The Desire to Grow 渴望成长
Growth is a fundamental desire of all human beings. No matter what kinds of goals you have or what you strive for, whatever you want to see in your life that’s not there now is about growth. Growth is at the root of everything that gives us a feeling of accomplishment, satisfaction, meaning, and progress.
成长是所有人类的根本愿望。无论你有何种目标，无论你在追求什么，你现在生活中想要看到但尚未实现的一切都关乎成长。成长是一切赋予我们成就感、满足感、意义和进步感的源泉。
Yet sometimes people do stop growing. We all have images we can call to mind. The movies and literature are full of them, as is real life. Take, for example, the character of Uncle Rico in the film Napoleon Dynamite, who constantly replays a moment of lost opportunity from his high school days; or Norma Desmond, the reclusive and mostly forgotten former movie star in Sunset Boulevard. More commonly, you may be familiar with the retiree who’s driving his wife crazy because he suddenly doesn’t know what to do with himself; the addict whose life has become solely focused on whatever it takes to find the next fix; the man who is still treating women the same way he did 40 years ago and doesn’t understand why they don’t respond the same way; the person whose life consists of clocking in and out day after day at a dead-end job, going home, sleeping, and then doing it all over again.
然而，有时候人们确实会停止成长。我们都能想到这样的例子。电影和文学作品中充满了这样的形象，现实生活亦是如此。比如电影《摇滚校园》中的角色瑞科叔叔，他不断回放高中时期错失良机的一刻；又如《日落大道》中隐居且几乎被人遗忘的昔日影星诺玛·戴蒙德。更常见的情况可能是，你可能遇到过退休后无所事事、让妻子抓狂的老人；生活完全围绕着寻找下一次刺激而变得专注成瘾的人；那个40年来对待女性方式一成不变、不明白为何她们不再有相同回应的男人；每天在没有前途的工作中打卡上下班、回家睡觉，然后日复一日重复相同生活的人。
There are examples all around us of people who for some reason have stopped growing, either temporarily or indefinitely. If you’ve picked up this book, chances are you don’t want to be one of them. Maybe you’re feeling a bit stuck. Maybe you’re in the midst of a particularly challenging growth period and you’re looking for insight, encouragement, or direction; or maybe you just want all the resources you can get on your side as you pursue your own growth path. Most of us struggle with issues related to growth at various points in our lives. The entrepreneurs with whom we work at The Strategic Coach are some of the most successful and internally motivated people on the planet, and yet they face just as many challenges in their growth as anyone else does.
我们周围都有因某种原因暂时或永久停止成长的人的例子。如果你拿起这本书，很可能你不希望成为他们中的一员。也许你正感到有些困顿不前；也许你正处于一个特别具有挑战性的成长阶段，正在寻求洞见、鼓励或指引；或者你只是想在追求个人成长道路上尽可能获取所有助力。我们大多数人在生活中的不同阶段都会面临与成长相关的问题。我们在“策略教练”与之共事的企业家们是地球上最为成功、内心动力十足的一些人，但他们面临的成长挑战也同样多如牛毛。
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The ten laws in this book are like mirrors you can use to reflect your behavior, to see if it’s supporting or undermining your continued growth. Use them as you would a hallway mirror on your way out the door—do a quick check to make sure everything looks good, adjust if necessary, and then carry on. Or take a longer, more studied look to reveal areas that might take more work to transform. The laws are useful for this purpose because it’s often hard to tell whether you’re on the right path just by how you feel.
本书中的十条法则如同镜子，你可以用它们来反映自己的行为，看看它是在支持还是削弱你的持续成长。就像出门前使用走廊里的镜子那样——快速检查一下，确保一切都进展顺利，如有必要就作出调整，然后继续前行。或者花更多的时间深入研究，揭示那些可能需要付出更多努力去改变的方面。这些法则在这方面很有用，因为仅凭自己的感觉往往很难判断自己是否走在正确的道路上。
Rosabeth Moss Kanter has wisely observed that “everything looks like a failure in the middle.” Sometimes growing pains can feel like failure—and sometimes failure is a part of growth. Successful Growth is a fundamental desire of all human beings. No matter what kinds of goals you have or what you strive for, whatever you want to see in your life that’s not there now is about growth. Growth is at the root of everything that gives us a feeling of accomplishment, satisfaction, meaning, and progress.
