許多人終其一生也未尋找到自己的目標(biāo)，連通向成功的第一步也不曾邁出?？释晒Φ娜税?，你準(zhǔn)備好了嗎？

  生活要有意義，首要條件便是要有一定的目標(biāo)。一般說來，成功者與不成功者的區(qū)別在于，前者知道他想要什么，并盡全力達(dá)到目的，而后者對(duì)他要做什么只有一個(gè)很模糊的想法。

  這樣的人會(huì)有許多白日夢，只是不著邊際地想成為什么樣的人，想要這個(gè)，想做那個(gè)，或是想做別的，但這同對(duì)生活有一個(gè)明確的目標(biāo)——一個(gè)將所有興趣、心力傾注其中的目標(biāo)——完全是兩碼事。

  隨便問幾個(gè)人，他們的生活目標(biāo)是什么？你會(huì)吃驚地發(fā)現(xiàn)，他們大都對(duì)此問題是一頭霧水，要他們給出明確的答案是多么地困難，更重要的是——問問你自己這個(gè)問題。你自己的最大目標(biāo)是什么？在這個(gè)世界上，你最想做什么，最想成為什么樣的人？除非你能立即簡明扼要地作出答復(fù)，要不然，你就還沒有真正踏上通往成功生活的道路。

  目標(biāo)不一定要宏大驚人，比如成為大富豪，建立遍布全國的連鎖集團(tuán)，或成為暢銷書作家。它可以是通過有規(guī)律、定期地學(xué)習(xí)以拓寬自己的知識(shí)面?？梢允潜M己所能，在工作上得心應(yīng)手，即便這是一項(xiàng)平庸的工作。也可以是從事某種社會(huì)義務(wù)工作，還可以是使家變成一個(gè)真正幸福的港灣。

  每個(gè)目標(biāo)，都可以成為有趣而令人滿意的追求，極大地豐富你的生活以及你所處的社交圈。人類精神可以實(shí)現(xiàn)難以想象的成功。如果我們能在力所能及的范圍內(nèi)制定目標(biāo)，便可以減少不必要的挫折與沮喪。目標(biāo)一旦確定，我們必須經(jīng)受必要的磨煉，獲取必要的知識(shí)和能力而實(shí)現(xiàn)之。

  有人說過，“天才是10%的靈感加上90%的汗水。”許多人沒有實(shí)現(xiàn)自己的目標(biāo)，是因?yàn)樗麄冸m然對(duì)自己的目標(biāo)熱情有加，對(duì)所需付出的努力卻熱忱不足。他們幻想，若能像帕代萊夫斯基那樣彈奏鋼琴該有多好，但是他們又不愿意像他那樣每天長時(shí)間地練習(xí)。他們夢想成為暢銷書作家，或者名揚(yáng)天下，但是，卻巴望這件事情單憑想象便可實(shí)現(xiàn)。

  不論我們的目標(biāo)是什么，我們需要對(duì)相關(guān)的知識(shí)有無盡的渴求。在一位著名學(xué)者的墓碑上刻著如下的話：“他一生都在學(xué)習(xí)。”盡管他已滿腹經(jīng)綸，他卻從未覺得自己已學(xué)到了所有的東西。但是，光有理論知識(shí)還是不夠的。賽跑運(yùn)動(dòng)員需要了解所有有關(guān)于起跑、姿勢、呼吸的知識(shí)。但是，他必須通過訓(xùn)練才能學(xué)會(huì)。同樣，畫家也要學(xué)習(xí)透視、剖析、調(diào)解以及其他知識(shí)，但他必須通過繪畫才能使其技藝日臻完美。

  沒有決心不能實(shí)現(xiàn)目標(biāo)。意志惟有經(jīng)過一次次考驗(yàn)，才能克服困難、解決問題、獲得成功，它的力量令人驚嘆。它是人類精神的真正動(dòng)力之一。

  而與意志相伴的，還必須有想象力的情感因素的驅(qū)動(dòng)。對(duì)于手頭工作所付出的興趣和熱情，在很大程度上，決定著我們將會(huì)取得多大的成功。做自己喜歡的事情，我們會(huì)做得完美出色。

  The first requirement of effective living is that we should have some sort of aim. Generally speaking, the difference between a successful person and an unsuccessful one is that the former knows what he wants, and bends every effort towards securing that end, while the latter has only a vague idea of what it is he is trying to do with his life.

  Such a person may have daydreams in plenty, may wish vaguely to be and do this, that, and the other, but that is a vastly different thing from having a definite objective in living-an all-constraining aim towards which all interest and effort are directed.

  Ask half of a dozen people what their aim in life is. You will be amazed to discover how greatly most of them will be taken by surprise at the question, and how they will have considerable difficulty in answering it with any certainty. More important——ask yourself the question. What is your own dominant aim？ What do you want to do and be, more than anything else in the world？Unless you can answer this question, at once in a few crisp sentences, you have not really started on the path of successful living.

  The aim need not be anything very startling like making a fortune, or establishing a nation-wide chain of business, or writing a best-seller. It may be to widen your general culture by ordered and regular reading. It may be to become as efficient as you possibly can be in your own job, even though that job is a limited one. It may be to engage in some sort of voluntary social service. It may be to lay in your own home the basis of a truly happy family.

  Any one of these aims could become an engrossing and satisfying pursuit, greatly enriching your own life, and that of the community in which you live. The human spirit is capable of almost inconceivable triumphs. We shall save ourselves some unnecessary frustration and heart-break, however, if we choose an aim which is reasonably within the scope of the powers with which we have been endowed. Once the aim is fixed, we must be willing to undergo the necessary discipline, and to attain the necessary knowledge and competency to fulfill it.

  Somebody once said：“Genius is 10 percent inspiration and 90 percent perspiration.”Many people fail to achieve their object because, while enamored of the aim, they are less enamored of the effort required in its fulfillment. They think how lovely it would be to play like Paderewski, but they are not willing to practice long hours daily as he did. They dream of writing a bestseller or of having their name in lights, but imagine that such things can be achieved simply by thinking about them！

  Whatever our aim, we need an insatiable thirst for knowledge about it. On the tombstone of a famous scholar are the words：“He died learning.” Learned as he was, he never imagined that he knew everything that was to be known. But mere theoretical knowledge is not enough. The runner needs to know all about the science of starting, about poise, about breathing. But he learns to run by running so, too, the artist will learn about perspective, anatomy, color-blending and much besides, but he perfects his art by painting！

  No aim can be achieved without determination. The difficulties that can be overcome, the problems that can be solved, and the success that can be achieved by the exercise of the will, are simply astonishing. Here lies one of the truly dynamic powers of the human spirit.

  But coupled with the will there must be an emotional drive of imagination, too. The interest and enthusiasm with which we give ourselves to the task in hand determine to a large extent the measure of success we shall achieve. We do best those things which we love doing.

  （摘自2009·晨風(fēng)號(hào)《忘憂草英漢對(duì)照》）