人的一生是学习的一生，祸兮福兮，起起伏伏。我们从成功中总结经验，从失败中汲取教训，不断奋斗是生活的常态，少走弯路是永恒的盼望。如何少走弯路？炼心乃是根本，一切皆由心出。七大黄金原则助你成就完美一生。

Want to know how to change your life, achieve pretty much anything, and make yourself rich to boot? There is a huge “self help” industry out there eager to help you do it.

想知道如何改变自己的一生，如何获得非凡的成就，尤其是，如何提升自己的身价吗？介绍一项伟大的“自我奋斗”计划，助你实现自己的梦想。

I bump up against this world frequently when researching and writing about lifelong learning, and I have to admit a bit of a love-hate relationship with it. On the one hand, so much of the advice that gets peddled seems hackneyed, poorly written, and derivative of concepts already established hundreds, if not thousands, of years ago.

我做终生学习方面的研究，写这方面的文章，愤笔疾言针砭时弊是常有的事。我承认，对此我是爱恨交加。一方面，时下流行的有关终生学习方面的建议数量不少，却都是陈词滥调，文笔拙劣，照搬起码是数百年前的老观点。

On the other hand, there is obviously a deep human need to return again and again to the issues and concepts that pervade self-help literature. Some current writers do a very good job of returning to these issues and examining them in a fresh way. And I have to assume that many people do learn and grow from it – or at least try. Repetition, as they say, is the mother of learning.

另一方面，人类显然在内心深处有一种需求，想要一次次地去回顾那些有关自我奋斗的论说中无所不在的问题和概念。现在有些作家这方面做得很好，不单是重拾这些问题，而且从全新的视角审视这些问题。我确实觉得，很多人从中学到了东西，并且因此而进步了——或者，至少是付出努力了。正如他们所言，重复是学习之母。

So, I started thinking about the key themes and lessons that seem to show up in the self-help literature with which I am familiar. Knowledge of them can certainly be of use to the average lifelong learner.

故此，我开始思考那些我所熟悉的此类论说中的关键课题。了解这方面的知识，对一般的终生学习者而言无疑是很有用的。

Here are the seven that strike me as most fundamental. It seems to me that most other themes or habits fall into one of these seven buckets.

其中，有七大原则我认为是最基本的，其它课题（或习惯）大都可以归为七大原则之一。

1. Desire 理想

This is almost always #1 in the standard self-help literature. If you want to achieve “it,” you have to really want it. More importantly, with very few exceptions you must be conscious of the fact that you want it and you must be very clear about what it is. When it will happen, what it will look like...you get the picture.

有关自我奋斗的各种论说中，该原则几乎总是位居榜首。欲取之，必先欲之。更重要的是，大多情况下，你必须确信自己有此理想，而且必须清楚是何理想，何时产生，有何特性等，你要能描绘出来。

2. Authenticity 真我
While most self-help literature is about change – changing your life, becoming a different person – it is almost always rooted in the notion that you have to “know yourself” (or know thy self, depending on how far back you go) and be yourself if you want to succeed and be happy in your success. Make sure the “it” that you desire aligns with who you truly are.

虽然大多数有关自我奋斗的论说都在讲改变——改变你的一生，做个全新的人等，但几乎都植根于一个理念：如果你想成功并快乐着，你就要“了解自己”（或者说了解本我，这要看你对自己了解有多深），并且要坚持做你自己。记住，你的理想和你的真我相辅相成，并行不悖。

3. Drive 动力

As the old saying goes, “If wishes were horses, beggars could ride.” It is one thing to want something; it is another thing entirely to have the will to get it. Motivation plays a starring role in self-help literature, and for good reason: very few of us come equipped with self-sustaining will power. Closely related concepts like being “pro-active” and persistent come into play here.

古谚有云：“理想若是马，乞丐都能骑。”有理想是一回事，有决心实现理想是另一回事。自我奋斗论中，动力是奋斗成功的主要因素，理由很充分：很少有人有足够的意志力。类似的概念还有积极向上、持之以恒等。

4. Discipline 自律

You can want it and have the will to pursue it, but you still need to cultivate and practice appropriate, consistent habits if you expect to succeed. It is important to remember that “discipline” derives from the Latin “disciplina,” meaning teaching or learning. Desire and drive alone do not add up to discipline. It must be learned.

你有理想，也下定决心追求理想，但你还需要培养于你有益的行为习惯，并持之以恒坚持下去，你才有可能获得成功。一定要记住，英文中“自律”（discipline）一词源于拉丁语词“disciplina”，意为自我教育，既有“教”，也有“学”。自律并非理想和动力的简单相加，必须依靠后天习得。

5. Reflection 自省

Reflection is arguably one of the key habits of discipline, but it also serves to counteract mindless discipline. In short, it is an important enough concept in self-help literature to stand on its own. Achieving your goals requires being conscious and thoughtful about how you are performing along the way. Doing so enables you to appreciate your progress and also to adjust as needed

自省是自律原则中的关键因素之一，这点无可非议，但跟无意识的自律又不一样，自省强调有意识的一面。简言之，在自我奋斗的论说中，自省原则自成一体，非常重要。想要达到目标，就应该做个有心人，随时关注自己的进展，这样才能对其合理评价，适时调整。

6. Connections 人际关系

While self-help literature by its nature tends to be very focused on the individual, I can't think of a single example I have come across that doesn't also emphasize the importance of our connection to others.

自我奋斗论本质上往往强调个人的奋斗，但我想不到任何一个自我奋斗成功的案例能隔断个人与他人的联系。

Among other things, connections may help you enhance your own abilities – as in the concept of the “master mind” pioneered by Napoleon Hill (and represented earlier in Ben Franklin’s “junto”). They may help keep you accountable – as is common in 12-step groups. Or, they may help you reconcile yourself with the past – by saying thank you to those who have had a positive impact on your life, for example, as is so common in “happiness” literature.

别的不说，人际关系首先会帮你提高自己的能力，拿破仑·希尔（Napoleon Hill）首倡的“大师”概念中包含了这个观点（本杰明·富兰克林（Ben Franklin）在18世纪创立的费城俱乐部“Junto”中也曾提及）。人际关系也会帮你树立责任感，这在12步戒酒者聚会组织（参见12 Step Groups 网站）中很常见。人际关系还会帮你接受自己的过去，比如，向那些曾经对你人生有积极影响的人表示感谢。论述“幸福”的文献中，这样的例子比比皆是。

7. Faith 信仰

I don't necessarily mean “faith” in a religious sense – thought certainly there is a great deal of self-help literature with a religious orientation. All of the self-help literature I have encountered posits a “higher power,” whether that is a “God” in a religious sense or something more ethereal. I also place concepts like “making your own luck,” “attitude,” and “resilience” in this bucket because each is rooted in the notion that things somehow work out if you simply believe they will.

这里的“信仰”并不一定带有宗教色彩，尽管很多的自我奋斗论说确实具有宗教倾向。我所读过的自我奋斗论著中，无一例外宣扬“至高权力”，要么是宗教意义上的“上帝”，要么就是某种虚无缥缈的神灵。我认为“信仰”还应该包括“把握自己的命运”、“态度”、“精神复苏”等概念，因为这些概念的实质都是只要有信，就有可能。

回帖话题：Here's a challenge to readers: Where have you found any or all of these concepts expressed most meaningfully for you? And what am I missing? Please comment and share your sources! 最后给我们的读者提两个问题：上述七大原则中，你认为哪些最有意义？是否还有我没考虑到的地方？欢迎大家各抒己见。