which was part of the Soviet Union for a long time.

格魯吉亞曾隸屬於蘇維埃社會主義共和國聯盟 (譯註：簡稱「蘇聯」)

And I remember one of our relatives came to our house once and she was complaining

我記得有一次，一位親戚到我家拜訪，她抱怨著

about having to buy bread...

買麵包的事

She said, "There was only one type of bread my entire life,

這位親戚說：「以前，我的人生中只有一種麵包可以選

and I was just at the store and there are a 100 different types now!

如今我到店裡，發現居然有將近 100 種麵包可以選

I hate this government!

我恨現在的政府！

I hate everything now!"

我恨現在所有的一切！

And as a kid I remember thinking, "What the hell is wrong with her,"

我記得當時還是個孩子的我，想著：「她到底哪裡有毛病啊？」

but now that I think about it, she did have somewhat of a point.

但如今回想往事，她的抱怨的確是有道理的

Of course I don't want to live in a place where I can only buy one type of bread,

當然，我並不想住在一個只能買一種麵包的地方

but at the same time there are disadvantages to having a 100 different breads to choose from.

然而，同時處在有一百種麵包可以選擇的情況，也是有壞處的

And I'm pretty sure you've experienced this yourself,

我非常確定你也曾經歷類似的狀況

but sometimes I find myself in a store in front of a 100 different types of bread,

而有的時候當我站在有一百種麵包的店前

and I waste a lot of time just standing there having no idea what to pick.

我浪費許多時間枯站著，卻不知道該選哪些

This is the paradox of choice. All the different choices

這就是所謂的「選擇悖論」。所有不同的選擇

are supposed to make you better off, but they can cause paralysis

目的都是希望你可以更好，但是眼花撩亂的選擇也可能使你的思考癱瘓

and actually make you worse off.

結果讓你越來越糟

So now that we know what we're dealing with, let's take a look at how we can use this

所以現在我們知道要探討的主題了，讓我們一起看看。如何運用選擇權

to sell or buy, or just make ourselves better off.

來進行買賣，或是讓我們的生活變得更好

Let's start with selling, and I like to talk about selling

我們先從「銷售」開始探討，我很喜歡談「銷售」這一塊

because a lot of people who watch this have a business or aspire to have one,

因為許多看影片的人，都有自己的事業，或希望能夠創業

but at the same time, we all have to sell something to someone every single day.

但同時，我們每天都需要銷售一些物品給他人

Any time you're trying to persuade or convince anyone with anything,

無時無刻都要試著說服，讓你的顧客願意買單

you're selling, so it should be important and useful for everyone

你所銷售的商品，所以此影片的內容應該對你很重要，也會有所幫助

to cultivate the ability to sell.

幫助你培養銷售能力

Alright, so let's take a look at a study very briefly

好，我們來大略看一下這個研究

where they were trying to promote these high-quality jams.

商人嘗試著推銷高品質的果醬

There were two different experiments... In experiment one, they offered 24 samples.

以下是兩個不同的實驗：實驗一、實驗者提供二十四種樣本 (商家提供 24 種果醬)

In experiment two, they offered only 6 samples.

實驗二、實驗者僅提供六種樣本 (商家只提供 6 種果醬)

So what were the results? Well, the large number of samples attracted more people

所以結果會是如何？嗯，樣本較多的那個實驗，吸引了更多的人潮

but in both cases,

但在兩個實驗中

people tasted the same number of jams on average. But what happened when it came to buying?

人們平均嘗試了同樣數量的果醬。可是，在顧客購買的時候，究竟會發生什麼事呢？

There was a HUGE difference... Only 3% of the people who were offered 24

結果有很顯著的差異…只有百分之三的人，也是有二十四種

jams to sample from went on to buy the jam.

果醬可以選的顧客，買了果醬

However, 30% of the people who were offered only 6 jams to sample from

然而，在只有六種果醬可選的情況下，有百分之三十的人

went on to buy the jam. That is a huge difference!

決定買果醬。這真的差很多！

Now let's take a look at what some restaurants do...

現在，我們來看看許多餐廳會採取的策略

They offer you a million different items on the menu...

餐廳的菜單上有無數種菜色供你選擇

You take a look at the menu, and it's just impossible to pick...

你看了菜單一眼，發現根本不可能做出選擇

They have successfully paralyzed you, but they also conveniently offer you 5 specials for the day.

餐廳很成功地讓你「選擇癱瘓」，但餐廳也同時提供你五種每日特餐，可以更方便選擇

And a lot of times,

而許多時候

these specials will never even change.

「每日特餐」並不會真的「每日改變」

Now what do you do? Well you've been offered something that's more managable,

現在你該怎麼辦？嗯，餐廳已經提供你更好做決定的組合了

you're much more likely to pick from this selection,

你有更高的機會從每日特餐中選出想要的餐點

and guess how the restaurant benefits from this?

猜猜看，餐廳如何從中得利？

If you guessed that they sell you exactly

如果你猜，餐廳確實

what they want with high margins, you're absolutely right.

售出高利潤的餐點，那你真的答對了！

Let's take a look at another example and make it even more personal.

