How to Live a Successful Life

What is a successful life? 

什么是成功的人生？ 

To answer this question, we must observe the paradox of our priorities. How we pursue lifestyles built on our resumes. Yet as we knowingly approach death, we yearn to be remembered by every quality, except that resume. 

要回答这个问题，我们必须研究一下我们做事优先次序的悖论。我们如何追求建立在简历上的生活方式。 但是当我们生命垂危之际，我们却渴望被人们铭记自己简历之外的所有品质。 

You see, during the course of our lives, we seek success of every tangible sort. But when it comes to looking back on a life once lived, those tangible things, the measuring cups of our entire existence seem emptier than ever. I have never read nor have I written a eulogy that expressed how accomplished a person was or how brilliant of a worker they were. Even the most celebrated innovators are not eulogized by the impact of their inventions, but by their motives, the bonds they formed, acts of kindness, and what they meant to the people around them. 

你看，我们活着的时候，追求的是各种有形的成功，但是当回首往事时，那些有形的东西，以及证明我们生活过的事物，此刻却像量杯一样空空如也，比以往任何时候都更空虚。我从未读过或写过因一个人成就巨大或技艺娴熟而被人颂扬的悼词。即便是最著名的发明家，人们津津乐道的并非是他们的发明，而是他们的动机，因他们而形成的纽带，他们善意的行为以及他们对周围人的意义。 

So if you wonder what a successful life really feels like, all you have to do is close your eyes and think about what you want your eulogy to sound like. What words will be used by loved ones describing and celebrating your legacy when you die? List those words. Internalize this list, memorize it, stare at it everyday. What you're staring at is your personal definition of success. 

所以，如果你想知道成功的人生是什么样子的，你只需要闭上眼睛，想象一下你的悼词内容。在你死后，你的亲人们会如何形容和赞美你的遗赠？把那些词语列成清单，放在心上，记在脑子里，而且要每天都盯着它。因为你所注视的，恰恰就是你个人对于成功的定义。 

It sounds crazy, but everything else you're pursuing, everything else you whine and worry about is secondary. And if you're going to do those secondary things, make sure they serve your list. Make sure they increase your capacity to live by those qualities. Stop chasing things that aren't on your list. Because that list is all you have and that, my friends, is the only way to live a successful life with intent, not regret. 

这听起来很疯狂，但其他你所追求、抱怨、担忧的任何事情，都是次要的。并且，如果你要做这些次要的事情，在做之前，要确保这些事对完成你的清单有帮助，要保证它们可以提高你的能力，从而让你具备那些品质。要果断放弃那些不在你清单上的事情，因为这张清单就是你的所有，而且这是你成功的唯一途径，否则你将抱憾终生。

What's on your list? 

你的清单上有什么呢？

分享最清晰、词汇量最丰富的英文听力材料，还有知识点讲解哦！

每天一分钟，让自己的英语水平更上一层楼！

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