There was dancing and music and noise. So much noise that a lot of us started to drift out of the tent

帳篷裡滿是舞蹈，音樂和聲音。因為帳篷中充斥太多的聲音，讓很多人開始往帳篷外面移動，

so we could hear each other talk and catch up with classmates that we had not seen in more than two decades.

這樣我們才可以聽到彼此的聲音，跟將近二十多年沒有見到面的同學寒暄。

As I talked with my friends, I made an astounding discovery:

當我跟我朋友聊天的時候，我有一個驚人的發現：

80% of them were unhappy with their lives.

80%的人對於他們的人生並不覺得快樂。

“I feel as though I’ve wasted my life and I'm halfway through it,” they said, “I don't know what my life is all about.”

“我覺得我在浪費我的人生，而我的人生竟然已經過了一半”，他說，” 我不知道我的整個生命到底意義是甚麼。”

Now, I was privileged to go to Yale and we were standing on a summer evening in the middle of Yale’s old campus.

現在，我有幸去耶魯大學，而且我們在一個夏天的晚上在校園中間站著。

And the people that I was speaking with were privileged and highly educated and financially well-off

和我說話的人受過良好的教育且家境小康，

in positions of power, and they had the first house and the second house, and they had the first spouse and the second spouse.

位居上位，而且他們有了第一個家，第二個家，也有了第一個配偶和第二個配偶。

And 80% of them were unhappy with their lives.

然而他們其中的80%都對他們的生活覺得不開心。

Who was happy, the 20%?

那麼那些20%很開心的人呢?

Well, we had studied literature and Renaissance rhetoric and we were the theater people and the history geeks.

好了，我們已經研究文學，文藝復興時代的修辭，我們也是愛看戲劇的人和歷史愛好者。

We had studied classes for the joy learning, not because we thought they were going to put, direct us to a specific job.

我們都曾經因為自己喜歡而去選擇自己純粹念興趣的課程，這些都不是因為讀這些科目會跟我們的工作有關。

We still got jobs. We we're living our lives expensively with life’s ups and downs and we did not feel that we had wasted a single minute.

我們仍然會有工作。我們的生活高潮迭起，我們也從未覺得我們對於時間有絲毫浪費。

And as I spoke with the 20%, the happier 20%, I discovered that each of them knew something about their life purpose because the knew five things.

當我跟那20%對於生活很開心的人對話的時候，我發現他們對於他們的生命目的有五個清楚的認知。

Who they were, what they did, who they did it for, what those people wanted or needed, and what they got out of it.

他們是誰，他們在做甚麼，他們為了誰做些甚麼，他們給予自己所能的那些人想要或是需要甚麼，以及那些受到給予的人們他們放下了些甚麼。

How they changed as a result. Does that sound hard?

聽起來很難嗎?

It’s not. It’s actually really simple. In fact it’s so simple that you can learn your life purpose now.

一點都不。事實上非常簡單。事實上這簡單到你現在就可以學習你的生命目的。

You’re gonna know your life purpose now in the next 5 minutes.

接下來的五分鐘你就會知道你的生命目的是甚麼。

Would you like to know you’re life purpose now in the next 5 minutes? – Yes

你希望在接下來的五分鐘知道你的生命目的是甚麼嗎? – 是的。

Can you be a little bit louder because they’re making a lot of noise in the tent and there’s just this silly little microphone next to my cheek to hear you

可以大聲一點嗎，因為他們在帳棚裡面製造出了很大的聲音，而我現在只能用我臉頰旁邊這個小小的麥克風來聽到大家的聲音。

Would you like to know you’re life purpose in the next 5 minutes?

你希望在接下來的五分鐘知道你的生命目的是甚麼嗎?

Yes! – Thank you. Actually, it’s not even gonna take 5 minutes.

是的! – 謝謝你。事實上，這並不會只是五分鐘。

So can I share something else with you? If you’re like a lot of us, you have wondered and worried about your life purpose for a long time.

所以，我可以跟你們分享一些其他的嗎? 如果你像我們大多數人一樣，已經對於自己的生命目的疑惑很久了。

And there are books and magazines and workshops and seminars about it. In fact, Amazon lists 151,928 books that refer to how you can learn your life purpose.

有很多的書籍，雜誌，工作坊和研討會都在討論這個。事實上，亞馬遜書店列出了151,928本書，這些書都有說明你可以如何學習你的生命目的。

Well, I know some people who have spent their entire lives trying to learn their life purpose

我知道有些人已經盡其一生來學習他們的生命目的。

And we can all agree the unexamined life is not worth living, but if all you do is examining, you’re not living

我們都同意渾渾噩噩的生活是不值得過的，但是如果你只是照著計劃表在考核你的人生，你就不算是真正活著。

So let’s figure out the life purpose right now together.