現在我們來看看另一個例子，甚至涉及更隱私一點的

One of the most frequent things I get asked is,

我最常被問到的事情之一就是

"Hey, can you please make a reading list of your favorite books..."

嘿，你能不能給我你的最愛書籍清單？

And I'll definitely make it at some point, but let's take a look at

我當然會把我的書單給出去，不過讓我們先來看看

what most people's reading list looks like. A lot of authors and mentors have a reading list,

通常一般人提供的書單會長什麼樣子：許多作家和心靈導師都有自己的閱讀書單

but they literally put like 200 books on it.

但書單上卻有著差不多二百多本書

Now when you take a look at that, most people are just going to be paralyzed.

現在當你看一眼這些人的書單，多數人就要崩潰了

There's too much choice, what if you pick the wrong book?

因為實在有太多選擇，如果你選錯了書怎麼辦？

it's really hard to pick, so guess what you're probably going to do?

從中選擇真的很難，所以猜猜看你自己通常會怎麼做？

Not pick anything... And I'm telling you

答案是…甚麼都不選！而讓我告訴你

this is a mistake that people, who are a million times smarter than I am, make all the time.

這是個錯誤，有許多人，甚至比我還聰明白萬倍的人，老是都會犯的錯誤

So keeping the paradox of choice in mind, when I do make the list,

所以，請你記住「選擇悖論」。當我在製作書單的時候

what is it going to look like? It'll probably be about ten or maybe fifteen

我會想想清單該要是什麼模樣？或許清單會涵蓋大約十本，或許十五本

of the absolutely best books in my opinion. Now even that is too much,

我認定最經典的好書，但即使這樣還是太多本了

but considering people will have read half of them

但我相信人們會願意讀我開出來書籍數的一半

or possibly even more, it'll avoid the paralysis caused by 200 books.

甚至可能更多，如此一來，就避免「最愛 200」造成你的選擇癱瘓

Imagine if you've read 9 out of 10 of the books,

想像你讀了十本中的九本

and there's one book that you haven't read. You will most likely pick that book up.

只剩一本你還未讀過，你有很大的機會去讀那本書

But if there were 200 different books, the decision is too hard to make and

但假如有二百本不同的書，就實在是太難做決定

you'd just get paralyzed and probably postpone making the decision.

最後你只會崩潰，或許還無法如期完成閱讀計畫

Now let's talk about how you can use this if you just want to make your life better...

現在，我們來談談，你該如何善用「選擇悖論」來讓你的生活變得更好

Your number one priority is to avoid paralysis. A few months ago,

你的黃金守則就是避免「選擇癱瘓」發生。幾個月前

I'd get up and I wasn't really sure what I wanted for breakfast.

每當我起床，我都不知道要吃什麼當早餐

And the amount of food in my fridge could probably make a 1000 different combinations,

而在我冰箱內的食物大概可以有一千種不同組合

so there were times when I literally spent 20 minutes

所以，我曾經真的浪費了二十分鐘

figuring out what I was going to have for breakfast.

只為了搞清楚自己早餐到底想吃些什麼

Now if you add that up over time, not only is it exhausting,

現在，如果你把這些猶豫思考的時間加總，不只很累人

you're wasting a lot of time. So what do I do now when I get up?

同時也會發現自己浪費很多時間。所以，我現在起床的第一件事是什麼呢？

Well, I have the same thing almost every morning. There are certain mornings where I don't

嗯，我決定每天早上都吃一樣的食物。有幾天，我並沒有吃一樣的食物

and I just screw around and make a mess in the kitchen,

我就天馬行空地做著早餐，把廚房弄得一團糟

but that's cool because that's what I want to do.

但也覺得很酷，因為我想嘗試這麼做

This isn't about not enjoying things. It's about enjoying things even more.

天馬行空的作為並不代表我沒有盡情享受，反之，天馬行空讓我更享受製作的過程

So for most days, I've turned something that wasted energy and

所以在大多數的日子裡，我把一些會耗盡能量的事與

time into something that is super easy,

時間，變成一些極為簡單的步驟

where I don't have to be paralyzed, and where I can dedicate that time and energy

這樣我就不必面臨「選擇癱瘓」，同時也可以盡情運用時間和心力

to things that are more important and enjoyable than figuring out what I'm going to eat for breakfast.

去做更重要的事，享受其中，這比起苦思早餐要吃什麼來的好

And this is kind of like what Steve Jobs did with wearing the same thing all the time,

而這就像史提夫．賈伯斯每天都穿同樣的衣服上班，是一樣的道理

which I would personally never do, but if you're as indifferent with your clothes

雖然我個人不會這麼做，但如果你對自己的每日穿著毫不在意

as I am with what I have for breakfast on a random Wednesday morning,

就像我在某個星期三早上決定吃一樣的早餐

then this might be a good choice.

這或許會是很好的選擇

So that's it. I hope you take this and apply it to your

所以，我講完了。希望你可以好好學以致用

particular situation whether it be buying, selling, or just making your life better.

於特定情況，無論是在買賣，或只是讓你的生活變得更好