通往成功道路上的十大必備心理(下)

d Prodigies Don't Exist

5."神童"其實不存在

In Geoffrey Colvin's book, Talent is Overrated, he claims that there really is no such thing as a child prodigy. His argument is that no one is born innately talented, but that everyone who is "great" practices and develops to that skill level.

傑弗裏·科爾文在他的書中提到，天才是被高估的一類人，他宣稱世上並沒有真正的神童。他的論點如下：沒有人一出生就是天造之才，每個可稱爲牛人的人都是通過不斷的實踐，一步一步提高，直至達到專業水準。

When people claim that prodigies exist, they point to Mozart and Tiger Woods as examples. However, those two were actually seasoned pros by the time they were famous. Mozart's father was a music teacher who taught Mozart from the age of three, and then he trained with other professionals. By the time he was 14 and wrote his first opera, he had been studying music every day for nine years. He continued to study music until he was 17, and he then worked as a pianist after completing school. So by the time he was 25 and wrote his first masterpiece, he had been playing music daily for 22 years. As for the argument that he wrote music as a child, none of that music was done in his handwriting. His father was making a living off the fact that Mozart and his sister were prodigies, so there's a very good chance his father wrote the music himself. As for Tiger Woods, his father was a retired teacher and a golf fanatic that had an expert handicap. He started training Tiger at seven months old by giving him a putter and making him watch while he putted for hours and hours. As a child and into his teens Tiger was constantly training, often with professionals. By the time that Tiger was 19 and a member of the Walker Cup team, he had been practicing golf for 17 years. That isn't to say these two men weren't tremendously talented and masters in their own discipline. It's just that they trained for years and simply weren't born with innate talent.

人們在極力證實天才的存在時，往往都會以莫扎特和泰格·伍茲兩人爲例。殊不知成名之前，他們在各自的領域早已是行家裏手。莫扎特的父親是一名音樂老師，在莫扎特三歲的時候他就開始教授其音樂和一些其他知識。莫扎特14歲的時候寫下了自己的第一部歌劇，這也是他連續九年，每天不間斷學習音樂的結果。莫扎特的音樂學習一直持續到17歲，畢業之後他就做了一位鋼琴家。25歲那年，莫扎特創作出他的第一部代表作，而那時音樂成爲他日常生活的一部分已有22年之久了。有些輿論謬稱莫扎特在孩童時期就開始寫音樂了，莫扎特的手稿中可沒有這些所謂的"早期音樂作品"。只不過他的父親曾打着莫扎特和他的姐妹是天才的幌子，爲自己的音樂創作尋求一個絕佳的機會並藉此謀生。至於老虎伍茲，他的父親是一名退休教師，同時也是一位高爾夫球迷，並且還是個中能手。伍茲的父親在伍茲7個月大的時候就讓他拿着推杆，在一旁看着自己一小時接着一小時地推球。也就是說，伍茲的整個少年時代都在不斷地接受職業化訓練。雖然伍茲19歲就成爲了沃克杯球隊的隊員，但那時他學習高爾夫已經足足17年了。這並不是說這兩個人沒有天賦，或是對他們自己的知識領域並不精通，而是說他們所取得的成就，都是多年來的不斷訓練的結果，並不是因爲他們天生就是如此了不起。

10,000 Hours Theory

4.理論上的10000小時

A Professor at the University of Colorado named Anders Ericsson decided to look at what separates amateurs from professionals. In 1993, he released a paper that found on average amateurs only got about 4000 hours of practice, but professionals had practiced for at least 10,000 hours.

科羅拉多大學一位名叫安德斯·愛立信的教授決定研究"到底是什麼把業餘愛好者和專業人士區別開來的"這個課題。1993年,他發表了一篇論文,文中指出，業餘愛好者只花費4000小時的練習，專業人士至少要花上10000小時，這就是10000小時理論。

Besides Tiger Woods and Mozart, another example of people who put in 10,000 hours were the Beatles. Before they were famous, they played full time for two and a half years in Hamburg, often for eight to 12 hours a day. It was at this time that they developed their signature sound. Then there's Bill Gates, who went to a preparatory high school that was one of the few in the country with a computer terminal. He spent more time on the computer than any other student, and was even allowed to miss math class to work on it. It was during that time and his years in university he earned his 10,000 hours. While there's some debate over whether 10,000 hours is a rule or just a theory, many experts agree that a significant number of people who are considered "great" have, on average, 10,000 hours of experience.

除了老虎伍茲和莫扎特,另一個投入10000小時以上時間練習的例子便是甲殼蟲樂隊。成名前,他們在漢堡做了兩年半的全職演唱,經常一天要唱8到12小時。也就是這段時期內，他們標誌性的聲線得到了發展。類似的例子還有比爾·蓋茨,非常幸運，他所在的預備高中是全美爲數不多配置了計算機終端的幾所學校之一。而他在計算機上花的時間比其他學生多得多，學校甚至允許他翹掉數學課來研究計算機。這段時間加上大學的幾年,他進行了不少於10000小時的練習。雖然關於10000小時到底是個規律還是僅僅是個理論這一問題還存在着爭議，但很多專家認爲，大部分公認的牛人幾乎都有過10000小時的練習經歷。

berate Practice

3.練習才能得成功

If no one is born talented and you need 10,000 hours of practice, what's the most effective way of using those hours? One theory is something sociologists call "deliberate practice." Essentially, there are six elements. The practice needs to be meant to specifically improve performance, and is even more effective if there's coaching. It needs to be repeatable, and feedback on a regular basis is crucial. It also has to be demanding, either physically or mentally. If you're doing all of this correctly, it shouldn't be a fun experience. An example would be a basketball player who isn't very good at free throws spending hours and hours just doing free throws while being coached. Not a great time no matter how big of a basketball fan you are.

