We're going to have to face, for possibly a very long time, a big drop in salary. We might have to move back home, it will be hard to sound impressive at parties about what we're doing, and we'll be beginning again close to zero.

我們可能得面對長時間降薪，我們可能得搬回家住，在聚會中逞不了威風，而人生也幾乎再度歸零。

Tellingly, the agony about this can be most potent when we're young.

顯然地，這種痛苦在我們年輕時可能最強烈。

Imagine someone who's 20. They've been planning a career in chemical engineering and they're well on the way to gaining the right qualifications.

想像一個 20 歲的人。他一直計劃化學工程相關的職業生涯並努力取得專業資格。

They selected particular subjects at school, took the right courses at university, and did some relevant work experience.

他們在學校選擇特定科目，在大學進修相關的課程，並擁有一些相關工作經驗 。

They've already made what feels like an enormous investment.

他們已經做了看似巨大投資。

But now, they start to think very seriously of switching course, perhaps towards marine biology or anthropology.

但現在，他們開始認真思考轉換跑道的問題，也許是海洋生物學或人類學。

It might mean another two unforeseen years of studying.

這可能表示他們還得花兩年學習。

At 20, two years feels like a very long time indeed: 10% of the whole of one's life so far.

20歲時，兩年確實感覺很長：整個人生的 10％。

And psychologically, it's even bigger than that.

就心理層面而言，感覺會更長。

At 20, you've maybe only felt you were you since you were about 16. Before that, you were in a kind of daze of childhood and adolescence, and didn't have any real idea of what your life might be about.

20 歲時，或許直到 16 歲你才開始有自我意識；在此之前，你則處於迷惘的童年和青春期，對於人生尚未有任何真正的想法。

So, two years feels like half of your existence.

所以兩年感覺起來就像人生一半的時間。

It's a vast commitment.

這是一個巨大的承諾。

What's so hard to grasp, and yet essential, is how things will look in the future.

難以掌握但卻至關重要的是：未來的情況會怎麼樣？

Age, say, 56.

假設我們 56 歲了，

From there, two years will have a very different meaning.

這時候兩年對我們而言的意義就會非常不同。

It'll only be one twentieth or 5% of the forty years between being 16 and being at the climax of middle age.

兩年的時間，其實只佔 16 歲到 56 歲這一段精華中年時光的 5%。

Over time, the length of further study grows relatively small against the backdrop of a whole working life, while the consequences of not having undertaken it grow ever larger.

隨著時間推移，與整個工作生涯相比，繼續深造的時間相對較短， 但不繼續深造的後果卻越來越嚴重。

We call his paradox the "job investment trap," and it explains why many people, especially young people, mistakenly turn away from retraining.

我們稱這種悖論為「工作投資的陷阱」，它說明了為什麼很多人，尤其是年輕人， 對繼續深造敬而遠之。

The present looms too large and the long long future, which will in fact constitute by far the greater part of our lives, doesn't carry the weight it really should.

眼前的壓力越來越沉重，未來還很長並將構成生活很大的一部分，但在此刻無法承載重負。

To counter this tendency, we should draw up timelines to force ourselves to see that the period from 16 to 24 is truly quite short in comparison with what lies between 24 and 65.

為了應對這個狀況，我們應該制定時間表，強迫自己檢視整個生命週期，理解 16 到 24 歲與 24 到 65 歲相比，確實非常短暫。

We need to weigh up investments now, not against our most recent experiences, but in the light of a more accurate picture of an entire life.

我們得權衡投資，不拘泥於現階段的經驗，而是放眼整個生命的藍圖。

We need to believe in something that's so hard to really trust in: the reality of our own future decades of life.

我們得對難以信任的未來數十年現實人生抱持信心。

And then, we need to dare to switch track.

最後，我們得勇敢地轉換跑道。