所以現在讓我們來共同找出生命目的。

Who you are, what you do, who you do it for, what those people want and need, and how they change as a result.

你是誰，你在做甚麼，你做這個是為了甚麼，這些人想要或是需要甚麼，以及他們接受了給予之後改變了甚麼。

Shall we do it? –Yes

我們要開始了嗎? – 是的。

Alright. Everybody, on the count of 5, shot out your first name.

好的。各位，我們現在數到五，大聲講說你的姓氏是甚麼。

1,2,3,4,5

1,2,3,4,5

Fabulous. That was the first one, only four to go. That’s who you are

太棒了。這是第一點，還有四點。剛剛就是你是誰。

Now, what do you do? What do you love to do?

現在，你在做甚麼? 你喜歡做甚麼?

You love to write, cook, design, create ios apps, write codes, crunch numbers, talk, teach…

你喜歡寫作，煮菜，設計，設計ios應用程式，寫程式碼，算數，說話，教學……

What do you love to do? And if there’s a lot of things that come up for you, focus it down by asking yourself this one question:

你喜歡做甚麼? 如果出現了很多答案，專注地問你自己以下的問題：

What is the one thing that right now you feel supremely qualified to teach other people?

現在對你來說甚麼事情你會覺得如果可以教受給其他人你會覺得非常有意義?

Think about that. In one word. Hold it, don’t release it yet. On the count of 5

想想看。用一個字。屏住氣，還沒有喔。讓我們數到五。

What do you do? 1,2,3,4,5

你在做甚麼? 1,2,3,4,5

Great, that’s what you do. Now, think about who you do it for

太棒了，那就是你要做的事情。現在，想看看你要為誰做些甚麼。

Picture them in your mind. Be ready to say it on the count of 5. Hold it, don’t release it yet.

在心裡想像一下畫面。當我們數到五的時候再說。秉住氣，還沒有喔。

1,2,3,4,5

1,2,3,4,5

Okay, who do you do it for? Let’s say it a little bit louder please

好了，你要為誰做些甚麼? 讓我們再大聲點。

Over the people in the tent. Who do you do it for? Together

聲音要大過那些在帳篷中的人。你要為誰做些甚麼? 來，大家一起說。

Thank you. That is the spirit that we need. Okay now, what do those people want or need?

謝謝你。我們就是要這樣的精神。好了，那麼這些人想要或是需要甚麼?

What do they want or need that they’ve come to you so you can give them this thing?

當那些需要你的幫助的人來到你面前的時候，你能夠給出的是甚麼?

What do they want or need? Just one of two words. Hold it. Don’t release it yet.

他們想要或是需要甚麼? 只要簡短回答就好。秉住氣，還沒有喔。

On the count of 5. 1,2,3,4,5

數到五。1,2,3,4,5

Fantastic. Now, this is the best one. How did they change?

太棒了。現在，這是最棒的一個問題。他們是如何改變的?

How did they change or transform as a result of what you give them?

當你給出之後，他們會如何改變?

On the count of 5, how did they change or transform as a result of what you give them. 1,2,3,4,5

讓我們數到五，當你給出之後，他們會如何改變。1,2,3,4,5

Terrific. Now, we’re gonna put this all together kind of in a sense, okay?

真的是太棒了。現在，讓我們重新整理一下剛剛說的好讓大家更了解。

Everyone together. Louder than the people in the tent. Who are you?

大家一起來，要比那些在帳篷中的人們更大聲。你是誰?

What do you do? Who do you do it for?

你在做甚麼? 你是為誰而做?

What do they want or need?

他們想要或是需要甚麼?

What did they change as a result?

你所給予的那些人會如何改變?

Fantastic. You have all jut done something that people who went to Yale could not figure out for 25 years.

真的是太棒了。你們剛剛完成了許多在耶魯的人花了25年還找不到的答案。

Congratulations, give yourselves a hand

恭喜你們，大家給自己一個掌聲。

Now why is that formulation so powerful? Because of all those 5 things that you need to know

為什麼這麼方程式如此有力量? 因為你要知道的是，在這五件事情當中，

To know what your life purpose is, only 2 are about yourself.

只有兩件是關於你自己。

The others, 3 of them, are about other people.

