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SrikumarRao_2009S-_plug_into_your_hard_wired_happiness_
I have a vision for each one of you, and the vision I have for you is that when you wake up in the morning, your blood is singing at the thought of being who you are and doing what you do; that as you go through the day, you can literally sink to your knees in gratitude [00:13]
vision:n.视力;美景;幻象;想象力;v.想象;显现;梦见; literally:adv.按字面:字面上:确实地: gratitude:n.感谢(的心情);感激;
at the tremendous good fortune that's been bestowed on you; that as you go through the day, you become radiantly alive several times. [00:31]
tremendous:adj.极大的,巨大的;惊人的;极好的; fortune:n.财富;命运;运气;v.给予财富,偶然发生 bestowed:vt.使用;授予;放置;留宿; radiantly:adv.清朗地;辉煌地;
And if your life isn't like that, [00:43]
I'd like to humbly suggest that you're wasting your life. [00:47]
humbly:adv.谦逊地;卑贱地;低声下气地;
A life is too short to be wasted. [00:50]
So what I propose to do in the next 17 minutes -- [00:53]
propose:v.建议;提议;求婚;打算;
I've used up one minute already -- is to give you a set of powerful tools which can get you started on being there. [00:57]
Is that of interest to you? [01:06]
Audience: Yes. [01:07]
Srikumar Rao: OK. [01:09]
This is a conference on happiness, but even if it wasn't a conference on happiness, would it be right if I said that in some way, shape, fashion or form, you're devoting your entire life to being happy? [01:10]
conference:n.会议;研讨会;商讨会;体育协会(或联合会) devoting:vt.致力于;奉献;
Everything you do -- your job, family, children, relationships, whatever -- is a quest for happiness. [01:23]
quest:n.追求;寻找;vi.追求;寻找;vt.探索;
Correct? [01:30]
I'd like you to think about the following: [01:31]
What do you have to get in order to be happy? [01:35]
We're just going to spend a minute on this. [01:41]
What do you have to get in order to be happy? [01:43]
Anybody, quick? [01:48]
When I conduct this experiment, a bunch of stuff comes up: vast wealth , trophy spouse , good health, lots of travel, time, etc, etc, etc. [01:50]
conduct:v.实施;执行;表现;引导;n.举止;管理方法;经营方式;实施办法; a bunch of:一群;一束;一堆; stuff:n.东西:物品:基本特征:v.填满:装满:标本: wealth:n.财富;大量;富有; trophy:n.奖品,奖杯;奖;纪念品,战利品;adj.炫耀的;摆阔的;招摇的; spouse:n.配偶;vt.和…结婚;
Right now, if you were to think about it, you probably have a list of, "Here's what I need to get in order to be happy." [02:00]
I would like you to consider this: anything that you can get -- let me repeat that -- anything you can get, you can un-get. [02:08]
Is that correct? [02:16]
So, vast wealth can make you happy. Vast wealth can disappear tomorrow. [02:17]
disappear:v.消失;失踪;不复存在;
A number of people in the financial sector have discovered this already. [02:21]
financial:adj.金融的;财政的,财务的; sector:n.部门;扇形,扇区;象限仪;函数尺;vt.把…分成扇形;
So whatever you get that can make you happy can go away. [02:26]
Where does that leave you? [02:31]
Not a very nice place, right? [02:33]
I have a different proposition to suggest to you. [02:35]
proposition:n.提议;待处理的问题;任务;(美国)法律修正议案;见解;命题;v.向...提议;
What I have to suggest to you is that there is nothing that you have to get, do or be in order to be happy. [02:38]
Let me repeat that: there is nothing that you have to get, do or be in order to be happy. [02:46]
In fact, happiness is your innate nature. [02:51]
innate:adj.先天的;固有的;与生俱来的;
It is hardwired into you. It is part of your DNA. [02:54]
hardwired:adj.电路的;
You cannot not be happy. [02:59]
Now, all of you are very polite, and in some of the other forums I speak in, such as top business schools, they're not so polite. [03:02]
forums:n.论坛; (forum的复数)
And invariably , somebody articulates what many of you are thinking, which is: "If happiness is my innate nature, how come I am not experiencing it? [03:09]
invariably:adv.总是;不变地;一定地; articulates:清楚地表达(articulate的第三人称单数);
