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You Get to Design Your Life!
翻译：许婉燕
How many times have you heard the question, “what do you want to be when you grow up?”You have probably heard it since you were five. It is often connected to questions like, “where do you want to go to college”and “what are you good at?”
You may also be asking yourself the same questions. You may find that you are sitting around one day minding your own business when the question, “what am I going to do with my life”flits[掠过] through your brain. And that is a good thing.
Think about that for a minute. The power of these questions lies in the fact that you can choose to become anything you want! The great thing about being a teenager is that you are a blank[空白的] slate[石板]. You can pick almost any answer to the question, “who do I want to become?”at this point in your life, and you are in a unique[独特的] position to make it happen. You get to make thousands of choices that will determine exactly who you will become as an adult.
You could decide today, “By age 25 I will be an architect in Hawaii.And you could make that happen. At no other point in your life do you have the absolute freedom of choice that you have as a teenager. That is not to say that you cannot change your mind later. You can completely redesign your life from scratch[从零开始] at 30 or 40 if you find that to be appropriate[合适的]. It simply is a fact that as a teenager all of these questions are wide open and you get to select the initial[最初的] answers for all of them from an infinite[无穷的] pool.
Three Significant Problems
Firstly, many teenagers never realize that they have total control of their lives. The questions never quite make it up into the average teenager’s conscious[有意识的] mind, so life just sort of bumbles along[跌跌撞撞地行进] letting things happen randomly[随便地]. These teenagers miss a great opportunity because they miss the possibility.
Also, many teenagers do not understand the realities of the world into which they are about to enter. American society is an exciting but tough environment. It requires quite a bit of knowledge to become successful in this environment. As a teenager, you are fairly na晇e[天真的] about the real world. Most teenagers also live in a protected dreamland[梦乡] created by their parents. So it is easy for you to make mistakes that can affect you negatively for the rest of your life.
Finally, many teenagers do not believe in themselves, nor do they believe that there is any way to improve their odds[机会] of success. No matter what path you choose to follow in your life, you have to be confident and believe in yourself in order to succeed. You also need to learn key facts and techniques that will improve your odds of succeeding. One of the best ways to get started is to simply ask the people around you for their thoughts and ideas. Another is to experiment, and your time as a teenager is a great time for that sort of experimentation[实验].
You are at one point in your life now. You are a teenager. You are just getting started. You might think of yourself as the smartest person in the universe while adults still treat you like an infant[婴儿]. You may be confused by society and life. Fifteen years from now, however, you will be at another stage.
Imagination and Action
As a teenager, you can explore a whole set of options to learn more about yourself and the world around you. You can pick something you really want to do, and you can go do it right now. There is nothing to stop you. Do not allow yourself to make excuses. This is the age of information. If there is anything you would like to do, there are books on the subject, magazines on the subject, web sites on the subject, news groups on the subject, clubs where you can meet other people interested in the subject.
Find something you really enjoy doing and start doing it. Learn more and more until you are an expert in that area. Once you do that, it will be easy to find a job you love, and a path you'd like to take for the rest of your life.
If you try something, get pretty far into it, and find that you do not enjoy it as much as you thought, then stop and pick something else. One summer, I had been given a camera for my birthday. It turns out a friend of mine also had a camera. So we read books, talked to people, rode our bikes to historic or interesting places to get different shots, and shot thousands of pictures. Finally I submitted[提交] a photograph to a magazine, and it was good enough to get accepted and published. When that magazine came out, however, I totally lost interest in photography[摄影]. Why did I lose interest? Who knows?! I simply did. But at least I now know how to take really great pictures of anything. The time I spent with my camera was not wasted, and neither will your time. Even though you quit, you can still get something from the time and effort you spent on the subject.
Do you like surfing the web? Teach yourself to create a web site. Then create a site for yourself. Find a school or a company that needs a web site and build them one. If you like cars, learn how to repair cars, or learn how to design and build your own car. If you like clothes, learn how to sew, and then learn how to design and make your own clothes. If you like money, learn about the stock[股票] markets and the whole monetary[货币的] system of the United States. If you like paintings, go buy yourself some paper and start painting. Like to read? Try writing. Like to eat? Try cooking. Like airplanes? Learn to fly. Like actors? Learn to act. Now, are you getting the idea?
