11 That may sound like a lot of pressure. But if you're prepared, the pressure is on the other folks -- the ones who haven't done their homework.
听上去似乎压力不小。然而,如果你做了准备,压力就是别人的—那些没做准备的人.
12 You won't get every job you go after. The best salespeople don't close every sale. Michael Jordan makes barely half of his field-goal attempts. But it takes no longer to prepare well for one interview than to wander in half-prepared for five. And your prospects for success will be many times better.
你不可能得到你想要的每份工作。最好的售货人员也不可能每次都成交。迈克尔·乔丹投篮命中率勉强过半。但认真准备一次面试的时间不会多于马马虎虎准备五次面试的时间,而你成功的可能性要多得多。
13 2. Never stop learning. Recently I played a doubles tennis match paired with a 90-year-old. I wondered how things would work out; I shouldn't have. We hammered our opponents 6-1, 6-1!
2. 永不中断学习。最近我和一位90高龄的老者搭档打双人网球。我琢磨着那会是什么结局;可我的担心是多余的。我们以两个6:1击败对手。
14 As we were switching sides to play a third set, he said to me, "Do you mind if I play the backhand court? I always like to work on my weaknesses." What a fantastic example of a person who has never stopped learning. Incidentally, we won the third set 6-1.
我们交换场地打第三局时,他对我说:“我打反手击球你不介意吧?我向来喜欢多练练自己的弱点。”好一个永不中断学习的精彩实例。顺便说一下,我们6:1赢了第三局。
15 As we walked off the court, my 90-year-old partner chuckled and said, "I thought you'd like to know about my number-one ranking in doubles in the United States in my age bracket, 85 and up!" He wasn't thinking 90; he wasn't even thinking 85. He was thinking number one.
走出赛场,我那90高龄的搭档笑着说:“你也许想知道我在85岁以上年龄段的美国网球双打排名第一!”他想的不是年届90,想的甚至也不是85岁高龄。他想的是第一。
16 You can do the same if you work on your weaknesses and develop your strengths. To be able to compete, you've got to keep learning all your life.
如果你努力克服自己的弱点,发挥自己的优势,你同样可以做得那么好。要有能力竞争,就得终生学习。
17 3. Believe in yourself, even when no one else does. Do you remember the four-minute mile? Athletes had been trying to do it for hundreds of years and finally decided it was physically impossible for humans. Our bone structure was all wrong, our lung power inadequate.
3. 相信自己,哪怕没人相信你。还记得那4分钟跑一英里的往事吗?几百年来,运动员们一直试图实现这一目标,最终人类的身体无法做到。我们的骨结构不适应,我们的肺活量跟不上。
18 Then one human proved the experts wrong. And, miracle of miracles, six weeks after Roger Bannister broke the four-minute mile, John Landy beat Bannister's time by nearly two full seconds. Since then, close to eight hundred runners have broken the four-minute mile!
可是,有一个人证明那些专家错了。奇迹中的奇迹是,在罗杰·班尼斯特打破4分钟一英里的纪录6个星期之后,约翰·兰迪又以几乎快出整整2秒的成绩打破了班尼斯特的纪录。此后,有大约800多名运动员打破了4分钟一英里的记录。
19 Several years ago my daughter Mimi and I took a crack at running the New York Marathon. At the gun, 23,000 runners started -- and 21,244 finished. First place went to a Kenyan who completed the race in two hours, 11 minutes and one second. The 21,244th runner to finish was a Vietnam veteran. He did it in three days, nine hours and 37 minutes. With no legs, he covered 26.2 miles. After my daughter and I passed him in the first few minutes, we easily found more courage to finish ourselves.
几年前,我和女儿米米参加了纽约马拉松比赛。发令枪一响,23,000名运动员冲出起跑线—最后有21,244名运动员到达终点。第一名是一位以2小时11分钟零1秒跑完全程的肯尼亚人。第21,244名运动员是一位越战老兵。他用了3天9小时37分钟跑完全程。没有双腿的他坚持跑完了26.2英里。我和女儿在比赛的最初几分钟内超过了他,当时顿觉勇气倍增,一定要跑完全程。
20 Don't ever let anyone tell you that you can't accomplish your goals. Who says you're not tougher, harder working and more able than your competition? You see, a goal is a dream with a deadline: in writing, measurable, identifiable, attainable.
别听旁人说你不能实现自己的目标。谁说你不比你的竞争对手更坚强、更努力、更能干?要知道,所谓目标就是有最后限期的梦想:写成文字,可测量,可确认,可实现。