梦想的头号杀手

译者 花の雪

The Number One Dream Killer: Doing What Works

梦想的头号杀手：做管用的事

[Note: This is the 2nd article in the series How to Make Your Dreams a Reality.]

【注：这是《如何实现梦想》系列的第二篇文章】

撰文：Jonathan

翻译：Shayne Yeats 

I’ve wasted a lot of time in my life doing what works. I can’t count how many times I’ve used this excuse to stall pursuing my dreams.

我浪费了生命中的许多时日去做那些看上去会有用的事。我无法确切地说清楚有多少次我因为这个缘故而敷衍地去对待我的梦想。

I went to college because that’s just “what works.”

我去上了大学，因为“那样才行得通”。

I go to a job and sit in a cubicle for 8 hours a day because “it works.”

我去找了份工作，每天要在办公室待上八个小时，因为“那样才行得通”。

I don’t work on the weekends because I feel I need to reward myself for a week’s worth of drudgery. I have to say… “it just works.”

每逢周末我都要彻底地放松一番，因为我觉得我需要好好犒劳一下自己。我对自己说...“这样才行得通嘛。”

I do the expected things. I try to make art because I’m supposed to be creative. I read because I’m supposed to learn. I dress a certain way because I’m supposed to be cool.

我按计划行事。我视生活为一种艺术，因为我要富有创造力。我阅读，是因为我必须要去学习。我穿着得体，因为我必须要给别人留下个好印象。

It’s not working.

但这都不管用。

I’ve previously written a lot about the importance of following your own path and not living life based on a template. The truth is, it’s damn hard not to. The few of us renegades that have evolved past living based on conventions and social norms are trying to keep our heads above water. But the mainstream, the sea of “what works,” seems to keep pulling us back under.

我以前写过许多文章阐述了追随你自己的人生道路的重要性，我们不该以一种固有的模板去规划自己的人生。而事实是，这很难做到。为了生存，我们跟随大流做社会普遍认可的事，而至少数人敢于不走寻常路。但是，主流文化中的“做管用的事”，似乎是在托我们的后腿。

The mainstream isn’t working for me (in fact, I can’t remember a time it did). Common sense isn’t working for me anymore either. I don’t need to do things that are common. I don’t need to do things that make sense to other people. I don’t need to go with the grain. I don’t need to take the path of the most resistance. I don’t need to follow the leader. I need to follow myself.

主流的方法对我行不通（事实上，我根本就记不清来我有哪次成功过）。常识也对我不管用。我没有必要去做那些平平常常的事。我没有必要要去做那些只对别人来说才是有意义的事。我不需要人云亦云。我不需要去效仿别人的做法。我不需要听从某人的指挥。我需要的是听从自己内心的呼声。

Doing what works is killing our dreams because we have this expectation to follow a pre-planned life.  All throughout our schooling we’re taught the same things. We’re given a template for life that just doesn’t match up with what we really want.

做行得通的事就是在扼杀我们的梦想，因为这就意味着我们抱有一种人生的轨迹是预设好的期望在生活。在我们的整个学生时代，我们都被灌输了同样的思想。我们每个人都被分配了一个人生模板，而它们实际上和我们一点都不相符。

It doesn’t match because it’s a template.

之所以会不匹配，是因为，它只是个模板。

We may never find the job of our dreams. We may never find anyone who can answer our deepest questions about life. We may never have anyone show us how to live the lives we imagine.

我们可能就会永远都找不到梦想中的工作。我们可能永远都找不一个人能够回答我们对于人生的深深疑问。我们可能永远都找不到一个人能够指导我们如何过上梦想中的生活。

We won’t find it because it’s not us. The only one who can answer those questions is really ourselves.

我们之所以无法找到它们，是因为它们本不属于我们。唯一一个能够回答这个问题的人其实就是我们自己。

So if we want to make our dreams a reality, we have to stop doing what works. We have to abandon the mainstream and embrace the unstream. This means that we have to:

所以，假如我们想要实现自己的梦想的话，我们必须停止去做那些“管用”的事。我们必须要抛弃主流的思维定势，做一个独一无二的你。这意味着我们必须要：

Take risks and possibly make a fool out of ourself once or twice (or 200 times).

@ 敢于冒险，给自己开几个玩笑（多开几个也没关系）。

Make things up as we go along and generally have no idea what how we’ll get to where we want to go. We just know that we can’t settle for anything else.

@ 当我们开始踏上行程时，想清楚我们要去做的是什么，而且你对如何才能到达你想要去的地方不必非得要有一个清晰的概念。我们只是清楚地知道，我们不能够满足于做任何其它的事。

Listen to our hearts. See with our hearts. Feel with our minds.

