Success Does Not Earn Happiness

成功不会带来幸福

Happiness is being satisfied with what you have.

幸福就是满足于你所拥有的。

Success comes from dissatisfaction. Choose.

成功来自不满。选择吧。

Confucius says you have two lives, and the second one begins when you realize you only have one. When and how did your second life begin?

孔子说人有两种生活，当你意识到自己只有一种生活时，第二种生活就开始了。你的第二次生命是什么时候开始的，又是如何开始的？

That’s a very deep question. Most people who are past a certain age have had this feeling or phenomenon; they’ve gone through life a certain way and then gotten to a certain stage and had to make some pretty big changes. I’m definitely also in that boat.

这是一个非常深刻的问题。大多数过了一定年龄的人都有过这种感觉或现象，他们经历了一定的人生道路，然后到了一定的阶段，不得不做出一些相当大的改变。我肯定也在那条船上。

I struggled for a lot of my life to have certain material and social successes. When I achieved those material and social successes (or at least was beyond a point where they didn’t matter as much), I realized the people around me who had achieved similar successes and were on their way to achieving more didn’t seem all that happy. In my case, there was definitely hedonic adaptation: I’d very quickly get used to anything.

为了取得一定的物质和社会成就，我一生中奋斗了很长一段时间。当我取得那些物质上和社会上的成功(或者至少超过了不重要的程度)时，我意识到我周围那些取得了类似成功并正在取得更多成就的人似乎并不那么快乐。在我的例子中，肯定有享乐主义的适应：我很快就会习惯任何事情。

This led me to the conclusion, which seems trite, that happiness is internal. That conclusion set me on a path of working more on my internal self and realizing all real success is internal and has very little to do with external circumstances.

这让我得出了一个似乎陈词滥调的结论，那就是幸福是内在的。这个结论让我走上了一条更多地关注内在自我的道路，并意识到所有真正的成功都是内在的，与外部环境几乎没有什么关系。

One has to do the external thing anyway. We’re biologically hard -wired . It’s glib to say, “You can just turn it off.” Your own life experience will bring you back to the internal path. [7] 一个人无论如何都要做外部的事情。我们生来就是天生的。说：“你可以把它关掉，这太油嘴滑舌了。”你自己的生活经历会把你带回内在的道路。

The problem with getting good at a game, especially one with big rewards, is you continue playing it long after you should have outgrown it.

擅长一款游戏，尤其是一款回报丰厚的游戏，其问题在于，在你本该玩得远远不够的情况下，你还要继续玩很长一段时间。

Survival and replication drive put us on the work treadmill. Hedonic adaptation keeps us there. The trick is knowing when to jump off and play instead.

生存和复制的驱动力把我们推上了工作的跑步机。享乐适应让我们保持在那里。诀窍是知道什么时候跳下来玩。

Who do you think of as successful? 你认为谁是成功的呢？ Most people think of someone as successful when they win a game, whatever game they play themselves. If you’re an athlete, you’re going to think of a top athlete. If you’re in business, you might think Elon Musk.

大多数人认为一个人在赢得一场比赛时是成功的，无论他们自己玩什么游戏。如果你是一名运动员，你会想到一位顶尖的运动员。如果你在做生意，你可能会认为埃隆·马斯克。

A few years ago, I would have said Steve Jobs, because he was part of the driving force creating something that changed lives for all of humanity. I think Marc Andreessen is successful, not because of his recent incarnation as a venture capitalist, but because of the incredible work he did with Netscape. Satoshi Nakamoto is successful in that he created Bitcoin, which is this incredible technological creation that will have repercussions for decades to come. Of course, Elon Musk, because he changed everyone’s viewpoint on what is possible with modern technology and entrepreneurship. I consider those creators and commercializers successful.