How come I am experiencing my life sucks ?" [03:19]
sucks:v.吮吸;吸;咂;啜;抽吸;抽取;(suck的第三人称单数)
(Laughter) [03:22]
And the answer to that is actually very simple. [03:24]
You have spent your entire life learning to be unhappy. [03:28]
Let me repeat that: you have spent your entire life learning to be unhappy. [03:36]
And the way we learn to be unhappy is by buying into a particular mental model. [03:42]
mental:adj.精神的;脑力的;疯的;n.精神病患者;
A mental model is a notion we have that this is the way the world works. [03:48]
notion:n.观念;信念;理解;
All of us have mental models, we've got dozens of mental models. [03:51]
We've got mental models on how to find a job, how to get ahead at work, how to pick a restaurant to eat at, how to have a movie to go to ... dozens of them. [03:54]
The problem isn't that we have mental models. [04:03]
The problem is that we don't know that we have mental models. [04:05]
We think this is the way the world works. [04:08]
And the more we invest in a mental model, the more it appears that this, in fact, is the way the world works. [04:10]
invest:v.投资;(把资金)投入;投入(时间、精力等);授予;
But it isn't: it's just a mental model, and the mental model we have that we buy into so strongly is that we have to get something so we can do something so we can be something. [04:16]
Like, we have to get a great deal of money so we can travel to exotic places so we can be happy. [04:28]
a great deal of:大量; exotic:adj.异国的;外来的;异国情调的;
We have to be in a relationship so we can have great sex so we can be happy. [04:34]
All of this is a variation of the if-then model. [04:39]
variation:n.变异;变体;变奏;变种; if-then:adj.假设的;假定的;
And the if-then model is: if this happens, then we will be happy. [04:44]
If I were to get a better job, if I were to get more money, if my boss would have a heart attack, if only I was married, if only my wife would leave me -- [04:52]
have a heart:v.发慈悲;
(Laughter) [05:03]
if only I had children, if my children would grow up and go to college ... [05:04]
It doesn't matter what it is. [05:09]
The whole notion is if this happens, then I will be happy. [05:11]
And right now, the only thing that's different between the persons in this audience is what is the particular "if" that you are focusing on? [05:17]
And the only thing that's different between you now and where you were 10 years ago is what is the particular "if" that you were focusing on? [05:26]
Think about your life 10 years ago. [05:34]
Spend a minute doing that. [05:37]
Ten years ago, if you remember clearly, there were certain things you wanted. [05:40]
Is that correct? [05:43]
Odds are pretty good that many of those things you wanted 10 years ago you now have. [05:45]
Odds:n.几率;胜算;不平等;差别;
Is that correct? [05:50]
Where has that left you? [05:52]
In exactly the same place, right? [05:56]
What we don't realize is the model itself is flawed . [05:59]
flawed:adj.有缺陷的;有瑕疵的;有裂纹的;
The if-then model -- "If this happens I will be happy" -- the model itself is flawed. [06:03]
But instead of recognizing that it is the model itself that's flawed, what we do is spend enormous amounts of time changing the "if." [06:09]
recognizing:v.认识;认出;承认;接受,赞成(recognize的现在分词) enormous:adj.庞大的,巨大的;凶暴的,极恶的;
'"Oh, well, I thought if I became CEO it would help, but now I realize it's not that I want to become a CEO. [06:19]
I want to become the billionaire CEO, and then I will be happy." [06:25]
billionaire:n.亿万富翁;
You've got your own variation on that. [06:30]
But it's the model itself that's flawed, not what you put on the "if" side of the equation . [06:32]
equation:n.方程式,等式;相等;[化学]反应式;
I can demonstrate that to you. [06:38]
demonstrate:vt.证明;展示;论证;vi.示威;