“长大以后你想干什么？”这样的问题你听过多少遍？也许你从5岁起就听到这样的问题了。它总是和以下这些问题联系在一起：“你想去哪里上大学？”、“你有什么特长？”
可能你也一直在问自己同样的问题。某一天，你正无聊地枯坐，忙着自己的事情的时候，你可能会突然想起这样一个问题：“我这辈子要干什么？”—这可是一个好兆头。
好好地想一会儿。这些问题的威力就在于，你可以选择成为任何人！作为一名青少年的最大好处便是你涉世未深，仍如一张白纸。在人生的这个时刻，你可以为“我想成为谁”这个问题选择几乎任何答案，而你也正处在一个可以实现这个答案的独特位置上。你要作出成千上万的选择，这些选择将决定你会成为一个怎样的人。
你现在可以下定决心：“到25岁时，我要在夏威夷当建筑师。”你有能力实现这个梦想。在你生命中的其它时刻，你都不会再拥有像青少年时期这样的绝对自由。这并不代表你以后便无法改变主意。如果你觉得有必要，到了30岁或40岁，你依然可以重新规划你的人生。只不过，作为一名青少年，所有这些问题都摆在你面前，在人生会有各种各样的选择，你必须走出第一步。
三个关键问题
首先，许多青少年从未意识到他们完全可以掌控自己的人生。年轻人大多没想过这点，所以对他们来说，生命就是浑浑噩噩、随波逐流。这些青少年失去了一个大好机会，他们与无限的可能性失之交臂。
其次，许多青少年对他们即将踏入的现实世界一无所知。美国社会拥有一个既激动人心又竞争激烈的创业环境。在这种情况下，想要取得成功就必须具备一定的知识。作为一名青少年，你依然不谙世故。同时，大部分年轻人一直生活在父母营造的乐园中。所以你很容易会犯错，而这些错误可能会对你的余生产生消极影响。
最后，许多年轻人缺乏自信，他们也不相信有什么办法可以增加自己成功的机会。无论你今后选择走哪条路，要获得成功，你必须充满自信，相信自己。你还要学会增加成功机会的要素和技能。刚开始时，一个最好的方法就是向身边的人征求意见和建议。另一个方法便是实践。你的青年时代正是这种实践的绝佳时机。
现在你正处于人生的一个阶段。你是一名青少年，你才刚刚起步。你可能会把自己看作全世界最聪明的人，而成年人却依然把你当婴儿看待。你可能会对社会和生活感到困惑不解。但15年后，你的人生将会进入另一个阶段。
大胆设想，付诸行动
作为一名青少年，你可以研究各种各样的选择，从而对自己和周围的世界了解更多。你可以选择做自己真正想做的事情，并且立即行动。没有什么东西可以阻止你。不要给自己找借口，现在是信息时代。无论你想做什么，你都可以找到很多关于这个方面的书籍、杂志、网站、新闻媒体以及俱乐部—在那里，你可以遇到其他志同道合的人。
找到你真正喜欢的事情，开始着手努力吧。你要不断学习，直至成为该领域的专家。一旦达到这样的水平，你很容易就能找到一份自己喜爱的工作，并且踏上一条此生都能乐在其中的道路。
如果你做了某项尝试，并且已经投入了大量的时间和精力，却发现自己并未如设想中那样喜欢它，那不妨急流勇退，另觅出路。有个夏天，有人在我生日时送了我一部相机。后来，我发现我的一个朋友也有相机。于是我们开始翻阅相关的书籍，请教别人，踩着自行车游遍名胜古迹，拍遍不同景致，照了几千张相片。最后，我给一家杂志寄去了一张相片，这张照片拍得确实不错，得到采用并被刊登出来了。然而在杂志出版以后，我却对摄影完全失去了兴趣。我怎么会失去兴趣？天晓得！但我就是不再喜欢摄影了。不过至少，如今的我无论遇到什么事物都能拍出好照片。我花在相机上的时间并没有白费，你的也不会。即使你放弃，你依然会从自己在这个方面花过的时间和精力中有所收获。
你喜欢上网冲浪吗？那就自学设计网站吧。然后为自己建立一个网站。找到一个需要网站的学校或公司，为它们设计网站。如果你喜欢汽车，那就去学修车吧，或者学习如何设计和制造自己的汽车。如果你喜欢时装，那就学习缝纫，然后学着为自己设计和缝制衣服。如果你喜欢金钱，那就学习关于股票市场以及美国整个货币体系的知识。如果你喜欢画画，去给自己买些纸，开始画画。喜欢看书？试着写作吧。喜欢吃东西？试一试烹调。喜欢飞机？学会开飞机。喜欢明星？学习表演的技巧。现在，你明白自己应该做什么了吗？
翻译：许婉燕
How many times have you heard the question, “what do you want to be when you grow up?”You have probably heard it since you were five. It is often connected to questions like, “where do you want to go to college”and “what are you good at?”