另外三件，都是關於其他人。

Who they are, what they want or need, and how they change as a result

他們是誰，他們想要或是需要的是甚麼，你所給予的那些人會如何改變。

That formulation forces you to be outward facing. And all the happier people that I met outside the tent on that warm New Haven night

這些看到自己以外的人們，比在溫暖的紐海芬帳篷裏面的人們還要快樂。

They were outward facing. They were not inward facing. They knew very clearly whom they served,

他們看到自己以外的人，並非只是看到自己。他們很清楚他們服務的是誰，

What those people needed and how those people change as a result

那些人又需要些甚麼以及他們透過協助可以改變些甚麼。

And you may have intuited this already, but successful people in any field always focus most on the people that they serve

你或許已經察覺到，但是在任何領域中的成功人士總是專注在自己的領域中，

Than on how they are served themselves

讓自己所專注的領域變得更好。

Happier people make it a point to make other people happy and do things that make them feel well taken care of and secure

更快樂的人將專注力放在如何讓別人快樂，讓他人有受到妥善的照顧和感到安全。

If you make other people happy, life teaches us, we will be taken care of too

你如果讓別人開心，生活教導我們，我們也會同樣的被照顧。

Since you all did so well, we have time for just a little bit of extra credit

既然大家都這麼棒，我們還有一些額外的時間。

One of the most difficult things that happens when you meet people for the first time is they ask you this question

所有問題中最難回答的就是當你第一次見到別人，他們問你這個問題，

So what do you do? And if you’re like some of us, that’s a really challenging question sometimes

你在從事甚麼? 如果你像我們大多數的人一樣，這真的是個很挑戰的問題。

Particularly if you’re in these moments where you’re between things or you’re feeling vulnerable or isn’t defined

特別是在某些時候，你知道自己是在做很有意義和價值的事情，但是卻無法被清楚解釋。

Or what you seem to do isn’t what you really do; or what you’re paid to do isn’t how you define yourself

或是那些看起來你在從事的事情好像跟你說的沒有關連性；或是你被雇而做的事情無法真正解釋你是誰。

So when people ask you this question “so what do you do”, and also you got this monologue going like

所以當別人問你說你在從事甚麼工作的時候，你或許可以先問問自己像是

Why is he asking me so what do I do? It’s because it’s that transactional thing where it’s like he wants to know if he should really spend time talking to me?

為什麼他要問我從事的是甚麼? 這是因為這是事務性的交談他必須知道或是他是真的想要了解?

Or it’s that other thing so he can tell me what he does because he’s sure it’s all really so much better than what I do?

或是他只是想要藉此告訴我他很確定他在做的事情遠比我在做的事情好的多?

So when somebody asks you that question, here’s what you do

因此當有人問你這個問題的時候，這是你要做的

You just say the very last thing you called out

你只要說出剛剛五點中的最後一點

How what you do changes the people you do it for

你是如何透過自己來協助他人改變了。

So for example, you might say, “I give kids awesome dreams”

舉例來說，你可以說”我給了孩子們很棒的夢”。

If your life purpose is “I write books for children so they can fall asleep at night,

如果你的生命目的是”我要寫晚上孩子睡前讀的書,

so they can have awesome dreams.” Or you might say

因此他們會有很棒的夢”。或是你可以說

“I help people look and feel their best” if you’re life purpose is “I design apparel for men and women who need affordable choices

“我幫助別人看見和感受到他們最棒的樣子” 如果你的生命目的是 “我設計出更多人可以支付的起的衣服,

So they can look and feel their best.” Or your might say, “I help people get great work into the world”

所以他們可以看見和感受到他們最棒的樣子”。”我幫助人們在世界上獲得最棒的工作”

If your life purpose is “I train entrepreneurs and creative people to take decisive actions so they can get their greatest work into the world”

如果你的生命目的是 “我訓練企業家和有創意的人們去執行決定性的行動，因此他們可以獲得世界上最棒的工作”。

And then little snippet that you just said becomes your personal elevator pitch

只要像剛剛那樣的說法，就可以在短時間之內告訴對方你在做的。

And it’ll always start the conversation, because the person that you were just talking to have to ask you a question

要記得總是當先開始對話的那方，因為這樣的話另外一方就會問你

How do you give kids great dreams? How do you help people look and feel their best?

你是怎樣給孩子們很棒的夢想的? 你是怎麼幫助別人去看起來和感覺到他們最棒的樣子?

Can people really get their greatest work into the world?

人們真的可以獲得世界上最棒的工作嗎?

And then you get to tell them and you get to share your life purpose

你要告訴他們，而且你會分享你的生命目的。

And you get to share how they may come to learn theirs, too

然後你要告訴他們，他們也可以發掘自己的生命目的。