A young woman I know is a star. In her early thirties, she had an M.B.A. and was already running a small division of a successful fashion company. She had that rare combination of design sense and business savvy that makes a virtuoso fashion executive.
认识一位非常优秀的年轻女子。30岁刚出头，她就拿到了工商管理学硕士学位，并且在一家非常成功的时装公司管理着一个小部门。她既有设计灵感，又赋商业悟性，这种罕见结合使她具备了一名优秀时尚总监所需的素质。
The owner of her company noticed. And when the company's president left, the owner tapped my friend for the job.
她所在公司的老板注意到了这点。当公司主管离职时，这位老板推选了我朋友去接替这一职位。
She had her doubts. In the job, she would be more disconnected from the design work she loved and she would be focused far more on finances and doing deals. More than anything, she would have to manage the owner who was temperamental. That wasn't really her forte or interest.
但是我朋友有她自己的顾虑。如果接受这一职位，她将远离她锺爱的时装设计，而更加关注财务和贸易方面的事务。最重要的是，她还不得不去设法应对喜怒无常的老板。那完全不是她擅长和感兴趣的事。
On the other hand, what an opportunity! And honor! It would look amazing on her résumé, the money was great, and to be president at this young age? How could she turn it down?
可是另一方面，这简直是天赐良机！无上荣誉啊！这一经历不但可以成为简历上漂亮的一笔，而且其薪水待遇也非常可观。这么年纪轻轻就当上公司主管？她怎么能够拒绝呢？
So she took the job.
于是她接受了那份工作。
The first few months were grueling, but she expected that. What she didn't expect is that it wouldn't get better. She mastered the finances - and even enjoyed that part - but the politics of her relationship with the owner were sapping her energy. Things began to slip through the cracks. The designs began to sell less well. And the owner was becoming increasingly tense and erratic.
刚开始的几个月非常折磨人，但这在她的意料之中。出乎她意料到的是，情况后来并没有好转。她精通财务，甚至有点享受那部分的工作，但是她和老板间的办公室政治却消耗着她的精力。慢慢地这一问题开始影响到其它方面，设计产品的销售开始下滑，而老板也变得越来越紧张和反复无常。
Within a few years, she left the job and the company.
几年后，她辞职离开了那家公司。
If you think about it, the entire outcome was predictable.
其实如果你仔细想想，整个结果都在预料之中。
We all have a sweet spot where everything seems to flow; where we feel happy, competent, in sync with everything around us, uniquely talented, and predictably successful. It feels like magic, but it's not: It's the intersection of our strengths, weaknesses, passions, and differences.
我们每个人都有一个"最佳有效点"。在那一点上，每件事情似乎都一帆风顺，我们觉得幸福、称职，与周围的一切协调融洽，并且认为自己才华横溢，预料自己会取得成功。那一点感觉很神奇，但实际上并不是：它是我们的强项、弱点、热情和与众不同特质这四个要素的最佳交汇点。
My friend, in taking the job, veered from her sweet spot.
我朋友接受这份工作，就是偏离了她的最佳有效点。
The scenario is not uncommon. Of more than 10,000 people who have taken a productivity quiz on my website, a full 72% admit to doing work they neither excel at nor enjoy.
这种情况并不少见。在我网站上做生产力测验的1万多人当中，足足有72%的人承认正在从事他们并不擅长也不喜爱的工作。
That's a mistake. We should plan our work and our lives so that we operate in that intersection. Outside it? Chances are we'll fail. We might succeed at first, but it won't be sustainable.
这是个错误。我们必须就自己的工作和生活制定计划，好让自己正好处于那个交汇点上。如果不在那个点上呢？那么我们肯定会失败。有可能一开始会获得成功，但那种成功是不可持续的。
So why do we ever leave our sweet spot? Sometimes, it's because we want to learn. One of the reasons my friend took the position was to get experience running her own business.
我们究竟为什么会偏离自己的最佳有效点呢？有时是因为我们想学习。我朋友接受那一职位的原因之一，是为经营自己的生意积累经验。
But there's another temptation at play: ego. A new job sounds impressive and the external rewards and recognition are significant, so we think we should take it, even when we might know in our gut it's not the right fit.
但其中还有另一个诱惑因素在起作用：自负。一份全新的工作听起来非常吸引人，而且薪酬可观，人们对它的认可度也非常高。于是我们想我们应该接受，即便在内心深处我们可能觉得，它并不那么合适。
A few years ago, I was asked to sit on the board of a non-profit. I was honored and I accepted. After a few meetings though, my enthusiasm started to wane. I liked the organization and I liked the people on the board, but I didn't care enough to devote real time to it. It wasn't something I was passionate enough about and it required that I be a strong fundraiser, definitely a weakness of mine. In other words, it failed two out of four of my sweet spot criteria.
