【双语】美文阅读——做最好最真实的自己

To give you a little incentive to take on the challenge, to embark on the road to self-discovery, here are three huge benefits from working to become the best, most genuine version of yourself.

为激励你迎接挑战、踏上寻求自我的旅途，我列出了成为最好最真实自己后的三大益处：

It will make you happy. Getting to know yourself will make you feel more comfortable in your own skin. It will reduce your stress and anxiety. It will make you a better spouse, a better parent, a better friend. It will make you a better person. Those are all pretty good reasons, if you ask me.

你会感到快乐。了解自己后会让你更愉悦地接受自己，减轻你的压力和焦虑，使你成为更好的伴侣、父母、朋友，让你成为一个更美好的人。这些益处难道不够说服你为之努力吗？

Besides, you really won't achieve anything significant in life until you know the real you. Not your brand, your LinkedIn profile, how you come across, or what anyone thinks of you. The genuine you. There's one simple reason why you shouldn't try to be something you're not, and it's that you can't. The real you will come out anyway. So forget your personal brand and start spending time on figuring out who you really are and trying to become the best version of that you can be.

而且，只有了解真实的自己方能成就大事。你需要了解那个真实的你，而不是你的品牌、名誉、LinkedlIn资料、你的过去抑或他人对你的看法。为什么你不应该过他人的生活？很简单，因为首先你不是“其他人”，你的本性总有一天会现形。所以，请放开你的品牌形象，努力发掘真实自我、努力把自己经营成最好的自己吧。

You pay a huge price when you engage in mindless distraction. The only people that really care about you are your loved ones, your friends and family. Everyone else is too busy living his own little mini drama. To put it bluntly, your network couldn't care less about you.

盲目分心的代价很大。真正在乎你的只有你所爱的人、你的亲人和朋友。而其他人都只围着自己的小日子转罢了。说穿了，社交关系中的人并不可靠。

That's why engaging yourself and others in mindless distraction isn't worth your time or theirs. More important, it will absolutely keep you from focusing on accomplishing whatever great things you might manage to achieve in life if you set your mind to it.

所以，浪费时间盲目分心应付自己或他人都没有意义。更严重的是，当你决心着手生活中的大计划时，分心会有碍你集中完成目标。

There's a business concept called opportunity cost. When you choose one course of action, you miss out on all the other opportunities you might have chosen to pursue but didn't. People rarely stop to consider that until it's too late.

有一个商业术语叫“机会成本”。当你选定某个行为时，你也会错过其他原本可以选择的机会。很少有人能意识到这一点，就算意识到也为时已晚。

It's the most exciting journey you will ever embark on. We're all enthralled by adventure. We love to read and watch movies about other people's journeys, real or imagined. The Hobbit. Raiders of the Lost Ark. Into Thin Air.

这将是一段前所未有的有趣旅程。我们都乐于于冒险，热爱阅读和观看有关他人或真实或虚构的旅程电影，例如，《霍比特人》、《夺宝奇兵》或《走进空气稀薄地带》。

We love to take vacations, to travel to all sorts of places. And when we do, we revel in the natural beauty of Kauai's Na Pali Coast, the Grand Canyon, the Alps. We marvel at the great works of others: the art, the architecture, the Pyramids, Stonehenge.

我们热爱假期，喜欢到各地旅行。我们会惊叹于考艾岛上纳波利海岸的自然风光，迷上美国大峡谷、阿尔卑斯山。我们也会惊叹于他人的杰作：艺术、建筑、金字塔、巨石阵等等。

And yet, the opportunity for adventure is right there in front of each and every one of us. Until you take it, you'll never know what you might achieve. What marvels you might create. What you might discover. All you have to do is start the journey.

而且，冒险之门向每个人敞开。打开这扇门之前，谁也不知道能获得哪些收获，会创造哪些奇迹，又将有什么新的发现……你所要做的，仅仅是启程。

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