can be applied universally to do the things you’ve always wanted. So tell me, what do you want?

【中文譯文】

我願打賭：有些事你一直想去做。

有可能你一直想寫一部小說，也許你想遊覽非洲或者想去看北極光，或許你想在你家附近開一家小咖啡館或啤酒店，又或許你曾靈機一動想出一件極佳的小產品，而那恰恰有可能改變世界。

你不是唯一一個這樣的人。我們都有夢寐以求的東西和想要去做的事情，但這些事卻很少得以實現。

恐懼的介入——有時以實用性作僞裝，有時打着謹慎行事的幌子——爲你不能得到你想要的提供了各種各樣的藉口。

因此你說服自己：那不過是個白日夢，永遠不可能實現，因爲你不知道從哪裏開始、負擔不起或者總之是可能不會成功。你對你實現夢想的能力失去信心，並且在這過程中對你自己失去一點信心。

悲劇就是你越是篩選你的願望訓練自己思考更小的事情，你越是對自己做關係重大的事情的能力信心不足。更壞的是：你給自己設立了很小的不難達到的目標，並且達到了。

但是等一下，要是那些大事是可能的呢？要是你真的能夠實現部分或全部呢？要是原來你真的具有能使某特殊的事得以實現的能力呢？這不會是你能欣然接受的吧？

如何做你一直想要做的事？以下是我的三步法。

1. 開始行動

首先你需要做一些情況調查工作。研究開始行動可能需要什麼，尋找能夠提供信息和幫助的資源，找出可能做過類似事情的人，與那些到過那裏、做過那些事的人交談。

這沒有風險——這只是學習有關知識，獲得曾經成功運用過的關鍵策略，收集那些你認爲有助於使工作開展起來的想法和資源。

寫下所有與你想做的事情有關的問題，然後一一回答。可能當你開始做的時候，你發現事實並不是你所期待的，最終發現那不是你真正想要的。這很好——現在你知道了。但是回答這些問題和填那些空格的機會是無價的，你可能只是發現自己對正在發現的一切感到極其興奮。

2. 做出選擇

你已經開始行動了，回答了一堆問題——現在你需要做出選擇。有2個方法有助於做決定。

·關注對你事關緊要的，而不是不緊要的。如果使用這一方法能與你產生共鳴，那就用這個方法吧；如果這麼做讓你感覺是一種享受，無論結果如何，那就用這個方法吧。不要讓你的任何恐懼搞垮關係重大的事。

·考慮事務的優先順序以及何事可能需要修改。你還有其他事情要做（你的家庭、財務、事業、業餘愛好、人際關係等等），你要清楚什麼是你的頭等大事。你需要弄清楚以你所有的時間和精力，你願做什麼樣的妥協；你還需要弄清楚設置優先順序的界線和關鍵因素。你可能會發現你的事務的優先順序是這樣的，現在不是開始做這件事的合適時間，但這並非就是最終結果。只要弄清楚要滿足什麼標準你就可以開始行動。一旦你弄清楚了這2件事，就做出你的選擇並全力以赴。這種全力以赴的精神會幫你度過難關，這是一種態度和行爲方式，在你前進的過程中形成你的經驗和習性。

3. 做一件事

當你決定開始的時候，今天做一件事。只做一件事。然後明天做另一件事。

就這樣。

做一件事，然後另一件，然後另一件（無論大小），這樣你會一步步前進。通過每天只做一件事，一年後你就前進了365步。不要被你要處理的事情表面上的規模和複雜性征服。沒有任務比你的能力還大，你只需要把它分成一個個容易解決的小任務然後依次處理。

如果一些事結果並非你所期待或希望的，別擔心。第二天你可以嘗試用另一種方法或從另一個角度來處理事情。你永遠不可能控制事情的結果，所以不要煩惱——只要堅持查看你做到了哪一步，做出選擇並採取另一個措施。

這3步可廣泛應用於做任何你一直想要做的事。那麼告訴我，你想要什麼?