was working at the Museum of Modern Art

是在現代藝術博物館

on a retrospective of painter Elizabeth Murray.

當時正在籌備伊莉莎白•默里（美國畫家）的回顧展

I learned so much from her.

她讓我受益匪淺

After the curator Robert Storr

在館長羅伯特•斯托

selected all the paintings

從默里的畢生心血中

from her lifetime body of work,

精心挑選出所有展品後

I loved looking at the paintings from the 1970s.

我總愛欣賞她創作於二十世紀七十年代的畫作

There were some motifs and elements

其中的一些主題和元素

that would come up again later in her life.

未來都將反映到她的後期創作中

I remember asking her

我記得我問過她

what she thought of those early works.

對自己的早期作品有何看法

If you didn't know they were hers,

若非事先所知

you might not have been able to guess.

恐怕你無論如何也猜不到那些作品出自她之手

She told me that a few didn't quite meet

她告訴我其中有幾幅

her own mark for what she wanted them to be.

並未如她所願展現出個人風格

One of the works, in fact,

實際上

so didn't meet her mark,

有一幅甚至令她大失所望

she had set it out in the trash in her studio,

以至於被扔進了畫室的垃圾桶

and her neighbor had taken it

但她的鄰居卻撿了去

because she saw its value.

因為她看到了其中的價值

In that moment, my view of success

聽到這裡，我對成功和創造力的看法

and creativity changed.

發生了改變

I realized that success is a moment,

我意識到成功只屬於片刻

but what we're always celebrating

而始終為人們所稱道的

is creativity and mastery.

則是創造力和掌控力

But this is the thing: What gets us to convert success

但問題在於：如何將成功

into mastery?

轉化為一種掌控力？

This is a question I've long asked myself.

對此我思慮良久

I think it comes when we start to value

我想轉化的關鍵在於

the gift of a near win.

認識到垂成（接近成功）的價值

I started to understand this when I went

我開始明白這一點時是在一個五一節

on one cold May day

那天天氣寒冷

to watch a set of varsity archers,

我前往觀看一支大學射箭代表隊訓練

all women as fate would have it,

她們恰巧都是女生

at the northern tip of Manhattan

訓練場地在曼哈頓北端

at Columbia's Baker Athletics Complex.

哥倫比亞大學的貝克爾運動綜合中心

I wanted to see what's called archer's paradox,

當時我想見識一下所謂的“弓箭手悖論”

the idea that in order to actually hit your target,

即“必須瞄準稍稍偏離靶心的目標

you have to aim at something slightly skew from it.

才能正中靶心”的說法

I stood and watched as the coach

我站在一旁

drove up these women in this gray van,

只見教練開著灰色的貨車載著姑娘們到場

and they exited with this kind of relaxed focus.

她們漫不經心地鑽出了車

One held a half-eaten ice cream cone in one hand

有個女生右手握著吃了一半的甜筒

and arrows in the left with yellow fletching.

左手拿著帶黃色箭羽的箭

And they passed me and smiled,

她們微笑著從我身邊經過

but they sized me up as they

但在前往靶場的時候

made their way to the turf,

她們打量了我一番

and spoke to each other not with words

並且一邊通過手勢而不是對話

but with numbers, degrees, I thought,

向同伴給出數位、角度、位置等資訊

positions for how they might plan

我想她們是在交流

to hit their target.

如何命中靶心的方法

I stood behind one archer as her coach

我站在一名弓箭手的後面

stood in between us to maybe assess

她的教練站在我們中間

who might need support, and watched her,

可能在觀察誰需要幫助

and I didn't understand how even one

教練看著她

was going to hit the ten ring.

我甚至無法想像怎樣才能射中靶心的10環

The ten ring from the standard 75-yard distance,

靶心的距離足有75碼遠

it looks as small as a matchstick tip

看起來就和距離

held out at arm's length.

一臂之遠的火柴頭一樣小

And this is while holding 50 pounds of draw weight

而且每次開弓時

on each shot.

還要承受50磅的拉力

She first hit a seven, I remember, and then a nine,

我記得她第一箭射中7環，然後是9環

and then two tens,

接著連續兩個10環

and then the next arrow

然後再下一箭

didn't even hit the target.

