The Relationships between These Steps

五大步骤间的联系

Designs and tasks have no purpose other than to achieve your goals. Said differently, goals are the sole purpose of designs and tasks. So you mustn’t forget how they’re related. Frequently I see people feel great about doing their tasks while forgetting the goals they were designed to achieve, resulting in the failure to achieve their goals. This doesn’t make any sense, because the only purpose of tasks is to achieve goals. In order to be successful, your goals must be riveted in your mind: they are the things you MUST do. To remember the connections between the tasks and the goals that they are meant to achieve, you just have to ask, “Why?” It is good to connect tasks to goals this way (with the “Why?”), because losing sight of the connections will prevent you from succeeding.

设计方案与任务最主要的目的就是实现你的目标。虽然方案和任务有所不同，但都是为了最终实现工作目标。所以一定不要忘记它们同目标之间的联系。我经常发现有人对自己完成了各项任务洋洋得意，却忘了最终的工作目标是什么，最终没能实现目标。这其实很没意义，因为任务的唯一目的就是实现目标。要想成功，必须牢记自己的工作目标：这些是你必须要做的事情。记住，任务和目标之间的联系，完成任务是为了实现目标的。其实你只用问“为什么”就知道他们之间的联系了。通过“为什么”将任务和目标联系起来很好，因为忽视了这种关联，会阻碍你实现成功。

Again, this 5-Step Process is iterative. This means that after completing one of the steps you will probably have acquired relevant information that leads you to modify the other steps.

再次说明，这五大步骤是循环往复的，也就意味着当你完成一个步骤后，可能会获得有用的信息帮助你改善其他步骤。

If this process is working, goals will change much more slowly than designs, which will change more slowly than tasks. Designs and tasks can be modified or changed often (because you might want to reassess how to achieve the goal), but changing goals frequently is usually a problem because achieving them requires a consistent effort. I often find that people who have problems reaching their goals handle these steps backwards; that is, they stick too rigidly to specified tasks and are not committed enough to achieving their goals (often because they lose sight of them).

如果这个过程开始运作了，对目标的改变远慢于设计方案的改变，而任务的改变则快得多。设计方案和任务可以经常调整改变（因为你可能想重新评估实现目标的方式），但频繁改变目标则通常会带来问题，因为实现目标本来就需要贯彻始终的努力。我常发现，有人在实现目标的征途上遇到问题，他们反复退回之前的步骤，对某些具体任务过度苛刻，却没有花更多精力在实现目标上，很多时候是因为他们忽略了目标的存在。

Weaknesses Don’t Matter if You Find Solutions

找到解决方案，有缺点也不要紧

To repeat, the best advice I can give you is to ask yourself what you want, then ask ‘what is true,’ and then ask yourself ‘what should be done about it.’ If you honestly ask and answer these questions you will move much faster towards what you want to get out of life than if you don’t!

再说一遍，我能给你的最好建议就是，问问自己想要什么，“真实情况是怎样的？”，“应该对此做些什么？”我相信只要按此步骤，就能更快实现梦想。

Most importantly, ask yourself what is your biggest weakness that stands in the way of what you want.

最重要的是，问你自己，阻碍你成功最大的缺点是什么。

As I mentioned before, everyone has weaknesses. The main difference between unsuccessful and successful people is that unsuccessful people don’t find and address them, and successful people do.

我说过，人人都有缺点，成功人士与平庸之辈的区别在于他们懂得发现缺点并采取解决方案。

It is difficult to see one’s own blind spots for two reasons:

发现个人缺点很难主要有两点原因：

1) Most people don’t go looking for their weaknesses because of “ego barriers”—they find having weaknesses painful because society has taught them that having weaknesses is bad. As I said early on, I believe that we would have a radically more effective and much happier society if we taught the truth, which is that everyone has weaknesses, and knowing about them and how to deal with them is how people learn and succeed.

1) 大多数人都不去搜寻自身缺点，就是因为“自我设障”，社会大环境告诉他们，有缺点是不好的，所以会觉得发现缺点很痛苦。我早前提过，如果大家都知道这样一个真相，即人人都有缺点，人们通过了解缺点，知道如何应对缺点而成长与成功，那我们的社会将变得更高效幸福。

2) Having a weakness is like missing a sense—if you can’t visualize what it is, it’s hard to perceive not having it.

2）具备缺点就像缺少一种感官——如果你无法形象描述这个感官是怎样的，也就很难察觉你在这方面的缺失。

For these two reasons, having people show you what you are missing can be painful, though its essential for your progress. When you encounter that pain, try to remember that you can get what you want outof life if you can open-mindedly reflect, with the help of others, on what is standing in your way and then deal with it.

基于这两点原因，要别人当你面告诉你缺少什么是挺痛苦的，但这是实现进步的重要步骤。遭受痛苦时，请记住：只要以开放的思维，并在别人的帮助下，对阻碍成功的东西进行反思，找到应对办法，就能实现人生梦想。

What do you think is the biggest weakness you have that stands in the way of what you want – the one that you repeatedly run into?