Can any of you recall a time when you were confronted with a scene of such spectacular beauty that it took you outside of yourself into a place of great serenity ? [06:40]
recall:v.记起;回想起;使想到;勾起;召回;n.记忆力;记性;回归请求;回收令; confronted:v.使…无法回避;降临于;处理;面对;对抗;(confront的过去分词和过去式) spectacular:adj.壮观的;壮丽的;令人惊叹的;n.壮观的场面;精彩的表演; serenity:n.平静,宁静;晴朗,风和日丽;
Maybe a rainbow , a mountain range, a valley, the sea. [06:52]
rainbow:n.彩虹
And if you remember that -- raise your hands if you could. [06:56]
Virtually all of you could, right? [06:59]
Virtually:adv.事实上,几乎;实质上;
Have you ever wondered why that happened? [07:01]
The reason that happened is that somehow , for some reason, at that instant , you accepted the universe exactly as it was. [07:04]
somehow:adv.以某种方法;莫名其妙地; instant:n.瞬间; adj.立即的; conj.同"assoonas";
You didn't say, "That's a beautiful rainbow, but it's kind of off to the left, and if I could move it 200 yards to the right, it would be ever so much more beautiful." [07:18]
(Laughter) [07:27]
You didn't say, "That's a beautiful valley, but the tree in the foreground has too many crooked branches. [07:29]
foreground:n.前景;最显著的位置; crooked:adj.扭曲的;弯曲的;不直的;v.(手指或手臂)弯曲;(crook的过去分词和过去式)
So if you gave me a chainsaw and 20 minutes, [07:34]
chainsaw:vt.肢解,用链锯割;
I'd make it ever so much better." [07:36]
Oh no, the rainbow off-center was just fine. [07:39]
off-center:adj.偏离中央的;不平衡的;adv.歪斜不正地,不平衡地;
The tree with its crooked branches was just fine. [07:41]
And the moment you accepted the universe just as it was, your habitual-wanting self dropped away, and the happiness which is your innate nature surfaced, and you felt it. [07:44]
And I know you felt it because now, even now after all those years, you can still remember it. [07:57]
The problem is that your life right now, with all of the problems that you have -- more precisely, all of the problems that you think you have -- is equally perfect. [08:06]
But you do not accept it. [08:19]
In fact, you're spending all your time striving with might and main to make it different. [08:21]
striving:n.努力;奋斗;v.努力;奋斗;力争;力求;(strive的现在分词)
You are not accepting it. [08:28]
And when you're not accepting it, you're buying into the if-then model: if this happens, then I will be happy. [08:31]
And it's the model itself that is flawed. [08:38]
So let me show you how you can get out of that, or at least you can begin the steps towards getting out of that. [08:43]
I'd like to share with you that action. [08:50]
We all live our lives because we want to achieve something, correct? [08:52]
You know, we are here and we want to have something. [08:56]
Alex wants to have a successful conference. [08:58]
You know, many of you want to have great programs for your companies that are very successful. [09:01]
You want to progress, have more money, all of that, is that correct? [09:06]
Each of those is an outcome; you would like something to happen. [09:13]
Now, I'd like you to think about the following: actions are within your control, not entirely, but to a large extent . [09:17]
extent:n.程度;范围;长度;
The outcome is completely out of your control. [09:24]
outcome:n.结果,结局;成果;
Actions are within your control. [09:28]
The outcome is completely outside your control. [09:30]
Have any of you recognized that when you have a goal and you start to work towards it, some of the time you don't achieve your goal, and some of the time what you get is the exact opposite of what you wanted? [09:32]
recognized:v.认识;认出;辨别出;承认;意识到;(recognize的过去分词和过去式)
Has that happened to any of you? [09:43]
Like there was a friend of mine who said, "Gee, you know, [09:46]
I have not been paying a lot of attention to my wife, and this has to change." [09:49]
So the next time we went on a business trip, he bought a very expensive dress for her. [09:54]