几年前，我会说史蒂夫·乔布斯，因为他是创造改变全人类生活的东西的推动力的一部分。我认为马克·安德森是成功的，不是因为他最近化身为一名风险资本家，而是因为他在网景公司所做的令人难以置信的工作。中本聪(Satoshi Nakamoto)的成功之处在于他创造了比特币，这是一项令人难以置信的技术创造，将在未来几十年内产生影响。当然，埃隆·马斯克，因为他改变了每个人对现代技术和企业家精神的可能性的看法。我认为那些创造者和商业化者是成功的。

To me, the real winners are the ones who step out of the game entirely, who don’t even play the game, who rise above it. Those are the people who have such internal mental and self -control and self -awareness , they need nothing from anybody else. There are a couple of these characters I know in my life. Jerzy Gregorek—I would consider him successful because he doesn’t need anything from anybody. He’s at peace, he’s healthy, and whether he makes more money or less money compared to the next person has no effect on his mental state.

对我来说，真正的赢家是那些完全退出游戏的人，那些甚至不玩游戏的人，那些超越游戏的人。他们就是那些拥有内在精神、自我控制和自我意识的人，他们不需要任何其他人的帮助。在我的生活中，我认识几个这样的角色。杰齐·格雷戈雷克-我认为他是成功的，因为他不需要从任何人那里得到任何东西。他很平静，他很健康，与下一个人相比，他赚的钱多还是少都不会影响他的精神状态。

Historically, I would say the legendary Buddha or Krishnamurti, whose stuff I like reading, they are successful in the sense that they step out of the game entirely. Winning or losing does not matter to them.

从历史上看，我会说传奇的佛陀或克里希那穆提，我喜欢读他们的作品，他们是成功的，因为他们完全退出了游戏。输赢对他们来说无关紧要。

There’s a line from Blaise Pascal I read. Basically, it says: “All of man’s troubles arise because he cannot sit in a room quietly by himself.” If you could just sit for thirty minutes and be happy, you are successful. That is a very powerful place to be, but very few of us get there. [6] 我读过布莱斯·帕斯卡的一句话。基本上，它说的是：“人类所有的烦恼都是因为他不能一个人安静地坐在房间里。”如果你能坐上三十分钟快乐地坐着，你就成功了。这是一个非常强大的地方，但我们中很少有人能做到这一点。

I think of happiness as an emergent property of peace. If you’re peaceful inside and out, that will eventually result in happiness. But peace is a very hard thing to come by. The irony is the way most of us try to find peace is through war. When you start a business, in a way, you’re going to war. When you struggle with your roommates as to who should clean the dishes, you’re going to war. You’re struggling so you can have some sense of security and peace later.

我认为幸福是和平的一种紧急属性。如果你内心平和，那最终会带来幸福。但和平来之不易。具有讽刺意味的是，我们大多数人试图通过战争找到和平的方式。当你开始创业时，从某种意义上说，你就是在打仗。当你和室友争执谁该洗碗的时候，你就要开战了。你在苦苦挣扎，这样你以后才能有安全感和宁静感。

In reality, peace is not a guarantee. It’s always flowing. It’s always changing. You want to learn the core skill set of flowing with life and accepting it in most cases. [8] 在现实中，和平并不是保证。它总是在流动。它总是在变。你想要学习的核心技能是随波逐流，并在大多数情况下接受生活。

You can get almost anything you want out of life, as long as it’s one thing and you want it far more than anything else.

你几乎可以从生活中得到你想要的任何东西，只要这是一件事，而且你想要的远远超过其他任何东西。

In my own personal experience, the place I end up the most is wanting to be at peace.

在我个人的经验中，我最终最想去的地方就是想要安宁。

Peace is happiness at rest, and happiness is peace in motion. You can convert peace into happiness anytime you want. But peace is what you want most of the time. If you’re a peaceful person, anything you do will be a happy activity.

和平是安息的幸福，幸福是运动中的和平。你可以在任何你想要的时候把和平转化为幸福。但大多数时候，和平才是你想要的。如果你是一个平和的人，你做的任何事情都将是一项快乐的活动。

Today, the way we think you get peace is by resolving all your external problems. But there are unlimited external problems. The only way to actually get peace on the inside is by giving up this idea of problems. [77]

今天，我们认为你们获得和平的方式是通过解决你们所有的外部问题。但也有无限的外部问题。真正获得内心和平的唯一方法就是放弃这种对问题的想法。“[77]