卻直接脫靶了

And I saw that gave her more tenacity,

但我發現脫靶反而使她的意志更加堅定

and she went after it again and again.

之後她一次次重複，力圖射中靶心

For three hours this went on.

訓練持續了三小時之久

At the end of the practice, one of the archers

到結束時，其中一名弓箭手已精疲力竭

was so taxed that she lay out on the ground

四肢張開癱倒在地

just star-fished,

活像一隻海星

her head looking up at the sky,

她抬頭仰望天空

trying to find what T.S. Eliot might call

試圖尋找T•S•艾略特（美國詩人）筆下的

that still point of the turning world.

“旋轉世界的靜止點”

It's so rare in American culture,

在美國文化中

there's so little that's vocational about it anymore,

極少有人會觀看這些菜鳥訓練

to look at what doggedness looks like

從她們身上領會堅持不懈的含義

with this level of exactitude,

以及為了命中靶心

what it means to align your body posture

連續三小時不斷調整姿勢

for three hours in order to hit a target,

默默追求卓越的意義

pursuing a kind of excellence in obscurity.

因為這樣做的職業價值已所剩無幾

But I stayed because I realized I was witnessing

但我留了下來，因為我意識到

what's so rare to glimpse,

我正在見證關於區別成功和掌控力的

that difference between success and mastery.

如此難得的一幕

So success is hitting that ten ring,

所以，命中靶心意味著成功

but mastery is knowing that it means nothing

而掌控力則是懂得如果你不能百發百中

if you can't do it again and again.

那麼即使成功也毫無意義

Mastery is not just the same as excellence, though.

但是，掌控力並不等同於卓越

It's not the same as success,

它和成功不同

which I see as an event,

成功是一次事件

a moment in time,

一個瞬間

and a label that the world confers upon you.

是世人給你貼上的一個標籤

Mastery is not a commitment to a goal

掌控力不是對目標的一次性實現

but to a constant pursuit.

而是一種永恆的追求

What gets us to do this,

對垂成的重視

what get us to forward thrust more

促使我們不斷追求

is to value the near win.

推動我們日益進步

How many times have we designated something

多少我們認定為經典

a classic, a masterpiece even,

甚至傑作的作品

while its creator considers it hopelessly unfinished,

在創作者看來卻是充滿困難與缺陷的

riddled with difficulties and flaws,

無可救藥的半成品

in other words, a near win?

或者說垂成品

Elizabeth Murray surprised me

默里對自己早期畫作的坦誠

with her admission about her earlier paintings.

出乎我的意料

Painter Paul Cézanne so often thought his works were incomplete

保爾•塞尚（法國畫家）時常覺得自己的作品有所欠缺

that he would deliberately leave them aside

他會有意置之不理

with the intention of picking them back up again,

待日後加以完善

but at the end of his life,

但直到臨終時

the result was that he had only signed

他認可並署名的畫作也僅僅是

10 percent of his paintings.

他所有作品的十分之一

His favorite novel was "The [Unknown] Masterpiece" by Honoré de Balzac,

塞尚最愛的一部小說是巴爾扎克的《無人知道的傑作》

and he felt the protagonist was the painter himself.

他覺得小說主人公是他的真實寫照

Franz Kafka saw incompletion

對於換做他人都將大加讚賞的作品

when others would find only works to praise,

弗朗茨•卡夫卡（奧地利小說家）

so much so that he wanted all of his diaries,

卻認為有太多不足之處

manuscripts, letters and even sketches

以至於他要求自己所有的日記、手稿、信件甚至草稿

burned upon his death.

都在他死後付之一炬

His friend refused to honor the request,

他的朋友沒有答應他的要求

and because of that, we now have all the works

正因為此，如今我們才能有幸拜讀

we now do by Kafka:

現今所有卡夫卡的作品

"America," "The Trial" and "The Castle,"

包括《美國》、《審判》和《城堡》

a work so incomplete it even stops mid-sentence.

《城堡》並不是一部完整的小說，就連停筆處的句子也只寫了一半

The pursuit of mastery, in other words,

換句話說，對掌控力的追求

is an ever-onward almost.