You may also be asking yourself the same questions. You may find that you are sitting around one day minding your own business when the question, “what am I going to do with my life”flits[掠过] through your brain. And that is a good thing.
Think about that for a minute. The power of these questions lies in the fact that you can choose to become anything you want! The great thing about being a teenager is that you are a blank[空白的] slate[石板]. You can pick almost any answer to the question, “who do I want to become?”at this point in your life, and you are in a unique[独特的] position to make it happen. You get to make thousands of choices that will determine exactly who you will become as an adult.
You could decide today, “By age 25 I will be an architect in Hawaii.And you could make that happen. At no other point in your life do you have the absolute freedom of choice that you have as a teenager. That is not to say that you cannot change your mind later. You can completely redesign your life from scratch[从零开始] at 30 or 40 if you find that to be appropriate[合适的]. It simply is a fact that as a teenager all of these questions are wide open and you get to select the initial[最初的] answers for all of them from an infinite[无穷的] pool.
Three Significant Problems
Firstly, many teenagers never realize that they have total control of their lives. The questions never quite make it up into the average teenager’s conscious[有意识的] mind, so life just sort of bumbles along[跌跌撞撞地行进] letting things happen randomly[随便地]. These teenagers miss a great opportunity because they miss the possibility.
Also, many teenagers do not understand the realities of the world into which they are about to enter. American society is an exciting but tough environment. It requires quite a bit of knowledge to become successful in this environment. As a teenager, you are fairly na晇e[天真的] about the real world. Most teenagers also live in a protected dreamland[梦乡] created by their parents. So it is easy for you to make mistakes that can affect you negatively for the rest of your life.
Finally, many teenagers do not believe in themselves, nor do they believe that there is any way to improve their odds[机会] of success. No matter what path you choose to follow in your life, you have to be confident and believe in yourself in order to succeed. You also need to learn key facts and techniques that will improve your odds of succeeding. One of the best ways to get started is to simply ask the people around you for their thoughts and ideas. Another is to experiment, and your time as a teenager is a great time for that sort of experimentation[实验].
You are at one point in your life now. You are a teenager. You are just getting started. You might think of yourself as the smartest person in the universe while adults still treat you like an infant[婴儿]. You may be confused by society and life. Fifteen years from now, however, you will be at another stage.
Imagination and Action
As a teenager, you can explore a whole set of options to learn more about yourself and the world around you. You can pick something you really want to do, and you can go do it right now. There is nothing to stop you. Do not allow yourself to make excuses. This is the age of information. If there is anything you would like to do, there are books on the subject, magazines on the subject, web sites on the subject, news groups on the subject, clubs where you can meet other people interested in the subject.
Find something you really enjoy doing and start doing it. Learn more and more until you are an expert in that area. Once you do that, it will be easy to find a job you love, and a path you'd like to take for the rest of your life.
If you try something, get pretty far into it, and find that you do not enjoy it as much as you thought, then stop and pick something else. One summer, I had been given a camera for my birthday. It turns out a friend of mine also had a camera. So we read books, talked to people, rode our bikes to historic or interesting places to get different shots, and shot thousands of pictures. Finally I submitted[提交] a photograph to a magazine, and it was good enough to get accepted and published. When that magazine came out, however, I totally lost interest in photography[摄影]. Why did I lose interest? Who knows?! I simply did. But at least I now know how to take really great pictures of anything. The time I spent with my camera was not wasted, and neither will your time. Even though you quit, you can still get something from the time and effort you spent on the subject.
Do you like surfing the web? Teach yourself to create a web site. Then create a site for yourself. Find a school or a company that needs a web site and build them one. If you like cars, learn how to repair cars, or learn how to design and build your own car. If you like clothes, learn how to sew, and then learn how to design and make your own clothes. If you like money, learn about the stock[股票] markets and the whole monetary[货币的] system of the United States. If you like paintings, go buy yourself some paper and start painting. Like to read? Try writing. Like to eat? Try cooking. Like airplanes? Learn to fly. Like actors? Learn to act. Now, are you getting the idea?
