醍醐灌顶:准时出摊,就是价值

你好呀,我是良哥。
罗振宇说:“这个世界上有很多事情是时间的敌人,随着时间的推移就它们衰朽了。但也有些事情是时间的朋友,随着时间的累积它们的价值也累积。” 现在的人太容易痴迷于自己的想法,不赶紧去尝试,极容易三分钟热度。而避免自己三分钟热度的最好方法,就是在热度消散前赶紧把事情做出去,坚持准时出摊,无论是写作,先写100篇再说,还是拍视频,先拍100个再说,先有数量再追求质量,粗糙的开始比没有开始强多了。

Every morning, I go for a 30-minute run. It doesn’t matter if it’s a weekday or weekend, if I’m sluggish or energized, if it’s raining or not. Regardless of the external weather or my internal mood, I run the same route every morning, without fail.
每天清晨,我都会坚持跑步30分钟,风雨无阻。无论是工作日还是休息日,无论我感觉疲惫还是精神饱满,无论是否下雨。不管外面天气如何,内心情绪好坏,我都会雷打不动地沿着相同的路线跑步。
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I’ve been doing this for a few years now, and there are a number of lessons I’ve learned about this routine that can be applied to any aspect of life. So here they are, presented as short stories that will take just a few moments to digest.
我已经坚持这个习惯好几年了,我悟出了不少生活智慧,这些智慧适用于生活的方方面面。接下来,我会用几个小故事来分享这些智慧,这些故事花不了多少时间就能读完。。
(1) Strangers will root for you when you reliably show up.
当你总是准时出现时,陌生人都会为你加油。
Part of my route consists of a long, uphill stretch that spans for a quarter mile or so. It’s not easy, which is evidenced by the fact that I rarely see other people running up this hill with me (downhill, on the other hand, is another story).
我的跑步路线中有一段挺长的上坡路,大概有400米左右。这段路挺难跑的,我很少看到有人跟我一起跑上这个坡(不过,下坡的时候就另说了)。
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One morning, I recall running up this hill and reaching the stop sign that signals its zenith. I took a moment to glance over at the car that was paused there, and what I saw was quite memorable.
我记得有一天早上,我跑上那个小山坡,到了坡顶的停车标志那儿。我顺便瞥了一眼停在那里的一辆车,车里的一幕让我印象深刻。
The car’s occupant was a person I’d never seen before, but the big smile on this man’s face indicated that he’s seen me run around the neighborhood many times. He promptly raised his hand to wave hello, then gave me the most emphatic thumbs-up that I’ve ever had the opportunity to receive.
车里坐着一个我不认识的人,但他脸上的笑容告诉我,他肯定在附近看过我跑步好多次了。他马上挥手跟我打招呼,然后给了我一个我这辈子见过的最给力的大拇指赞。
It was powerful.
那一刻,我感觉特别振奋。