几年前，我受邀担任一家非盈利组织的董事会成员。我受宠若惊，并接受了那一职位。但是，尽管才开了几次会，我的热情就已经开始消退了。我喜欢那个组织和董事会中的成员，但这种喜欢还不足以让我真正花时间来做这件事。我对它没有足够的热情，而且，这一职位还要求我做一个强有力的筹款者，而这无疑是我的弱项。也就是说，这份工作不符合我最佳有效点四个条件中的两个。
Here's the crazy thing: A year later, they asked me to be president of the board, and I accepted again. I lasted a year.
更疯狂的事来了：一年后，他们请我做董事会主席，而我又再次接受了。我坚持了一年。
So, why did I accept? I'm embarrassed to say that, mostly, I liked the idea of being president of the board, even though the role took me out of my sweet spot.
我为什么会接受呢？我不得不尴尬地承认，大部分原因是我喜欢自己当上了董事会主席这一事实，尽管这一角色使我脱离了自己的最佳有效点。
At first glance, you might think the dilemma of seduction could be solved by being clear about what you want versus what other people what from you. That would be a fairly easy distinction to sort out.
乍一看，你也许认为这种进退维谷的诱惑局面可以通过分辨清楚你想要什么和其他人想从你这儿得到什么来解决。而这两者非常容易区分。
But it's more complicated than that. In fact, the dilemma is entirely within us: It's between what we want and what we think we should want, which is hard to distinguish.
但实际情况要复杂得多。事实上，这一困境完全源自我们的内心：它是我们想要什么和我们认为自己必须想要什么之间的矛盾，而这两者很难区分。
Still, in the midst of that complexity, there's a simple way to assess an opportunity. Next time you're given an 'offer you can't refuse,' ask yourself if it will place you squarely in your sweet spot. If it won't, you know what to do.
但即使在这种复杂情况下，当机会降临时依然有一个简单办法来对其进行评估。下次当你获得一个"无法拒绝的工作邀约"时，问问自己，它是否能使你正好位于自己的最佳有效点上。如果不能，你就知道应该怎么做了。
As for my friend? She eventually started her own company. She works on the designs herself, which she loves, and is very close to the marketing, promotions and finances. And politics? Very little.
至于我那位朋友？她最终自己开了一家公司，自己设计款式，而这正是她所喜爱的，并且还常常涉及市场营销和财务方面的事务。办公室政治？则少之又少。
The company is successful, of course. She's in her sweet spot.
当然，公司经营得非常成功。因为她正处于她的最佳有效点上。
PETER BREGMAN
- running [´rʌniŋ]
a.奔跑的；流动的 (初中英语单词) - combination [,kɔmbi´neiʃən] n.结合；联合；团体 (初中英语单词)
- amazing [ə´meiziŋ] a.惊人的；惊奇的 (初中英语单词)
- politics [´pɔlitiks] n.政治(学)；政治活动 (初中英语单词)
- energy [´enədʒi] n.活力，精力；能力 (初中英语单词)
- talented [´tæləntid] a.天才的；能干的 (初中英语单词)
- operate [´ɔpəreit] v.(使)运转；操作；经营 (初中英语单词)
- recognition [,rekəg´niʃən] n.认出；认识；承认 (初中英语单词)
- enthusiasm [in´θju:ziæzəm] n.热心；狂热；爱好 (初中英语单词)
- definitely [´definitli] ad.明确地；绝对 (初中英语单词)
- weakness [´wi:knis] n.虚弱；弱点，缺点 (初中英语单词)
- mostly [´məustli] ad.主要地；多半；通常 (初中英语单词)
- distinction [di´stiŋkʃən] n.差别；特征；卓越 (初中英语单词)
- complicated [´kɔmplikeitid] a.结构复杂的；难懂的 (初中英语单词)
- relationship [ri´leiʃənʃip] n.关系；联系；亲属关系 (高中英语单词)
- competent [´kɔmpitənt] a.能干的，有资格的 (高中英语单词)
- temptation [temp´teiʃən] n.引诱，诱惑(物) (高中英语单词)
- impressive [im´presiv] a.给人深刻印象的 (高中英语单词)
- external [ik´stə:nəl] a.外部的；外面的 (高中英语单词)
- significant [sig´nifikənt] a.重要的；意义重大的 (高中英语单词)
- passionate [´pæʃənit] a.易动情的；易怒的 (高中英语单词)
- increasingly [in´kri:siŋli] ad.日益，愈加 (英语四级单词)
- outcome [´autkʌm] n.结果；后果；成果 (英语四级单词)
- uncommon [ʌn´kɔmən] a.非常的，非凡的，罕见的 (英语四级单词)
- squarely [´skwɛəli] ad.成方形地；正直地 (英语四级单词)
- eventually [i´ventʃuəli] ad.最后，终于 (英语四级单词)
- taking [´teikiŋ] a.迷人的 n.捕获物 (英语六级单词)
京公网安备 11011202003401号