罗斯莎贝丝·莫斯·坎特明智地指出：“在过程中一切都会都像是失败”。有时成长的痛苦可能会让人觉得像是失败——而有时候失败确实是成长的一部分。成功的成长是所有内心深处的基本渴望。无论你拥有何种目标，无论你在追求什么，现在生活中想要看到但尚未实现的一切都是关于成长的。成长是一切赋予我们成就感、满足感、意义和进步感受的根本。
Yet sometimes people do stop growing. We all have images we can call to mind. The movies and literature are full of them, as is real life. Take, for example, the character of Uncle Rico in the film Napoleon Dynamite, who constantly replays a moment of lost opportunity from his high school days; or Norma Desmond, the reclusive and mostly forgotten former movie star in Sunset Boulevard. More commonly, you may be familiar with the retiree who’s driving his wife crazy because he suddenly doesn’t know what to do with himself; the addict whose life has become solely focused on whatever it takes to find the next fix; the man who is still treating women the same way he did 40 years ago and doesn’t understand why they don’t respond the same way; the person whose life consists of clocking in and out day after day at a dead-end job, going home, sleeping, and then doing it all over again.
然而，有时人们的确会在某个时刻停止成长。我们脑海中都能浮现出这样的画面，在电影和文学作品中屡见不鲜，现实生活中也是如此。例如，在电影《纳伯拉斯大冒险》中反复回忆高中时期失落机遇的瑞可叔叔；或者是《日落大道》中那位隐居且几乎被世人遗忘的昔日电影明星诺玛·戴蒙德。更常见的例子可能包括让你感到熟悉的退休人员，由于突然间无所事事而令妻子烦恼不已；沉迷于寻找下一个快感而使生活重心严重偏移的瘾君子；那个仍然沿用40年前方式对待女性却无法理解为何得不到相同回应的男人；日复一日在无望的岗位上打卡上班，回家睡觉，然后周而复始过着同样生活的人。
There are examples all around us of people who for some reason have stopped growing, either temporarily or indefinitely. If you’ve picked up this book, chances are you don’t want to be one of them. Maybe you’re feeling a bit stuck. Maybe you’re in the midst of a particularly challenging growth period and you’re looking for insight, encouragement, or direction; or maybe you just want all the resources you can get on your side as you pursue your own growth path. Most of us struggle with issues related to growth at various points in our lives. The entrepreneurs with whom we work at The Strategic Coach are some of the most successful and internally motivated people on the planet, and yet they face just as many challenges in their growth as anyone else does.
确实，在我们周围有许多人出于各种原因，无论是暂时还是长期地停止了个人成长。如果你拿起这本书，很可能你并不想成为他们中的一员。也许你现在感觉有些困顿不前；也许你正处在一段特别具有挑战性的成长阶段，正在寻求洞见、鼓励或者指引；也许你只是想在追求自我成长道路上尽可能多地获取资源和助力。大多数人在生活的不同阶段都会与成长相关的问题作斗争。我们在战略教练（The Strategic Coach）合作的企业家们是一群地球上最为成功且内在动力十足的人士，然而即便如此，他们在成长过程中所面临的挑战与其他人并无二致。这些企业家不断追求更高层次的发展，尽管他们已经取得了显著成就，但他们深知持续的成长对于保持竞争力、实现更多目标以及不断提升生活质量的重要性。书中所提供的智慧和策略旨在帮助每一位读者克服停滞，应对成长过程中的困扰，并在各自的道路上找到前进的动力与方向。通过阅读并实践书中的理念，读者有望打破现有局限，开启全新的成长历程。
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Checking in with the laws can help you to stay the course when growth is difficult. In many of the examples in this book, challenging or seemingly less-than-ideal situations offered people rich opportunities to grow. The laws can help you to extract the maximum value from experiences you might otherwise try to avoid or forget.
对照这些法则进行自查可以帮助你在面临艰难成长阶段时坚持下去。在这本书中的许多实例中，充满挑战或看似不尽如人意的情境为人们提供了丰富的成长机会。这些法则可以帮助你从原本可能试图回避或忘记的经历中提取出最大的价值。当你在成长过程中遭遇困难时，借助这些法则能够引导你正确面对困境，从中汲取经验和教训，推动自身的持续进步与发展。
It also pays to check your behavior against the laws when things are going well. Getting what you want or achieving your goals can make you feel good, but it won’t necessarily keep you on the path to further growth. In fact, it can often lead to growth traps. Things like money, applause, rewards, comfort, and even a brilliant past can be quite seductive. If these means to growth begin to overshadow purpose, performance, contribution, confidence, and the sense of a bigger future—things that drive growth—they can quickly undermine your ability to keep growing in the future.
