人呀 要做小池塘裏的大魚

Is it better to be a big fish in a small pond? Or to aim for the very stars, no matter the price?

到底是當一個小池塘裏的大魚更好？還是不管付出什麼代價，都要以成爲最優秀的人爲目標？

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.

羅伯特•勃朗寧(Robert Browning)在詩中寫道：“啊，但是一個人總要超過自己的極限，否則爲什麼要有天空呢”，暗示應選擇後者。我認爲勃朗寧是在敦促我們，即使可能失敗，也要嘗試做一個真正偉大的人，並努力竭盡所能。

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.

這是勃朗寧的詩作《安德烈亞•德爾•薩爾託》(Andrea del Sarto)中的名句。這首詩寫的是文藝復興時期一位才華橫溢的意大利畫家。薩爾託被稱爲“完美無瑕的畫家”，儘管如此，與他同時期的藝術巨匠米開朗基羅(Michelangelo)、萊昂納多•達芬奇(Leonardo da Vinci)和拉斐爾(Raphael)掩蓋了他的光芒。

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，我發現許多成功和滿足的企業家，哪怕有足夠的能力，也特意選擇不參與主流商業領域的競爭。相反，他們會選擇一個不那麼高調的行業，在一個遠離首都的城市居住，甚至還有可能遷移到一個較小的國家。

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.

在這些行業和這些地方，要成爲最頂尖的人，不必那麼優秀，要留下來，也不必那麼奮力拼搏。寡頭壟斷的情況很常見，與規模較大的市場相比，要獲得豐厚的利潤和回報也容易得多。雖然無可否認的是，在較大市場取得成功，不管是在錢財方面，還是地位和名聲方面，回報也會相應地高一些。

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，相對成功比絕對成功重要得多。換句話說，如果比較兩種情況，一種是在小地方比身邊的同輩人更加成功，另一種是堅持在彙集全國人才的地方打拼，卻徒勞無功，你在前一種情況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.

在我所知的每個工作領域，如果你渴望成功，就必須面對一場激烈的戰鬥，即使只與15年前相比，激烈程度也高得多。現在的人比以往任何時候都多，因此人才更多。身在西方，我們與亞洲、美國、歐洲，或者確切地說，與來自任何地方的數十億新對手進行日趨激烈的競爭。這樣的競爭會讓人精疲力竭：我不會責怪那些雄心勃勃的鬥士們與那些厲害人物殊死較量數十年後選擇放棄。

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.

我的幾位企業家朋友已經轉而應對一些不那麼棘手的挑戰：更小的社羣、更保守的目標、不那麼你死我活的對手、社會企業而非大公司。畢竟，誰願意只當衆人中的一個呢？相比嘗試做一個最頂尖的人，最終卻只收獲失望和失敗，做一個本土英雄並享受適當的尊榮顯然更好。

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?

這種哲學可能已經滲入到生活中許多存在競爭的領域：它影響了我們對學校、大學、工作、鄰里、事業、愛好，甚至是伴侶等的選擇。要瞄準最大最好的？還是滿足於普通的好？

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.

我住在倫敦，對於保住一個人在社會階層中的地位，這是一個再瘋狂不過的地方。留在這裏的代價非常高昂，而且不僅僅是經濟方面。如果你想跟上主流，這裏的生活節奏會讓你感到身心俱疲。要負擔一處體面的住處，供養一個家庭，並在其他奮發圖強、各有所長的倫敦人之中脫穎而出——這一切都可能讓人焦頭爛額。

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，可能有極少數人能夠贏得成功的大獎，但那也可能只是虛妄的幻想。居住在倫敦這樣的國際性大都市，到底是滿足感更強，還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.

如果一個人縮小野心，離開繁華的大都市，全心接受徹底的郊區生活，乃至鄉村生活，選擇遠程工作，意味着一個人依然可以創造大量的經濟價值，並獲得深深的成就感。

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.

在這樣的情況下，從爭鬥中退出並非懦弱，而是爲新一代精力充沛的人留下施展的空間。此外，讓經驗和才華擴展到更廣闊的天地是一件好事，也能從很大程度上防止被排擠出去的境遇。

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，我都會變得極度興奮，並且（爲自己）列舉一張艱鉅的目標清單——包括事業方面和個人方面，以新的一年嘗試完成。或許會有這麼一天，我厭倦了這種令人疲倦、自找麻煩的目標列表，至少選擇部分逃避每天的勞碌生活。不過未來幾年還不到時候——我還要去攀登一些高峯。