三月和四月图片:How "Average"People Excel 非天才的成功秘诀

Why do ordinary individuals often seem to achieve more than those talented fast-trackers, who tend to plateau after initial eye-catching achievements. To find out, I interviewed over 190 men and women in my work as a corporate consultant. I determined that "average"people who excel:

为什么在多数情况下，我们这些才智一般的普通人总是能比那些天赋异禀，但却只满足于自己最初那些小小成就的年少有成者取得更多的成就呢？为了找出答案，我在担任一个公司的顾问的时候采访了超过190位才智一般但是有所成就的先生或者女士。通过采访我总结出了一般才智者所主要拥有的五点素质：

Learn self-discipline. You don't need talent to succeed. All you need is a big pot of glue. You smear some on your chair and some on the seats of your pants, you sit down, and stick with every project until you've done the best you can do. Average achievers stay glued to their chairs and postpone pleasure so they can reap future dividends. Many fast-trackers, on the other hand, expect too much too soon. When rewards don't materialize instantly, they may become frustrated and unhappy. According to Dr.Vailant, a psychiatrist, average achievers have a crucial mental habit——the capacity to postpone——but not give up——gratification.

学会自律。你大可不必为自己的天赋一般而感到苦恼，因为你并不需要靠它来取得成功。所有你所需要的只是一罐胶水，然后把它涂抹在你的椅子上和你的屁股上，这样，当你坐下时，你就可以专注于你的工作直到把它做到最好。那些才智一般的成功者会一直坚持于这种专注，它们通常有着先吃苦后享乐的精神。但是另一方面，有相当多的年少有成者自持才智过人，在工作上总是急功近利，急于求成。他们总是希望自己的努力能立马见到回报，否则他们就会感到沮丧和灰心。心理学家Vailant博士说才智一般的成功者通常都有着先吃苦后享乐的精神，这一点至关重要，可以说是他们之所以能获得成功的关键所在。

Bring out the best in people. Many fast-trackers couldn't tolerate getting help from others or sharing success, often because of an overpowering ego. Collaboratuin is the key, and one of the best collaborators I've met is Marilynn,who supervises 10 people for the Los Angeles County Bar Association. "Many of them are more intelligent than I am," she says, "I'm there to manage their conflicts and motivate them to do well."

善于发现他人的优点。很多年少有成者自视甚高，所以他们不喜欢接受他人的帮助也不善于分享自己的成功。善于合作是成功的关键。Marilynn是洛杉矶律师协会的管理负责人，她负责管理和协调协会的另外10名成员，“她们大多要比普通人更聪明一些”，她说，“我这在的工作就是试法解决和协调他们之间的矛盾，并激励他们做的更好。”——这是我见过的最好的合作之一。

Build a knowledge base. Average achievers are not looking at the top job, as many fast-trackers tend to do——but at the job one step above. So they often broaden their knowledge base in a way many fast-trackers don't.

构建牢固的基础知识。那些才智一般的成功者并不像很多年少有成者一样，喜欢关注高级别的工作，他们更多的是关注那些比自身高一级的工作。他们能在这些工作中增长自身的经验和见识——很多年少有成者经常会错过这种机会。

Develop special skills. There are at least 7 basic intellectual skills: mathematical, logical, linguistic, musical, spatial, bodily kinesthetic and two types of personal intelligence——how we understand others, and how we deal with our own dreams, fears and frustrations. So while you may not be good at math, you may have an aptitude for design; or you may have an ability for persuading people.

培养一技之长。人类跟头脑有关的基本技能至少有7种：数学计算能力，逻辑推理能力，文字表达能力，乐理掌控能力，空间想象能力，动作协调能力，以及两种跟个人成长经历有关的能力——理解他人的能力和处理自身梦想、恐惧和挫折的能力。如果你不擅长数学，不要灰心，因为你可能在设计方面会有很高的天赋，或者你能轻而易举的说服别人——这也是一种了不起的技能。

Bounce back from defeat. Sylvia did okey in school, but nothing outstanding. At 42, she joined Revlon as a senior director of marketing. But after only 7 months, she was let go as part of a cutback. A month later, a publishing friend asked for advice on selling advertising to the beauty industry. Two years later, working out of her apartment, Sylvia is now supplying that advice to major clients at roughly the same income she earned at Revlon. She likes being her own boss. "Getting laid off forces you to be creative," she says. "It lights a fire under you."

在哪跌倒就在哪爬起来。Sylvia在学校读书的时候，虽然各方面都还不错，但是并没有什么特别突出的地方。在她42岁得时候，她当上了Revlon公司的高级市场经理。但是仅仅7个月，她就因为公司裁员而被迫下岗了。一个月后，一个出版界的朋友向她咨询如何向美容行业销售广告。两年后，Sylvia早已经把她自己的办公室移到了家中，现在光是她向她一些主要客户所提供的咨询意见所赚得的收入就已经和她以前作为高级市场经理所赚的收入大体相当了。她喜欢当她自己的老板，“下岗能促使你变的更富有创造力”，她说，“就好像在你身下点了一把火一样”。

Ultimately, there is nothing more powerful than a person with an average mind who holds his/her head high and goes about life with zest and surety. President Abraham Lincoln could have been destroyed by his seeing ordinariness. He came from a poor background and had ungainly appearance. Instead, he went on to greatness——while giving new meaning and dignity to what the world considered "average".

一个头脑一般的人，却能昂首挺胸，自信满满，热情洋溢地生活，从根本上来说，没有比这更强有力的东西了。美国前总统亚伯拉罕·林肯曾经被他外在的平凡而击败，他没有显赫的身世，也没有英俊的相貌，但是他却走向了成功甚至伟大——他给世人眼里的“普通”一词赋予了新的意义和尊严。