And this was his way of showing, you know, I care for you, and nice things would happen. [09:59]
And when he presented the gift to his wife, her immediate reaction was, "After 20 years of marriage, you don't know my size?" [10:04]
reaction:n.反应,感应;反动,复古;反作用;
(Laughter) [10:12]
'"And furthermore , don't you know I never wear this kind of thing?" [10:14]
furthermore:adv.此外;而且;
And the next thing you know, he had a full-blown marital spat . [10:19]
full-blown:adj.成熟的;(花)盛开的;(帆等)张满的; marital:adj.婚姻的;夫妇间的; spat:n.口角;蚝卵;蚝仔;掌击;vi.争吵;一巴掌打去;v.吐口水(spit的过去式);
Has that happened to any of you? [10:23]
You've taken action for a particular outcome and the outcome you got was the exact opposite of what you wanted? [10:24]
Happens all the time. [10:31]
Well, we live in a world where what we think of, what we invest in, is the outcome. [10:33]
We define our life in the following way: here I am, here is where I want to go, these are the steps I have to take in order to get from where I am to where I want to go, and if I succeed, life is wonderful. [10:40]
define:v.定义;使明确;规定;
And if I don't, then I have failed, life is no good, life sucks. [10:52]
True? False? [11:00]
That is how we live. [11:02]
We invest in the outcome, and as I've just pointed out, the outcome is frequently different from what we would like, and sometimes the diametric opposite of what we would like. [11:03]
frequently:adv.频繁地,经常地;时常,屡次; diametric:adj.直径的;正相反的;
You invest in the outcome and you are guaranteed to have more than your share of frustration , angst and all the rest of the stuff that makes life suck. [11:14]
guaranteed:adj.必然的; v.保证; frustration:n.挫折; angst:n.焦虑;担心; all the rest:其他所有相关信息;
There is an alternative . [11:24]
alternative:adj.供选择的;选择性的;交替的;n.二中择一;供替代的选择;
And the alternative is that you do not invest in the outcome, you invest in the process . [11:26]
process:v.处理;加工;列队行进;n.过程,进行;方法,adj.经过特殊加工(或处理)的;
And the best way to describe that is a quote by John Wooden . [11:33]
describe:v.描述;形容;把…称为;画出…图形; quote:v.引用;报价;举例说明;开价;为(企业的股份)上市;n.引用; Wooden:adj.木制的;木头的;木头似的;死板的
I don't know how many of you are familiar with John Wooden. [11:37]
familiar:adj.熟悉的;常见的;亲近的;n.常客;密友;
He's very well-known in the United States and certainly among basketball fans. [11:40]
well-known:adj.著名的;众所周知的;清楚明白的; United:adj.联合的; v.联合,团结; (unite的过去分词和过去式)
He's the only person ever to make the basketball Hall of Fame both as a player and as a coach. [11:45]
Hall of Fame:n.名人纪念馆;名人堂;出类拔萃者;
And what he told his entering team -- he led UCLA to an unprecedented number of victories and finals in the NCAA -- and what he used to tell any new team is he never spoke about winning. [11:51]
unprecedented:adj.空前的;无前例的;
He always said, "When it's over and you look in the mirror, did you do the best that you were capable of? [12:06]
capable:adj.能干的,能胜任的;有才华的;
And if you did the best that you were capable of, the score doesn't matter. [12:13]
But I would suspect that if you did the best that you were capable of, you will find the score to your liking." [12:18]
suspect:n.犯罪嫌疑人;v.怀疑;不信任;adj.可疑的;
That is investing in a process. [12:26]
investing:v.投资;投入(时间、精力等);(invest的现在分词)
What we do is the exact opposite. [12:29]
We invest in the outcome. [12:31]
This is what I want -- oh, I want it so desperately , because if I get it I will be happy. [12:33]
desperately:adv.拼命地;绝望地;不顾一切地;极度地;
And you try with might and main, to do whatever you can, but you are always focusing on, "This is the outcome." [12:38]
Now, focusing on the outcome is fine. [12:46]
It gives you direction. [12:48]
Investing in the outcome means that you make the achievement of a particular outcome dependent for your well-being . [12:50]
dependent:adj.取决于;依靠的;依赖的;有瘾的;n.受赡养者;扈从;依存[从属]物; well-being:n.幸福;康乐;