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This gesture signaled a simple point: He was rooting for me. Even though we’d never met before, there was something about my consistency that made me a person worth cheering for. He didn’t know my background, my values, my beliefs, anything. But the mere fact that I showed up every morning to tackle this hill was a good enough indicator that I was someone to happily acknowledge.
这个点赞手势传达了一个简单的信息:他在为我加油。尽管我们之前从未见过面,但我的一贯坚持让他觉得我值得为之喝彩。他不了解我的背景、我的价值观、我的信仰,我的任何东西。但仅仅是我每天早上准时挑战这个山坡的事实,就足以让他认为我是一个值得积极地认可的人。
You can make a first impression long before you meet its recipient, and the best way to do that is to show up regularly, even if you think that no one is watching.
你可以在还没见到对方的时候就给人留下印象,最好的办法就是坚持每天出现,哪怕你觉得没人在看。
(2) There will only be a few other people that regularly show up with you.
只有少数几个人会像你一样准时出现。
Every New Years’ Day, I get up a little earlier to go for my run. I do this because I think that my route might get a little crowded, given all the people that want to actualize their resolutions. If I could beat the rush, then perhaps I wouldn’t have to duck and dodge all the newfound runners that morning.
每年元旦,我都会特意早点起床去跑步。因为我想,所有人都想在新年实现自己的新目标,我的跑步路线可能会变得人山人海。如果我能赶高峰期之前出发,也许就不必在早上和那些新加入的跑步者们挤来挤去了。
But each year, I see the same thing.
但每年,情况都大同小异。
The few people I see exercising on January 1st are the same ones I saw the day before on December 31st. They would also be the same people I’d go on to see later in the new year as well.
我在1月1日看到的锻炼的人,跟我在前一天12月31日看到的是同一批人。这批人也是我在新的一年里还会继续碰到的面孔。
As it turns out, there’s never a large influx of new entrants on any given day. It’s always the regulars, out and about, doing their thing. Occasionally, I might see a new face running along a similar route, but I rarely see that person again.
事实证明,任何一天都不会有大量新参与者涌入。总是那些老面孔,在外面坚持他们的锻炼。偶尔,我可能会在跑步路线上看到一两个新面孔,但通常之后就很难再见到他们了。
If you do something consistently for a long time, the people you see often are those that also exhibit that same consistency. In your eyes, this group will seem like the “regulars,” but in the eyes of most, they are individual outliers that exhibit a remarkable sense of commitment.
如果你长期坚持做某件事,你会发现经常碰见的人也是那些同样能坚持的人。在你看来,这些人就是“老面孔”,但在大多数人眼里,他们异于常人,是坚守诺言的少数人。
(3) People will assume that your consistency applies to other domains of your life as well.
别人会认为你的坚持也适用于你生活的其他领域。
There’s someone in my neighborhood who frequently writes but occasionally runs. We were discussing our shared interests in both domains, and when I got around to asking about his writing practice, he said, “Oh, I’m probably not as disciplined as you.”
我有个邻居,他经常写作,偶尔也会跑步。我们聊起写作和跑步这两个共同爱好时,我问他写作的情况,他回答说:“哦,我可能没你那么自律。”
Interestingly, he said this before I told him a thing about my own writing regimen. All he knew was that I ran every morning, and he used that information to assume that I had a similar adherence to routine in a different domain.
有趣的是,他在我还没来得及告诉他我自己的写作习惯时就这么说了。他只知道我每天都坚持跑步,就凭这点,他就推测我在其他领域也这么自律。
When you show up regularly in one aspect of your life, you won’t be perceived as that person who’s consistent in that one particular thing. Rather, you will be seen as “the person who always shows up,” regardless of how many domains you actually show up in.
当你在生活的某个领域总是准时出现时,别人看你就不会觉得你只在一件事上特别坚持。他们会觉得你就是个“总是准时出现的人”,不管你实际上在多少件事上这么坚持。
(4) Once you get past the start, you’ll get to the finish.
只要你迈出了第一步,就能坚持到终点。
There are many mornings where I’d rather not go for my run. Maybe I’m particularly tired, or there’s a heavy rainstorm that looks rather unwelcoming to tread through. There are many days like this, where the comfort of staying inside feels like the logical path to remain on.
很多个清晨,我其实不太想去跑步。也许是因为我特别累,或者是外面下着大雨,看起来不太适合跑步。有很多这样的日子,待在屋里好像更舒服,好像是更合理的选择。
When this happens, I do one simple action: I put on my running clothes. That’s it. Because once I have these clothes on, the narrative I tell myself shifts. Since I’m dressed to go outside, it becomes irrational for me to stay inside with these garments on. The logical path is no longer contained to my home, and instead extend outwards to my running route.
遇到这种情况,我就做一件简单的事:换上我的跑步装备。就这么简单。因为一旦我穿上跑步的衣服,我心里的想法就变了。既然我都穿好了出门的衣服,再穿着这些衣服待在家里就显得不合逻辑了。自然而然地,我的下一步就是出门,沿着我的跑步路线跑起来。
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Once you get past the start, there’s too much friction for you to go back and hit the abort button. Once my running clothes are on, I’d feel a sense of embarrassment if I took them back off without having completed my run. Even if the outside conditions aren’t favorable, the simple act of putting on those clothes signals my commitment to overcoming those conditions.
一旦你开始了,就会产生很多阻力让你很难再回头说放弃了。一旦我穿上跑步的衣服,如果我没跑完就脱掉它们,我会感到尴尬。即使外面的条件不适宜,单单穿上跑步服这个动作,就表明了我克服这些困难的决心。
Friction is at its highest at the start of any endeavor. To alleviate this, do one simple action that makes the beginning as frictionless as possible.
任何事情一开始都是最难的。要解决万事开头难的问题,就做一件简单的事,让起步变得容易一点。
(5) Regularly showing up is sustainable only if you do it for yourself.
只有发自内心,准时出现才是可持续的。
Accountability pacts are useful for getting started, but eventually lose their efficacy as time goes on. External motivation is a great tool for kickstarting a new routine, but can become a burden once the thrill wears off. What was once a cheerful check-in on someone’s progress can become a thorny pressure on one’s side if the habit is failing to hold.
责任契约对于开始是有用的,但时间长了就没那么有用了。外部激励是开始新习惯的好方法,但一旦新鲜感过去,外部激励可能就成了负担。原本是愉快地检查别人的进展,如果习惯没能坚持下去,就可能变成一种让人不舒服的压力。
Ultimately, any commitment to showing up has to come from within. It has to stem from a fundamental belief that this routine or habit will make you a better person, and that regularly acting on this belief is the only way to manifest that vision.
说到底,坚持做一件事得是自己内心的决定。你得真心相信,这个习惯能让你成为一个更好的人,而且只有持续地按照这个信念去行动,你才能让这个目标成为现实。
I run every morning for one reason: It makes me a clearer thinker. I don’t do it because my watch is telling me that I burned 500 calories or someone extolled its benefits to me on some podcast. I do it because it reliably dispels whatever fog I had in my mind, which allows the rays of clarity to take its place. And when I’m a clearer thinker, I’m a better family member, friend, and writer.
我每天早晨跑步就为了一个目的:跑步让我思路更清晰。我跑步不是因为手表显示我消耗了多少卡路里,或者听哪个播客说跑步有多好。我跑步是因为跑步本身能帮我清理脑子里的混乱,让思路变得清晰。当我思路清晰时,我就能更好地扮演家庭角色、当个好朋友,还能写出更好的作品。
As long as I believe this, then I will continue exercising every morning. There’s nothing I need to prove to anyone, as the only person I need to confirm this belief with is myself.
只要我坚信跑步能让我的思维更清晰,我就会每天早晨坚持锻炼。我没必要向别人证明什么,我只需要让自己相信这一点。
The inner compass is what makes showing up sustainable, largely because it’s the only way to align what you do everyday with the person you aspire to be.
跟着内心的感觉走,才能让我持续地坚持,如此,我每天做的事情才能和我想成为的人相匹配。
标题:A Few Lessons on Showing Up
By Lawrence Yeo
译:良哥