“长大以后你想干什么？”这样的问题你听过多少遍？也许你从5岁起就听到这样的问题了。它总是和以下这些问题联系在一起：“你想去哪里上大学？”、“你有什么特长？”
可能你也一直在问自己同样的问题。某一天，你正无聊地枯坐，忙着自己的事情的时候，你可能会突然想起这样一个问题：“我这辈子要干什么？”—这可是一个好兆头。
好好地想一会儿。这些问题的威力就在于，你可以选择成为任何人！作为一名青少年的最大好处便是你涉世未深，仍如一张白纸。在人生的这个时刻，你可以为“我想成为谁”这个问题选择几乎任何答案，而你也正处在一个可以实现这个答案的独特位置上。你要作出成千上万的选择，这些选择将决定你会成为一个怎样的人。
你现在可以下定决心：“到25岁时，我要在夏威夷当建筑师。”你有能力实现这个梦想。在你生命中的其它时刻，你都不会再拥有像青少年时期这样的绝对自由。这并不代表你以后便无法改变主意。如果你觉得有必要，到了30岁或40岁，你依然可以重新规划你的人生。只不过，作为一名青少年，所有这些问题都摆在你面前，在人生会有各种各样的选择，你必须走出第一步。
三个关键问题
首先，许多青少年从未意识到他们完全可以掌控自己的人生。年轻人大多没想过这点，所以对他们来说，生命就是浑浑噩噩、随波逐流。这些青少年失去了一个大好机会，他们与无限的可能性失之交臂。
其次，许多青少年对他们即将踏入的现实世界一无所知。美国社会拥有一个既激动人心又竞争激烈的创业环境。在这种情况下，想要取得成功就必须具备一定的知识。作为一名青少年，你依然不谙世故。同时，大部分年轻人一直生活在父母营造的乐园中。所以你很容易会犯错，而这些错误可能会对你的余生产生消极影响。
最后，许多年轻人缺乏自信，他们也不相信有什么办法可以增加自己成功的机会。无论你今后选择走哪条路，要获得成功，你必须充满自信，相信自己。你还要学会增加成功机会的要素和技能。刚开始时，一个最好的方法就是向身边的人征求意见和建议。另一个方法便是实践。你的青年时代正是这种实践的绝佳时机。
现在你正处于人生的一个阶段。你是一名青少年，你才刚刚起步。你可能会把自己看作全世界最聪明的人，而成年人却依然把你当婴儿看待。你可能会对社会和生活感到困惑不解。但15年后，你的人生将会进入另一个阶段。
大胆设想，付诸行动
作为一名青少年，你可以研究各种各样的选择，从而对自己和周围的世界了解更多。你可以选择做自己真正想做的事情，并且立即行动。没有什么东西可以阻止你。不要给自己找借口，现在是信息时代。无论你想做什么，你都可以找到很多关于这个方面的书籍、杂志、网站、新闻媒体以及俱乐部—在那里，你可以遇到其他志同道合的人。
找到你真正喜欢的事情，开始着手努力吧。你要不断学习，直至成为该领域的专家。一旦达到这样的水平，你很容易就能找到一份自己喜爱的工作，并且踏上一条此生都能乐在其中的道路。
如果你做了某项尝试，并且已经投入了大量的时间和精力，却发现自己并未如设想中那样喜欢它，那不妨急流勇退，另觅出路。有个夏天，有人在我生日时送了我一部相机。后来，我发现我的一个朋友也有相机。于是我们开始翻阅相关的书籍，请教别人，踩着自行车游遍名胜古迹，拍遍不同景致，照了几千张相片。最后，我给一家杂志寄去了一张相片，这张照片拍得确实不错，得到采用并被刊登出来了。然而在杂志出版以后，我却对摄影完全失去了兴趣。我怎么会失去兴趣？天晓得！但我就是不再喜欢摄影了。不过至少，如今的我无论遇到什么事物都能拍出好照片。我花在相机上的时间并没有白费，你的也不会。即使你放弃，你依然会从自己在这个方面花过的时间和精力中有所收获。
你喜欢上网冲浪吗？那就自学设计网站吧。然后为自己建立一个网站。找到一个需要网站的学校或公司，为它们设计网站。如果你喜欢汽车，那就去学修车吧，或者学习如何设计和制造自己的汽车。如果你喜欢时装，那就学习缝纫，然后学着为自己设计和缝制衣服。如果你喜欢金钱，那就学习关于股票市场以及美国整个货币体系的知识。如果你喜欢画画，去给自己买些纸，开始画画。喜欢看书？试着写作吧。喜欢吃东西？试一试烹调。喜欢飞机？学会开飞机。喜欢明星？学习表演的技巧。现在，你明白自己应该做什么了吗？