如果並非生來就是天才，你就需要10000小時的練習，那要怎麼有效地利用這些時間呢？有一種理論，社會學家稱之爲"有意識的練習"。從本質上講，它有六個要素。實踐需要以提高能力爲目的，如果有人指導的話，便會事半功倍。練習需要重複且有規律地進行，而相關的反饋也很重要。不論是在精神上還是身體上，它最好都是有挑戰性的練習。如果你實踐到位，這也許不會是什麼好玩的事情。一位不擅長罰球的籃球運動員在教練的指導下一次又一次地練習罰球就是一個很好的例子。無論你是一個多麼忠實的足球粉，這樣練習也不會覺得有趣吧？

Deliberate practice is important because practicing specific activities over and over again will get you more comfortable with that action. When you compete, you're simply using those repetitive tasks in a different environment. The practice needs to be difficult, because that's the only way someone can improve. If it's too easy, you never leave your comfort zone and never grow through challenge. As for the feedback portion, Steve Kerr, the former chief learning officer of Goldman Sachs, said that practicing without feedback is like bowling with the pins behind a curtain. Without feedback, you won't get better and you won't care. So while it is possible to be amazing at something, you have 10,000 hours of hard work ahead of you.

對某種具體活動的反覆練習會讓你在真正做它的時候更加得心應手，這使得有意識的練習顯得尤爲重要。當你完成練習並開始實際操作時，你只是在非練習的環境中重複之前的練習任務。同時，這樣的練習，難度要求要略高，因爲只有這樣，你纔能有所提高。太過簡單的練習只會讓人永遠停留在自己的舒適區，永遠不會在挑戰中成長。關於反饋的重要性，史蒂夫·科爾，高盛集團前任首席學習官表示，沒有反饋的練習就像是把保齡球投向幕布後的球瓶。如果沒有反饋，你不會變得更好，你也不會在意自己的表現到底如何。所以，如果你想要在某事上有所成就，首先你得完成這10,000小時的奮鬥。

Third Grade is The Most Important Year of Your Life

2.三年級是最關鍵的一年

Sociologist Robert K. Merton first coined the Matthew Effect in 1968. Simply put, it's the idea that the rich get richer and the poor get poorer. The reason this is such a big deal when it comes to success is that experts think the third grade is the most pivotal year of someone's life (no pressure, huh?). In the fourth grade, the learning model changes and it becomes incredibly important that children know how to read and learn independently. Children who don't have these skills began to avoid reading and start to fall behind. But to move on and do well in school you have to learn cumulatively, because school doesn't get easier as the years go on. If a student falls behind early, the gap would just widen over the following years. The kids that can read keep getting ahead, and the students who had problems keep falling behind. Studies have shown that if someone had problems reading in grade three they are four times more likely to drop out of high school.

1968年，社會學家羅伯特·金·默頓首次提出了"馬太效應"。簡單來說，這一術語用以概括一種兩極分化的社會現象，即富人愈富，窮人愈窮。如何利用好這種效應也是引導一個人走向成功的關鍵。專家認爲，三年級是一個人一生中最關鍵的一個學年（無壓力？呵呵）。進入四年級後，隨着學習模式的改變，孩子們自主閱讀和學習的能力開始變得極其重要。不具備這些技能的孩子開始抗拒讀書，成績也逐漸落於人後。爲了在學校取得好成績並且不斷進步，你必須不斷提高自己的學習能力——因爲年級越高，學習難度越大。如果一個學生輸在了起跑線上，在接下來的讀書生涯中，他與領先者之間的差距會越來越大。能夠自主閱讀的孩子們持續領先，而這方面能力不足的孩子則會一直處於吊車尾的狀態。研究表明，三年級時不能掌握閱讀技能的學生，中學時期的退學率會比其他學生高出四倍。

Have Amazing Potential

1.人人都是潛力股

On average, the human mind can remember a sequence of seven to nine numbers. After that it becomes incredibly hard to remember all the numbers in the right order. Researchers at Carnegie Mellon University wanted to know if someone of average intelligence could break that barrier with practice.

一般來說，人腦可以記住一組由七到九個數字組成的數列。但是此後要記得所有數字的正確順序就會變得異常艱難。卡內基梅隆大學的研究者們想弄明白，擁有一般智力的人通過練習是否可以突破這個記憶力的極限，於是他們進行了相關實驗。

One test subject, who practiced two or three times a week for over two years, was able to remember 82 numbers before deciding to stop. Another subject hit 102 numbers when he stopped. It's not that they couldn't push further — the study just came to an end. Both of these test subjects did better with practice than people who said they had photographic memories. Through these tests, researchers discovered what they called "the remarkable potential of 'ordinary' adults and their amazing capacity for change with practice." Their research showed that even "ordinary" people have the potential to be great by challenging themselves. If you work hard, your goals can be more attainable than you thought.

兩年內每週訓練兩到三次的一位受試對象在停止記憶前記住了82個數字，另一位則記住了102個。如果不是受研究的時限性影響，他們可以記得更多。這兩位受試者通過練習擁有了比那些自詡記憶力優良的人更強的記憶力。通過這些測試，研究者們得出了他們稱之爲"普通人後天可激發出的非凡潛力及改變能力"的結論。他們的調查顯示，即使是普通人，只要勇於挑戰自我，也能爆發出驚人的潛力。只要肯腳踏實地，你所仰望的星空將不再遙不可及。

審校：梅子九 來源：前十網