新概念雙語：每天自問9問題：高質生活非難事

Benjamin Franklin began and ended each day with a question: "What good shall I do this day?" in the morning, and "What good have I done this day?" in the evening.

班杰明•富蘭克林每日早晚都會問自己一個問題，早上：“今天我該做什么好事?”晚上：“今天我做了什么好事?”

In fact, many great thinkers embraced the idea of constantly questioning things. As Albert Einstein reportedly said, "Learn from yesterday, live for today, hope for tomorrow. The important thing is not to stop questioning."

實際上，許多偉大的思想家都堅持對事情抱有質疑的態(tài)度。正如愛因斯坦在報道上說道：“學習昨天，活在今天，期待明天。重要的是絕不停止質疑。”

Of course, getting into the habit of self-reflection is easier said than done, as we often prefer to avoid asking ourselves the tough questions. As philosopher and psychologist John Dewey explained in his 1910 book, "How We Think," reflective thinking involves overcoming our predisposition to accept things at face value and the willingness to endure mental unrest.

當然，養(yǎng)成自我反思的習慣說起來比做的輕松，就像我們常常喜歡逃避提問自己一些尖銳的問題一樣。哲學家兼心理學家約翰•杜威教授在1910年出版的書籍《思維術》中也這么解釋：反思性思考關乎克服個人傾向去接受表面的東西，以及對精神動亂的忍耐的自愿性。

But enduring this discomfort is well worth the effort, as it can result in the confidence boost necessary to perform better in our work and daily lives.

不過，去忍耐不安的感覺也非常值得一試，因為它能激發(fā)自信心，對于工作上和生活上表現得更好具有必要性。

To help kickstart your habit of self-reflection, here are nine daily questions you can start asking today:

為了幫助你激發(fā)自我反思的動力，下面有9個可以從今天開始每天給自己提問的問題：

1. 'If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today?'

1.“如果今天是我的生命最后一天，我今天會不會想做我準備做的事情?”

In 2005, about a year after he received his pancreatic cancer diagnosis, Apple's then-CEO Steve Jobs told Stanford's graduating class that, for 33 years, he would look in the mirror every morning and ask himself, "If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today?"

在2005年，也就是在得知確診胰腺癌后的一年，蘋果的前總裁——喬布斯在斯坦福大學的畢業(yè)典禮上發(fā)表了演說。他表示，在過去的33年里，他每天都會照著鏡子提問自己：“如果今天是我的人生的最后一天，我會不會去做我準備去做的事情?”

If the answer was "No" for too many days in a row, he says he know he needed to change something.

如果連續(xù)多天的答案都是“不”，那么他已經知道自己需要改變些什么了。

"Remembering that I'll be dead soon is the most important tool I've ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life. Because almost everything — all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure — these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important," Jobs explained. "Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart."

“記得‘我很快就會死了’是我使用過最有效的、幫助我做出人生重要決定的最重要工具。因為幾乎所有的事情——所有的外部期待，所有的榮譽，所有的對于尷尬或失敗的恐懼，這些東西在死亡面前都微不足道，剩下的才是最重要的。”喬布斯解釋道。“記得‘你快要死了’，這就是我免于思考東西會失去的陷阱的最佳方法。其實你早已赤裸裸的了。那么也沒有必要做違心的事情。”

2. 'How do I see myself?

2.“我對自己的評價如何?”

"This questions gets at your likely unspoken beliefs about who you are," writes Wanleo.com founder and CEO Deena Varshavskaya on Quora.“

這個問題很有可能關乎你無法言喻的個人品質信仰，”選自 Wanleo.com的創(chuàng)始人兼總裁——Deena Varshavskaya在Quora上的回復。

She says that changing how you see yourself in various situations can also change your actions and, ultimately, who you are.

她表示，改變自己在不同情況下的評價方式還能改變你的行為，并且最終，改變你自己。

3. 'What is my biggest strength?'

3. “我的最大優(yōu)勢是什么?”

VaynerMedia CEO and cofounder Gary Vaynerchuk writes on Quora that asking this question is the key to loving your job.

VaynerMedia的總裁兼聯(lián)合創(chuàng)始人Gary Vaynerchuk在Quora上寫道，這個問題就是判斷你是否熱愛工作的關鍵。

As he explains, so many people have jobs they hate because they haven't found their true passion yet. "They are good at a few things, so that's what they do here and there, but they aren't sure what that one big thing they want to do forever could be," he says.

他還解釋道，那么多人討厭自己的工作是因為他們還沒找到自己真正感到激情的部分。“他們很擅長一些事情，這就是為什么他們在此處和別處工作的緣故，但他們還不確定決定自己堅持一輩子的那個信念是什么。”他說道。

"Stop doing stuff you hate. Nail down your strengths so you can discover your passion," he advises.“

不要再做自己討厭的事情了。找到自己的長處這樣才能找到工作激情。”他建議道。

4. 'What pain do I want in my life?'

4. “我希望生活給我?guī)硎裁礃拥耐纯?”

Happiness requires struggle, as well as an understanding of what we are willing to struggle for, writes self-development blogger Mark Manson.

