Is it better to be a big fish in a small pond? Or to aim for the very stars, no matter the price?
到底是当一个小池塘里的大鱼更好？还是不管付出什么代价，都要以成为最优秀的人为目标？
When Robert Browning wrote, “Ah, but a man’s reach should exceed his grasp, Or what’s a heaven for?” he suggested the latter. I think Mr Browning was urging us all to attempt true greatness, and strive to the maximum of our abilities, even if we fail in the attempt.
罗伯特•勃朗宁(Robert Browning)在诗中写道：“啊，但是一个人总要超过自己的极限，否则为什么要有天空呢”，暗示应选择后者。我认为勃朗宁是在敦促我们，即使可能失败，也要尝试做一个真正伟大的人，并努力竭尽所能。

The famous line is from his poem “Andrea del Sarto”, about an extraordinarily talented Italian painter of the Renaissance known as the “faultless painter” who was nevertheless overshadowed by his magnificent contemporaries, Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci and Raphael.
这是勃朗宁的诗作《安德烈亚•德尔•萨尔托》(Andrea del Sarto)中的名句。这首诗写的是文艺复兴时期一位才华横溢的意大利画家。萨尔托被称为“完美无瑕的画家”，尽管如此，与他同时期的艺术巨匠米开朗基罗(Michelangelo)、莱昂纳多•达芬奇(Leonardo da Vinci)和拉斐尔(Raphael)掩盖了他的光芒。
Yet I see many successful and fulfilled entrepreneurs who deliberately choose not to compete in the major leagues of business, even though they are up to the task. Instead, they pick a quiet industry, live in a provincial city, and possibly even relocate to a smaller country.
然而，我发现许多成功和满足的企业家，哪怕有足够的能力，也特意选择不参与主流商业领域的竞争。相反，他们会选择一个不那么高调的行业，在一个远离首都的城市居住，甚至还有可能迁移到一个较小的国家。
In such sectors and locations you do not have to be as good to be a top dog, nor fight as hard to stay there. Oligopolies are common, while juicy margins and returns are much more easily attainable than in large markets where, admittedly, the rewards of success are commensurately higher — both financially, and in terms of status and applause.
在这些行业和这些地方，要成为最顶尖的人，不必那么优秀，要留下来，也不必那么奋力拼搏。寡头垄断的情况很常见，与规模较大的市场相比，要获得丰厚的利润和回报也容易得多。虽然无可否认的是，在较大市场取得成功，不管是在钱财方面，还是地位和名声方面，回报也会相应地高一些。
However, research suggests that in terms of human happiness, relative success matters much more than absolute success. In other words, you will probably be more content if you are a higher achiever than your immediate contemporaries in a small locale than you would be persisting with a futile struggle on a national stage.
然而，研究表明，在人的幸福方面，相对成功比绝对成功重要得多。换句话说，如果比较两种情况，一种是在小地方比身边的同辈人更加成功，另一种是坚持在汇集全国人才的地方打拼，却徒劳无功，你在前一种情况下很可能感到更幸福。
Almost every field of work I know is a ferocious battle if you are aspirational — and much more so than it was even 15 years ago. There are more people, and therefore more talent, than ever before. In the west, we compete ever more directly with billions of new rivals in Asia, the Americas, Europe — everywhere really. The race can be exhausting: I do not blame ambitious combatants for throwing in the towel after a couple of decades of remorseless striving with the big beasts.
在我所知的每个工作领域，如果你渴望成功，就必须面对一场激烈的战斗，即使只与15年前相比，激烈程度也高得多。现在的人比以往任何时候都多，因此人才更多。身在西方，我们与亚洲、美国、欧洲，或者确切地说，与来自任何地方的数十亿新对手进行日趋激烈的竞争。这样的竞争会让人精疲力竭：我不会责怪那些雄心勃勃的斗士们与那些厉害人物殊死较量数十年后选择放弃。
A number of entrepreneur friends have retreated to tackle more modest challenges: smaller communities, less audacious goals, somewhat less cut-throat rivalries, social enterprises rather than major companies. After all, who wants to be just one among many? Surely it is better to be a local hero, feted in a modest way, rather than a disappointed also-ran who tried but failed to make it to the absolute top.
我的几位企业家朋友已经转而应对一些不那么棘手的挑战：更小的社群、更保守的目标、不那么你死我活的对手、社会企业而非大公司。毕竟，谁愿意只当众人中的一个呢？相比尝试做一个最顶尖的人，最终却只收获失望和失败，做一个本土英雄并享受适当的尊荣显然更好。
This philosophy probably permeates many contested walks of life: one’s choice of school, university, workplace, neighbourhood, career, hobbies — even romantic partner. Aim for the biggest and the best; or settle for plain old good?
这种哲学可能已经渗入到生活中许多存在竞争的领域：它影响了我们对学校、大学、工作、邻里、事业、爱好，甚至是伴侣等的选择。要瞄准最大最好的？还是满足于普通的好？
I live in London, a sheer madhouse when it comes to securing one’s place in the overall hierarchy. The cost of membership is steep, and not just economically. The pace of life, if you want to keep up, feels draining, mentally and physically. Affording a decent home, bringing up a family, standing out among the driven and accomplished Londoners — it can all become a self-defeating pursuit.
我住在伦敦，对于保住一个人在社会阶层中的地位，这是一个再疯狂不过的地方。留在这里的代价非常高昂，而且不仅仅是经济方面。如果你想跟上主流，这里的生活节奏会让你感到身心俱疲。要负担一处体面的住处，供养一个家庭，并在其他奋发图强、各有所长的伦敦人之中脱颖而出——这一切都可能让人焦头烂额。
I suppose the prizes are there to be seized for the very few, but they can feel like a chimera. Is the sense of satisfaction deeper, or the moral comfort greater, residing in a world city like London?
我猜想，可能有极少数人能够赢得成功的大奖，但那也可能只是虚妄的幻想。居住在伦敦这样的国际性大都市，到底是满足感更强，还是道德上的慰藉更多？
If one downsizes and moves away from the metropolis, embracing a truly suburban or even rustic existence, remote working means one can still add plenty of economic value, and gain deep fulfilment.
如果一个人缩小野心，离开繁华的大都市，全心接受彻底的郊区生活，乃至乡村生活，选择远程工作，意味着一个人依然可以创造大量的经济价值，并获得深深的成就感。
Withdrawing from the fray in such circumstances is not cowardice, but makes way for a new generation of dynamos to stake their claims. Moreover, spreading experience and flair across broader pastures is healthy, and prevents too much enforced crowding out.
在这样的情况下，从争斗中退出并非懦弱，而是为新一代精力充沛的人留下施展的空间。此外，让经验和才华扩展到更广阔的天地是一件好事，也能从很大程度上防止被排挤出去的境遇。
Each January I get overenthusiastic, and draw up a list of (for me) demanding targets — business and personal — to attempt in the coming year. There may come a time when I grow weary of such a punishing, self-inflicted set of resolutions, and choose to at least partially escape the daily grind. But not for a few years yet — I still have some mountains to climb.
每年1月，我都会变得极度兴奋，并且（为自己）列举一张艰巨的目标清单——包括事业方面和个人方面，以新的一年尝试完成。或许会有这么一天，我厌倦了这种令人疲倦、自找麻烦的目标列表，至少选择部分逃避每天的劳碌生活。不过未来几年还不到时候——我还要去攀登一些高峰。