是一個不斷前進接近成功的過程

"Lord, grant that I desire

“主啊，請讓我的渴望

more than I can accomplish,"

總是多於我所能完成的”

Michelangelo implored,

米開朗琪羅如是懇求道

as if to that Old Testament God on the Sistine Chapel,

仿佛在懇求西斯廷教堂壁畫（這裡指《創世紀•創造亞當》）中所繪的舊約中的上帝

and he himself was that Adam

而他就是那壁畫中的亞當

with his finger outstretched

虔誠地伸出手指

and not quite touching that God's hand.

即將與上帝的神指觸碰

Mastery is in the reaching, not the arriving.

掌控力於過程中形成，而非從結果中獲取

It's in constantly wanting to close that gap

它存在於力圖縮小理想與現實之間差距的

between where you are and where you want to be.

長久的希冀之中

Mastery is about sacrificing for your craft

掌控力意味著為事業作出犧牲

and not for the sake of crafting your career.

而非圖一時事業之成就

How many inventors and untold entrepreneurs

許多發明家和無數企業家

live out this phenomenon?

都踐行了這一點

We see it even in the life

我們甚至可以從不屈不撓的北極探險家

of the indomitable Arctic explorer Ben Saunders,

本•桑德斯的生平看到這一點

who tells me that his triumphs

據他所說，他所取得的成就

are not merely the result

不僅包括

of a grand achievement,

這巨大的成就本身

but of the propulsion of a lineage of near wins.

還包括一系列垂成事件所帶來的推動作用

We thrive when we stay at our own leading edge.

不斷超越自我，方能茁壯成長

It's a wisdom understood by Duke Ellington,

艾靈頓公爵（美國爵士音樂家）領悟了這個道理

who said that his favorite song out of his repertoire

在他創作的所有歌曲中，他最鍾愛的

was always the next one,

永遠是下一首

always the one he had yet to compose.

永遠是即將譜寫出的那首

Part of the reason that the near win

垂成之所以是掌控力形成的內因

is inbuilt to mastery

部分原因是因為

is because the greater our proficiency,

我們對一件事情越精通

the more clearly we might see

就會越清楚地明白

that we don't know all that we thought we did.

自己並非全知全能

It's called the Dunning–Kruger effect.

這就是所謂的“達克效應”

The Paris Review got it out of James Baldwin

在《巴黎評論》對詹姆斯•鮑德溫（美國作家）的採訪中也有所提及

when they asked him,

當記者問鮑德溫

"What do you think increases with knowledge?"

“你如何看待知識的增長？”

and he said, "You learn how little you know."

他回答道：“學之甚多，方顯知之甚少。”

Success motivates us, but a near win

成功可以激發積極性

can propel us in an ongoing quest.

但垂成能推動我們不斷求索

One of the most vivid examples of this comes

如果我們琢磨一下

when we look at the difference

一場奧運會比賽後

between Olympic silver medalists

亞軍和季軍之間的差別

and bronze medalists after a competition.

便會得出一個鮮明例證

Thomas Gilovich and his team from Cornell

康奈爾大學的湯瑪斯•季洛維奇與他的團隊

studied this difference and found

研究這種差別後發現

that the frustration silver medalists feel

亞軍通常比季軍更顯沮喪

compared to bronze, who are typically a bit

因為和一無所獲的第四名相比

more happy to have just not received fourth place

季軍至少有獎牌可得

and not medaled at all,

這也是值得高興的

gives silver medalists a focus

而與金牌失之交臂的亞軍在沮喪之餘

on follow-up competition.

會把注意力放在接下來的比賽中

We see it even in the gambling industry

我們甚至可以從博彩業中

that once picked up on this phenomenon

體會到垂成的作用

of the near win

正因為意識到這種作用

and created these scratch-off tickets

博彩業推出了“刮刮樂”彩票

that had a higher than average rate of near wins

這種彩票的中獎率高於平均值

and so compelled people to buy more tickets

十分容易誘使人們購買更多

that they were called heart-stoppers,

以至於被戲稱為“速效救心丸

and were set on a gambling industry set of abuses

在二十世紀七十年代的英國

in Britain in the 1970s.

刮刮樂風靡博彩業

The reason the near win has a propulsion

垂成之所以是一種推動力

is because it changes our view of the landscape

是因為它可以改變我們對形勢的看法

and puts our goals, which we tend to put

將原本遙不可及的目標

at a distance, into more proximate vicinity

融入離我們更近

to where we stand.