当事情进展顺利时，对照这些法则检查自己的行为也同样重要。达成所愿或实现目标固然会让你感觉良好，但这并不意味着你就自然而然地走在了进一步成长的路上。实际上，这常常会导致陷入成长陷阱。诸如金钱、掌声、奖励、安逸甚至辉煌的过去都极具诱惑力。如果这些作为成长手段的事物开始掩盖了目的性、表现力、贡献度、自信心以及对未来更大愿景的追求——这些驱动成长的核心因素，那么它们很快就会削弱你未来持续成长的能力。
These laws come from our observations about what makes growth happen. If the word law makes you uncomfortable, it might help to think about the message on a tongue-in-cheek T-shirt we saw recently in the neighborhood. It had a picture of a policeman holding up his hand, accompanied by the caption, “Obey gravity! It’s the law.” Of course, natural laws operate whether you obey them or not. If you disregard gravity and jump off a rooftop, it won’t be the “gravity police” that get you. Likewise, no “growth police” are going to come after you if you don’t follow these laws. You’ll just find that you probably won’t grow as much.
这些法则源于我们对促进成长现象的观察。若“法则”这个词让你感到不适，不妨想象一下我们最近在附近看到的一件带有诙谐标语的T恤衫。上面印有一位警察举起手的形象，配有一句文字：“服从重力！这是定律。”当然，自然法则无论你是否遵从，都在起作用。如果你无视重力从屋顶跳下，导致不幸的并不是“重力警察”，而是重力本身。同理，若你不遵循这些成长法则，也不会有任何“成长警察”来找你麻烦，只不过你会发现自己可能无法取得同样的成长效果。
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You might want to think of each law as being prefaced by, “You will continue to grow if . . .” For example, you will continue to grow if you always make your future bigger than your past. That’s the way life works. You can rely on it. By understanding the laws, you can more consciously and predictably keep yourself growing, just as scientific laws help us to predict the outcomes of actions in the physical world.
你可以把每条法则视为前面带有一个前提：“如果你……，你将会持续成长。” 比如，“如果你总是让未来比过去更为广阔，你将会持续成长。” 这就是生命的运作方式。你可以信赖这个规律。通过理解这些法则，你可以更加自觉且可预测地促使自己不断成长，正如科学定律帮助我们在物质世界预测行为结果一样。通过掌握和应用这些关于成长的法则，你可以更好地规划和引导自己的人生路径，确保不断向前进步和发展。
Aligning your behavior with these laws gives you more control over your own future, which allows you to increase your freedom and self-determination. It also places the responsibility for your growth squarely on your own shoulders. You can choose to engage with life in this way, or not. Growth is not always easy, but the rewards are great. Life presents us with opportunities to grow almost constantly, so when you make growth a central goal, life will always appear to be full of opportunity.
将自己的行为与这些法则保持一致，会使你对自己的未来拥有更大的控制权，进而增强自由度和自主决定能力。同时，这也意味着你的成长责任完全落在了自己的肩上。你可以选择以这种方式参与生活，也可以选择不这样做。成长并非总是一帆风顺，但其回报却是巨大的。生活几乎不断地向我们提供成长的机会，因此当你将成长设定为核心目标时，生活总会显得充满无限可能。通过主动顺应这些成长法则，你不仅能提升自我，更能充分把握生活中的每一次机遇，不断拓展和完善自我，享受成长带来的喜悦与成就。
As you become more growth oriented in your behavior and thinking, and you begin to experience how this impacts your life and the lives of others, it becomes increasingly clear that the rewards of this approach greatly outweigh its challenges. The desire to grow is nothing less than the love of existence—a passion for being here and a deep desire to fully explore life. When you commit to aligning your actions with the principles embedded in these ten laws, you also commit to making the most of the life you’ve been given—all of it. And, after all, what greater gift could you possibly give to yourself, or to the world, than that?
随着你在行为和思考上越来越注重成长，并开始体验到这对你的生活以及他人生活产生的影响，你会越发明白，采取这一成长导向的方法所带来的回报远远超过了其挑战。追求成长的渴望本质上是对生存的热爱，即对生活的热爱，对充分探索人生的深厚欲望。当你承诺按照这十条法则蕴含的原则调整你的行动时，你也承诺要充分利用你所拥有的全部生活。毕竟，还有什么礼物能比这更能赠予自己，或是赠予这个世界呢？
