I'm this, you're that, I'm a Democrat, you're a Republican, I'm, you know, I'm a liberal, you're a conservative, whatever it happens to be.

我是這個，你是那個，我是民主黨，你是共和黨，我是，你知道，我是自由派，你是保守派，不管是什麼。

And those sorts of identities are critically important.

這些身份至關重要。

A lot of people in business, they shy away from those identity politics discussions, but they have identity politics all their own.

很多商界人士對身份政治的討論避而不談，但他們自己也有身份政治。

They have an identity as a successful person.

他們有一個成功人士的身份。

They have an identity that it revolves around their excellence in their job.

他們有一種身份認同感，這種認同感圍繞著他們在工作中的卓越表現。

Who are you?

你是誰？

You know, I'm a father and a grandfather, I'm a husband, you know, but when people ask me that question, I say I'm a professor at the Harvard Business School.

你知道，我是一個父親，一個祖父，一個丈夫，但當人們問我這個問題時，我會說我是哈佛商學院的教授。

Why?

為什麼？

Because that's my identity.

因為這就是我的身份。

Okay, that's a way to identify myself to be sure, but if that's how I see me, that's a real problem, isn't it?

好吧，這的確是一種自我認同的方式，但如果我就是這樣看待自己的，那就真的有問題了，不是嗎？

That strips away the really important things that I have in my life.

這剝奪了我生命中真正重要的東西。

For those who see their identity as being a successful professional, specifically successful, that's kind of an identity based on fear, isn't it?

對於那些認為自己的身份是成功的專業人士，特別是成功人士的人來說，這種身份是建立在恐懼之上的，不是嗎？

We all have fears.

我們都有恐懼。

I mean, I have fears.

我是說，我有恐懼。

It's normal to be afraid of things, but a fear of an attack on your identity, that's actually a death fear.

害怕事情是正常的，但害怕自己的身份受到攻擊，這實際上是一種死亡恐懼。

That's important.

這很重要。

Only 20% of the population is actually afraid of dying, but a lot of people who are really good at what they do, a lot of my students, a lot of people watching this, they're desperately afraid of failing at work.

實際上，只有 20% 的人害怕死亡，但很多真正優秀的人，我的很多學生，很多正在看這個節目的人，都非常害怕工作失敗。

That leads to a lot of behavior that's not very healthy, as a matter of fact, that kind of a stripped down, cardboard cutout version of oneself, which is not good for you, it's not good for your relationships.

這會導致很多不健康的行為，事實上，那種被剝離的、紙板剪裁的自我，對你和你的人際關係都沒有好處。

People ask me this all the time who are extremely successful in business, as a matter of fact, who are afraid of failure, and they say, look, I need to get over this, but I don't want to fail.

事實上，經常有人問我這個問題，他們在事業上非常成功，卻害怕失敗，他們說，聽著，我需要克服這個問題，但我不想失敗。

What do you recommend?

您有什麼建議？

I actually have an exercise for that.

實際上，我有一個練習方法。

It's called the Maranissati Death Meditation, adapted for professional failure.

它被稱為馬拉尼薩蒂死亡冥想，是為職業失敗而改編的。

It actually comes from Theravada Buddhism on the southern tier of Asia, where the Buddhists would practice a contemplation of their own death.

它實際上來自亞洲南部的上座部佛教，那裡的佛教徒會對自己的死亡進行冥想。

If you go into a Buddhist monastery in Thailand or Vietnam or Myanmar, Sri Lanka, you'll often find that the walls are adorned with photos of corpses in different states of decay, and you're like, wow, that's really morbid.

如果你走進泰國、越南、緬甸、斯里蘭卡的佛教寺院，你會發現牆上經常掛著不同腐爛狀態的屍體照片，你會覺得，哇，這真是病態。

It's not, it turns out.

事實證明並非如此。

What happens is that the monks and nuns will contemplate those photos, and they will look at each one and say, that is me, and that is me.

僧侶和尼姑們會仔細觀察這些照片，看著每一張照片說，那就是我，那就是我。

And they'll go through this Maranissati nine-part death meditation, where they contemplate different stages of a body and a body in different states of decomposition, and they'll say, that's me, that's going to be me, that's me.

他們會經歷馬拉尼薩提的九段死亡冥想，在冥想中，他們會思考軀體的不同階段和軀體的不同分解狀態，他們會說，那就是我，那將會是我，那就是我。

Why?

為什麼？

Because they're exposing themselves to the truth of their own mortality, such that they can transcend it and actually be fully alive right now.

因為他們暴露了自己的死亡真相，這樣他們就能超越死亡，真正地活在當下。

You see how healthy that is, right?

你知道這有多健康了吧？

Well, for people who are desperately afraid of the death of their identity as a successful person, they need to be exposed to that reality as well.