更容易企及的目標當中

If I ask you to envision what a great day looks like next week,

如果下周讓你描述美好的一天

you might describe it in more general terms.

你大概只會泛泛而談

But if I ask you to describe a great day at TED tomorrow,

但如果明天讓你形容在TED的美好一日

you might describe it with granular, practical clarity.

你或許就會清晰具體、繪聲繪色地講述一番

And this is what a near win does.

這就是垂成體現的作用

It gets us to focus on what, right now,

它會讓我們立即集中注意力

we plan to do to address that mountain in our sights.

著手解決眼前的難題

It's Jackie Joyner-Kersee, who in 1984

傑西•喬伊娜•柯西在1984年的奧運會上

missed taking the gold in the heptathlon

僅以三分之一秒之差

by one third of a second,

痛失七項全能金牌

and her husband predicted that would give her

她的丈夫預言，這會讓她獲得

the tenacity she needed in follow-up competition.

接下來的比賽中所需要的堅韌

In 1988, she won the gold in the heptathlon

1988年的奧運會，她最終斬獲七項全能金牌

and set a record of 7,291 points,

並且書寫了7291分的新紀錄

a score that no athlete has come very close to since.

此記錄至今仍無人能及

We thrive not when we've done it all,

促使我們成長的不是已完成之事

but when we still have more to do.

而是更多有待完成之事

I stand here thinking and wondering

此刻我站在這裡思考著一個問題

about all the different ways

我想知道如果要在這個演播廳內

that we might even manufacture a near win

刻意製造一次垂成

in this room,

諸位將如何各顯神通

how your lives might play this out,

又將如何在各自的生活中發揮它的作用

because I think on some gut level we do know this.

因為我想我們內心都明白這種作用的存在

We know that we thrive when we stay

我們懂得不斷超越自我

at our own leading edge,

方能茁壯成長的道理

and it's why the deliberate incomplete

這就是為何有意製造的不完美

is inbuilt into creation myths.

會成為創世神話的內在組成部分

In Navajo culture, some craftsmen and women

在納瓦霍文化中

would deliberately put an imperfection

一些手藝人會故意在紡織品和陶器中

in textiles and ceramics.

保留些許缺陷

It's what's called a spirit line,

他們稱之為“靈性線”

a deliberate flaw in the pattern

即在圖案中有意留出瑕疵

to give the weaver or maker a way out,

給編織者或製造者以改進的空間

but also a reason to continue making work.

也是一種精益求精的動力

Masters are not experts because they take

大師不是專家

a subject to its conceptual end.

大師之所以為大師

They're masters because they realize

是因為他們追求事物概念上的終點

that there isn't one.

但同時也清楚終這個終點並不存在

Now it occurred to me, as I thought about this,

我由此想到

why the archery coach

為什麼射箭隊的教練

told me at the end of that practice,

會在訓練結束後

out of earshot of his archers,

私下告訴我

that he and his colleagues never feel

他和他的夥伴始終覺得

they can do enough for their team,

為自己的團隊做得不夠

never feel there are enough visualization techniques

始終覺得沒有掌握足夠的瞄準技巧

and posture drills to help them overcome

也沒有進行足夠多的姿勢訓練

those constant near wins.

來幫助他們克服日復一日接近成功的過程

It didn't sound like a complaint, exactly,

在我聽來，這絕非訴苦

but just a way to let me know,

而是以一種便於理解的方式

a kind of tender admission,

一種委婉的坦陳

to remind me that he knew he was giving himself over

來提醒我他清楚自己

to a voracious, unfinished path

已經踏上一條永不滿足

that always required more.

永無止境的道路

We build out of the unfinished idea,

我們朝著未實現的目標前行

even if that idea is our former self.

即使這目標是回到故我

This is the dynamic of mastery.

這便是推動掌控力的力量

Coming close to what you thought you wanted

努力去接近你所追求的目標

can help you attain more than you ever dreamed

可以助你達到意想不到的

you could.

驚人高度

It's what I have to imagine Elizabeth Murray

這不禁讓我想象

was thinking when I saw her smiling