在追逐人生目标的征途上，你认为反复出现的阻碍你前行的最大缺点是什么？

People who don’t get what they want out of life fail at one or more of the five steps. But being weak atany one of these steps is not a problem if you understand what you are weak at and successfully compensate for that weakness by seeking help. For example, a good goal-setter who is bad at doingtasks might work well with a bad goal-setter who is great at doing tasks—i.e., they will be much more successful working together. It is easy to find out what weaknesses are standing in your way by 1) identifying which steps you are failing at and 2) getting the feedback of people who are successful at doing what you are having problems with.

没能实现人生梦想的人，一般是因为没能顺利完成五大步骤。但是对这五大步骤都不在行并不是问题，只需了解自己的缺点在哪，然后通过寻求帮助弥补这方面的劣势就好。例如，擅于设置目标但不擅长完成任务的人，可以和擅长完成任务但不善于设置目标的人进行合作。这两个人在一起工作，比单独工作要成功得多。找到阻碍成功的缺点不难，可以用以下的办法：1）弄清是哪一个步骤出了问题；2）从擅长你所不擅长的领域的成功人士那里获得反馈。

Because I believe that you will achieve your goals if you do these five steps well, it follows that if you are not achieving your goals you can use the 5-Step Process as a diagnostic tool. You would do this by 1) identifying the step(s) that you are failing at; 2) noting the qualities required to succeed at that step; and 3) identifying which of these qualities you are missing.

因为我认为只要做好这五个步骤，就能实现目标，若没能实现目标，也可以把这五步过程当作诊断工具。你可以：1）弄清楚在哪一步上失败的；2）记下需要完成此步骤所需的素质；3）弄清楚这些素质中，自己缺少哪些?

To repeat, the five steps and the qualities that I believe are required to be good at them are as follows:

再重复一下，以下是我认为五大步骤所需的素质：

Which qualities needed do you wish you had more of?

这几条素质中，你最希望提升哪一条？

In a nutshell, my 5-Step process for achieving what you want is:

你对自己在这方面的能力的自我评估有几分？

In a nutshell, my 5-Step process for achieving what you want is:

简而言之，我的目标实现五步骤如下：

Values→ 1) Goals → 2) Problems → 3) Diagnoses → 4) Designs → 5) Tasks

价值观→ 1) 目标 → 2) 问题 → 3) 诊断 → 4) 设计 → 5) 任务

Your values determine what you want, i.e., your goals. In trying to achieve your goals, you will encounter problems that have to be diagnosed. Only after determining the real root causes of these problems can you design a plan to get around them. Once you have a good plan, you have to muster the self-discipline to do what is required to make the plan succeed. Note that this process starts with your values, but it requires that you succeed at all five steps. While these steps require different abilities, you don’t have to be good at all of them. If you aren’t good at all of them (which is true for almost everyone), you need to know what you are bad at and how to compensate for your weaknesses. This requires you to put your ego aside, objectively reflect on your strengths and weaknesses, and seek the help from others.

价值观决定你的目标。为了实现目标，就会遇到问题，对之进行诊断。只有找出这些问题的根本原因，才能设计方案解决问题。好的方案，还需要自律才能按要求顺利完成方案。请注意，这个过程始于你的价值观，但需要你顺利完成五个步骤。每个步骤要求不同的能力，你不用样样具备，这对大多数人来说也是事实，你只需要了解自己不擅长什么，并懂得弥补自己的缺点。这需要你把内心的自我情绪放一边，客观审视自己的优缺点，并向别人寻求帮助。

As you design and implement your plan to achieve your goals, you may find it helpful to consider that:

设计与落实目标实现计划时，下面的建议可能有所帮助

Life is like a game where you seek to overcome the obstacles that stand in the way of achieving your goals

人生如一场游戏，要克服阻碍前行的障碍

You get better at this game through practice;

玩这场游戏，多多练习，熟能生巧

The game consists of a series of choices that have consequences;

这场游戏由一系列会带来后果的选择组成。

You can’t stop the problems and choices from coming at you, so it’s better to learn how to deal with them;

你无法阻挡问题和选择扑面而来，所以最好还是学学怎么去应对它们吧。

You have the freedom to make whatever choices you want, though it’s best to be mindful of their consequences;

你可以随心所欲做选择，不过最好要考虑后果。

The pain of problems is a call to find solutions rather than a reason for unhappiness and inaction, so it’s silly, pointless, and harmful to be upset at the problems and choices that come at you (though it’s understandable);

问题的出现会带来痛苦，但也会提醒自己寻找解决问题的办法。出现问题不能作为沮丧或不作为的理由，要这样想就太蠢了，也是没有意义的，消极应对扑面而来的问题与选择是有害的。

We all evolve at different paces, and it’s up to you to decide the pace at which you want to evolve;

我们进化的速度不尽相同，这个进化的速度取决于你自己。

The process goes better if you are as accurate as possible in all respects, including assessing your strengths and weaknesses and adapting to them.

这个过程进展顺利与否取决于你是否精准地把握方方面面，包括评估自身优劣势，思考适应策略。

The organization Outward Bound has a concept that is helpful in thinking about the optimal pace of personal evolution. They speak of a comfort zone, a stretch zone and a panic zone. It’s best to spend most of your time in the stretch zone.

一家叫“拓展训练”的公司提出过一组概念：舒适区，伸展区和恐慌区。这个观点为个人进化的最佳速度提供了思路，所以最好都处在“伸展区”。