@ 听从我们内心的呼唤。用我们的心去生活。用我们的心去感受。

All of this is hard because it’s so easy to do what works. It’s so easy to follow the path that’s already been paved.

所有这些做起了都不容易，因为我们很容易就会去做那些“管用”的事。沿着一条早已有人走过的道路前进再容易不过了。

It’s not as easy to do what’s never been done. It’s not as easy to follow your dream of becoming a blogging entrepreneur on collectible 16th century mushroom lamps when no one else has ever done it. It’s not as easy to create a job for yourself, when you could just as easily fill out an application for one that already exists.

做独创性的工作不是件容易的事。跟随自己的梦想很不容易，如果你的梦想是成为收藏16世纪的蘑菇灯的博客企业家的话，那就更不容易，因为从来没有人做过这件事。比起填一张申请表去谋求一份早已存在的工作，给你自己创造一份新的工作就不是件容易的事了。

So if you want to make your dreams a reality. You’re going to have accept the fact that you’re going to have to be your own boss. Instead of following the rules, you make up your own rules.

所以，如果你想要实现你的梦想的话。那你必须得要去接受你将要成为你自己的老板的这个事实。你给你自己制定规则，而不是遵循别人创建的规则。

Following the unstream

不从众

This past February I started this blog. I didn’t know what I was doing. I had experience as a web designer, but I barely knew what a blog was. I found a lot of hype online about making money from blogs and I got excited. I thought that maybe this would be my ticket out from the 9-5 grind. Then I got a reality check. I found that most blogs never make any money. Even more discouraging was the discovery that most blogs that make money, are about how to make money online! People are willing to pay money to learn how to make money. But people aren’t as willing to pay for information on a blog. That’s why it’s a blog. It’s supposed to be free, right?

我在刚过去的两月份创建了这个博客。我不知道我在做什么。我曾是一个网页设计师，但我几乎就不知道博客是什么。我从网络上看到了许多有关从博客中赚钱的炒作信息，我对此感到非常兴奋。我想这也许就是我摆脱朝九晚五的生活的机会。然后，我就去做了一番调查。我发现大部分博客根本就不赚钱。更令人沮丧的就是，我发现大部分有盈利的博客都是靠教人如何网赚来赚钱的。人们很乐意花钱去了解如何赚钱的信息。但是，人们不愿意花钱去看博客上的文章。正因此，博客才被创造出来，博客本应该就是免费就可以阅读的，对不对？

I realize that in order to make a living blogging, it takes a long term investment. It also takes a willingness to accept a lot of strange looks when you tell people you’re trying to start a business blogging. People will doubt you. They’ll think you’re crazy. They’ll tell you that you don’t know what you’re doing.

我明白要想创建一个有价值的博客，我需要投入长期的投资。这就包括，当你告诉别人你想要创建一个有创收能力的博客时，你还要毕恭毕敬地接纳别人奇怪的表情。人们会质疑你。他们会认为你发疯了。他们会告诉你，你不知道你在干什么。

And you know what? You probably don’t know what you’re doing. I didn’t. I still don’t. Life is a messy business and trying to have everything figured out in advance is likely to bring more stress than it relieves.

你知道什么？估计你真的不知道自己在干什么。我也不知道。到目前为止，我依旧没有明白。生活本身就是由一团乱七八糟的事组成的，你越是想事先就搞个清楚，你就会给自己带来更多的压力。

Knowing what your doing has to no longer be a determining factor in the pursuit of your dreams. I don’t know what I’m doing. All I know is that I’m not doing “what works” anymore. I’m doing what works for me. I’m following my own heart, my own path to happiness, wherever that may lead me.

你要明白，你现在正在做的事不再是决定你追求梦想成功与否的决定性因素。我不知道我在做什么。我所知道的仅仅是我不再做那些“管用的事”。我在做的事是对我来说行之有效的。我只追随专属于我的通向幸福的道路，不论它引导我走向哪，我都听从自己内心的呼唤。

I’m trying my hardest to overcome the voice of practicality. It’s difficult sometimes going to a 9 to 5 and running this blog at the same time. But I would rather be doing that, not knowing when my dreams will be realized than accept just doing what works.

我费了很大的劲和现实做斗争。每天都朝九晚五地运营这个博客，有时会很不容易。我不知道何时我的梦想才能实现，但和去做那些“管用的事”相比，我更情愿去做前一件事。

If you’re off the beaten path, you may be lonely. But that’s a good thing. Because when you know you’re treading uncharted waters, you’re following the compass of your heart.

假如你远离人群，你会感到孤单。但这是件好事。因为你知道你在逆流而上，你在追随你内心的指南针。

For more ways to not kill your dreams subscribe to Illuminated Mind.

想要了解更多避免抹杀你的梦想的方法？请订阅我的博客Illuminated Mind。

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