Confidence.

那就是——信心。

It's humbling to realize just how many great achievements haven't been the result of superior talent or technical know-how, merely that strange buoyancy of the soul that we call confidence.

為什麼這麼多很不錯的技能沒辦法變成優秀的成果結晶，僅僅是因為一種奇怪的、存在於我們心中的樂觀心態——我們稱之「自信」。

Why is confidence so easy to lack?

為什麼我們那麼容易失去自信？

Partly, it's a hangover from the past.

這可能是過去歷史所留下來的。

For thousands of years, for most of us, there simply were no opportunities for hope: We were serfs and slaves,

過去幾千年，因為我們大部分的人身為農奴和苦力，都沒有辦法擁有「希望」，

and the central psychological survival skill was to keep our heads down and our expectations below.

我們心裡認為，能夠讓我們活下去的生存法則就是埋頭苦幹、降低我們的期待。

Each of us still carries a little of the legacy from that past, an attitude of inner serfdom that threatens our spirit deep into a democratic, technological, modern age.

這樣過去的觀念多少遺留在我們每個人心中，這樣內化的奴性威脅了我們民主、科學、現代的精神。

Hope can feel dangerous.

我們覺得擁有「希望」是危險的。

There might, in addition, have been parents who sent out subtle messages, "People like us don't." "Who do you take yourself for?"

也有可能是父母告訴我們這樣的訊息：「像我們這樣的人不配擁有希望」「你以為你是誰？」

We should feel compassionate about where those defensive parental messages came from; they were a protection, a survival strategy, and an escape from humiliation.

我們應該同理這些具有防禦性的根本想法從何而來：他們是一種保護機制、避免遭到羞辱的生存策略。

School didn't necessarily help either; it wanted us to be good boys and girls, and taught us to trust in established authority.

學校也不必然能幫到忙，它總是希望我們當個乖小孩，教導我們要相信權威。

But we may, naively, have gone on too long, putting too much faith in existing institutions, and now suffer from doing whatever is asked of us a little too obediently.

但我們已經天真地相信現存的制度已久，我們太順從地從事我們被要求的事情。

Part of becoming an adult seems to be to embrace the painful realization that grown-ups don't actually have all the answers,

要變成成人，其中一部分就是要去擁抱大人不一定無所不知的痛苦事實，

and therefore, that we have every right, indeed a duty, to break certain rules and think things through independently.

因此，我們都有權利和義務去打破規則和獨立思考。

We need to learn a calculated form of disrespect, which can be a surprising thing after twenty years or so of enforced obedience.

我們要去了解一個被精心設計過的對人性的不尊重，經過 20 多年後的強迫服從，這可能是一件令人訝異的事。

We need to learn a constructive suspicion of authority: A path between total compliance on the one hand, and sullen skepticism on the other.

我們要學習對權威有建設性的懷疑，也就是在完全服從跟懷疑之間取得平衡。

In addition, confidence seems to involve a courage to accept imperfection.

另外，「自信」意味著有勇氣去接受不完美。

It's tempting never to get going when everything has to be perfect, but that's a recipe for remaining under the bed,

人們禁不住不在準備工作尚未達到完美前恣意行動，但這只會讓你始終無法採取行動，

And yet, how often so-called "great lives" have been riddled with errors, that nevertheless, didn't sink them.

很多所謂的「美好幸福的人生」常常充斥著錯誤與不完美，但這些並不會將他們擊垮。

Confidence begins with a capacity to forgive oneself the horrors of the first go.

自信始於原諒自己的恐懼。

Death is a necessary thought too.

而死亡是人生最不完美的東西，你也應該將它列入考慮。

We should use it not to further sadden us, but to scare us fruitfully, into taking some action.

我們不應該以此悲喜，而是要讓它督促我們採取行動。

Our fear of messing up should give way to the only real danger there is: That of never trying.

若畏懼之心存在，那應該用於畏懼自己沒有嘗試，而非害怕搞砸。