那麼，對於那些極度害怕自己作為成功人士的身份夭折的人來說，他們也需要面對這樣的現實。

Because the truth of the matter is, I don't care who's watching this, I don't care how successful you are, the party's going to finish, man.

因為事情的真相是，我不在乎誰在看這個，我不在乎你有多成功，派對就要結束了，夥計。

It's not going to last forever.

它不會永遠存在。

And you have to be comfortable with that so you can fully be alive and involved in what's going on in your life today, otherwise you'll be immobilized by the fear of something that paradoxically is the most normal, most predictable thing in your whole life, which is that this is going to stop.

你必須接受這一點，這樣你才能完全活下來，參與到今天的生活中，否則你就會被恐懼所束縛，而這種恐懼恰恰是你整個人生中最正常、最可預見的事情，那就是這一切都會停止。

I recommend putting together a little nine-part meditation where you say, starting off saying, I feel like I'm losing my edge at work.

我建議你做一個由九個部分組成的小冥想，一開始就說：我覺得我在工作中失去了優勢。

I don't know.

我不知道。

You know, my decision-making isn't as crisp as it once was, and people are starting to notice it.

你知道，我的決策不再像以前那麼清晰，人們開始注意到這一點。

Step two might be, people are starting to make remarks about the fact that I'm losing a step.

第二步可能是，人們開始議論我的步子越來越小了。

Step three might be, I'm thinking the board is starting to talk about my replacement, and they're not including me in the discussions.

第三步可能是，我覺得董事會開始討論接替我的人選，但他們沒有把我包括在討論中。

Step four is, I'm pretty sure that the end is coming for my career.

第四步是，我很確定我的職業生涯即將結束。

I'm pretty sure.

我很確定

I don't want it to come, but I'm pretty sure it's coming.

我不希望它來，但我很確定它會來。

Step five is, I've just gotten the word that I have to retire, even though it's not what I wanted to do.

第五步是，我剛剛接到必須退休的消息，儘管這不是我想要做的。

Step six might be, yeah, I kind of got forced out.

第六步可能是，是的，我是被迫離開的。

And the worst part is, I don't think people remember me for what I used to do.

最糟糕的是，我覺得人們已經不記得我曾經做過什麼了。

They just think of me as the guy who got forced out of the job.

他們只把我當成那個被迫離職的人。

Step seven is, I just went back to my workplace, and it's only six months, but a lot of people are new, and they didn't know who I am.

第七步是，我剛剛回到我的工作場所，雖然只有六個月，但很多人都是新來的，他們不知道我是誰。

Step eight is, I moved away, you know, and now the people that I talk to, they just think of me as a retired person.

第八步是，我搬走了，你知道，現在和我交談的人，都把我當成一個退休的人。

They don't even ask about what I used to do.

他們甚至都不問我以前是做什麼的。

And step nine might be, most days, I don't even think about what I used to do.

第九步可能是，大多數時候，我甚至都不會去想我以前是做什麼的。

I'm just living a different life at this point.

我現在過的是另一種生活。

Now, I realize that sounds really negative, but it isn't.

我知道這聽起來很消極，但事實並非如此。

It's normal.

這很正常。

Think about those things for two minutes each.

每件事情思考兩分鐘。

Do that for three weeks, and you'll be a different person.

這樣做三個星期，你就會變成另外一個人。

Why?

為什麼？

Not because you failed.

不是因為你失敗了。

That's not even failure, by the way.

順便說一句，這還不算失敗。

It's just normal life.

這只是正常的生活。

You will no longer be afraid.

你將不再害怕。

You will no longer be afraid of these things actually happening to you, because they will have happened to you in your mind.

你將不再害怕這些事情真的發生在你身上，因為它們已經在你的腦海中發生了。

They will have happened to you in your heart, and you'll be comfortable with the fact that you have a trajectory of your success and the value you're trying to create.

它們會在你的心中發生，你會對自己的成功軌跡和努力創造的價值感到欣慰。

And when it's over, you're going to submit, because that's the only choice.

當一切都結束時，你會屈服，因為這是唯一的選擇。

And then, then you'll be at peace.

然後，你就會心平氣和。

Everybody needs to manage their own life like a project, and understand that your skills and interests are going to change.

每個人都需要像管理項目一樣管理自己的生活，並瞭解自己的技能和興趣會發生變化。

To do things on purpose, to recognize that the good times are not going to last forever, and you have to engineer new good times under different circumstances.

要有目的地做事，要認識到好時光不會永遠持續下去，你必須在不同的環境下設計新的好時光。

That's now what I talk about with people who are getting older, and that's the advice I'm taking for myself.

這是我現在和年長者談論的話題，也是我給自己的建議。

And I don't know.

我也不知道。

I'm actually at peace for the first time in a long time.

實際上，我很久沒有這麼平靜過了。

I'm at peace for the first time in a long time.

很久以來，我第一次感到平靜。