幸福需要奮斗，也需要我們愿意為某件事情而奮斗的理解。選自自我發(fā)展的博主Mark Manson的建議。

"What determines your success isn't 'What do you want to enjoy?' The question is, "What pain do you want to sustain?' The quality of your life is not determined by the quality of your positive experiences but the quality of your negative experiences. And to get good at dealing with negative experiences is to get good at dealing with life," Manson explains.“

決定你成功的要素不是‘你希望享受的是什么?’而應該是：‘你想承受怎樣的痛苦?’生活的質量并不取決于你的積極經歷的質量，而是消極經歷的質量。如果你能很好地處理這些消極的經歷，那么應付生活就不是難事了。”Manson解釋道。

5. 'What was different then from now?'

5. “現在與過去發(fā)生了什么改變?”

If you're struggling to start a new habit, "Better Than Before: Mastering the Habits of Our Everyday Lives" author Gretchen Rubin suggests thinking about a time in the past when you successfully changed your behavior.

如果你在掙扎著培養(yǎng)新的習慣，那么《活得更好：掌握日常生活的習慣》的作者Grechen Rubin建議就讀者們，好好想想過去成功轉變行為習慣的那個時刻。

Asking yourself, "What was different then from now?" can help you figure out what factors helped you successfully change your behavior in the past so that you can emulate them going forward.

問問自己“現在與過去發(fā)生了什么改變?”有助你發(fā)現在過去的日子里讓你成功改變習慣的因素有哪些，這樣在以后的日子里就可以效仿了。

6. 'How are you doing?'

6. “你還好嗎?”

Quora user Michael Hopkins writes: "It's silly, but it all started when I watched an episode of 'The Tick' where the Tick travels on a quest inside his own mind to seek the answer to any one question. When he finally meets his inner being, and can ask any question he wants, he asks something like, 'How are you doing?'

Quora網站的用戶Michael Hopkins寫道：“雖然這句話很笨，但這個習慣都始于我看到了‘閃電超人’里的一幕：超人在自己的內心暢游以追尋答案。當他最終找到了真我，還能提出任何問題的時候，他提出了類似‘你還好嗎?’的問題。”

"I took from that a very profoundly meaningful lesson: At the center of each of us, this is the most basic and truest and most important question. It leads to so many internal conversations that we would all be better off having with ourselves each day."

“我從那一幕中學習到了意義深遠的一課：在我們每個人的內心深處，這就是最基本的，最真實的也是最重要的問題。它能引發(fā)如此多的內心對話以致我們能每天好好地對待自己。”

7. 'Why so serious?'

7. “何必如此較真呢?”

"I tend to fuss over little things and don't feel quite alright until I get them done in the manner I desire," writes Quora user Soham Banerjee. The question is a good reminder to us all not to take life so seriously all the time and can help put things in perspective.“

“我的心情很容易因小事情影響變得不那么好，直到我采取自己喜歡的方式處理它們。”Quora網站的用戶Soham Banerjee答道。這個問題對于我們每個人來說都起到警示的作用：別總把生活過得太較真，才能讓我們正確地看待事情。

8. 'What went well today?'

8. “今天遇到了什么好事?”

Harvard Business School professor Francesca Gino and her colleagues asked workers to spend 15 minutes at the end of their workdays writing about what went well that day, and they found that the journaling employees had 22.8% higher performance than those who didn't ponder on their workday.

哈佛商學院的教授Francesca Gina和她的同事們讓一些職場人士在每天下班時花15分鐘寫下當天的狀況，最后結果發(fā)現，每天進行工作記錄的員工比那些沒有思考過工作狀況的員工的有著22.8%更優(yōu)異的工作表現。

As former Tech Insider reporter Drake Baer points out, reflecting on the day's successes can help you incorporate those lessons into the next day. he writes.

正如Tech Insider前通訊員Drake Baer指出，反思當天的成就能讓你把學到的經驗運用到第二天。

9. 'Do I pick partners and friends who support me, challenge me, encourage me, and help me grow?'

9.“我找到的伙伴和朋友，他們是不是都能支持我，挑戰(zhàn)我，鼓勵我，幫助我成長?”

Quora user Nela Canovi says: "There is a saying that we are the average of the five people we spend the most time with. Think about the people in your life. Are the people close to you helping you grow as a human being? Or do you spend time with people who don't respect their own time (and therefore won't respect yours), who drain your energy, who are negative and only like to complain, and who exemplify a 'fixed mindset' instead of a 'growth mindset' so that at the end of the day you struggle to understand why you don't feel happy and energized around them?

Quora網站的用戶Nela Canovi表示：“有一個這樣的說法：我們就是與我們相處的5個人的平均值。所以想一想那些在你生命里出現的人們。那些與你關系密切的人們能否為你的成長為人貢獻力量?還是你花時間與一些不尊重自己個人時間(隨之也不尊重你的時間)的人相處，他們耗費你的精力，負能量滿滿、只會抱怨，只是一個‘頑固不化’而不是帶有‘發(fā)展思維’的人，以致你總是苦苦掙扎，難以理解自己為什么在他們身邊總是悶悶不樂，無法獲得動力?”

"Be selective about who you keep in your inner circle of friends. Surround yourself with people based on your common interests, your values, the things you consider important to your personal growth, as well as how you value time, knowledge, and friendship."

“有選擇性地與那些能真正交心的朋友保持聯(lián)系。從共同的興趣，你的價值觀，你認為對個人成長重要的因素，以及你對時間，知識，友情的對待方式等方面出發(fā)，以此找到合適的朋友一起生活成長。”