And that is a surefire recipe for failure. [12:59]
surefire:adj.准不会有错的,一定成功的; recipe:n.食谱;方法;诀窍;烹饪法;
What you can do is something else. [13:03]
You can invest in the process. [13:05]
That is, once you have determined , here is where I am, here is where I want to be, and that's fine, you focus on the outcome only to the extent that it gives you direction, and then you invest yourself completely in the process. [13:09]
determined:adj.决定了的:v.决定;(determine的过去分词和过去式)
You say, here are the steps you want to take, and you put everything into it. [13:22]
And if you succeed, wonderful. [13:26]
And if you don't succeed, still wonderful, because now you have a new starting point , and from that new starting point , you select another outcome and keep going. [13:30]
starting point:n.出发点;基础;
And when you do that, you will find that every day is a blast . [13:42]
blast:n.爆炸; v.爆破;
Let me give you an example. [13:46]
And if you have children -- raise your hands if you have children. [13:48]
Have you ever seen a small child learn to walk? [13:51]
What happens, and this happens typically between 11 and 13 months, is the child gets up and she sees everybody walking, she wants to walk, she gets up, she falls down, she starts crying and momma runs up and comforts her, kisses the place, makes it well. [13:54]
typically:adv.代表性地;作为特色地; momma:n.妈妈;
She tries again, falls down, mommy runs up again. [14:09]
After some time, mommy feels tired and no longer runs up and the child stops crying, and then she gets up, takes a step and doesn't fall down, and then she takes another, and a beautiful smile comes on her face. [14:12]
And very soon, generally within 24 hours, she's walking all over the place, upsetting your living room arrangements . [14:24]
generally:adv.通常;普遍地,一般地; upsetting:adj.令人心烦意乱的; v.使烦恼; (upset的现在分词) living room:n.客厅;起居室; arrangements:n.安排;筹备;布置;商定;(arrangement的复数)
And you know you've gone to a new stage of parenting. [14:30]
Right? [14:33]
Now, imagine what would happen if each time the child fell, she would say, "Oh my God, I failed again. [14:34]
I'm never going to learn to walk." [14:43]
And you have to get counseling for her to help her deal with feelings of inadequacy and not being able to achieve and fail yet again. [14:46]
counseling:n.咨询服务;v.建议;劝告;商讨;(counsel的现在分词形式) inadequacy:n.不适当,不充分;不完全;不十分;
How long do you think it would take her to learn to walk if you had to do that, if every three times she fell down, you had to get a counselor to counsel her and so on? [14:55]
counselor:n.顾问;法律顾问;参事(等于counsellor);
Sounds funny, doesn't it? [15:04]
But that is exactly what we're doing. [15:06]
What the child is doing is focusing on the process. [15:08]
She's investing in the process, not in the outcome. [15:13]
What we do is the exact opposite. [15:18]
As we grow up, we lose the ability to invest in the process, we start investing in the outcome. [15:21]
By definition the outcome is outside of our control, and if that's where we spend all of our emotional energy, we are going to get drained as we do. [15:27]
definition:n.定义;清晰度;(尤指词典里的词或短语的)释义;解释; emotional:adj.情绪的;易激动的;感动人的; drained:adj.精疲力竭; v.排空; (drain的过去分词和过去式)
But if, on the other hand , we said, "Here is the outcome, I am going to invest in the process and give it every single bit I could," [15:36]
on the other hand:另一方面; I am going to:我将要做什么事情
every day is a blast, and you're well on your way to achieving the vision that I outlined to you. [15:44]
outlined:v.概述:显示…的轮廓:(outline的过去分词和过去式)
The question that I get all the time, is people say, "Professor Rao, but nothing makes me passionate ." [15:51]
passionate:adj.热情的;热烈的,激昂的;易怒的;
So I say, "OK, what would?" [15:57]
And they invariably come up with , you know, here is a list of things. [15:58]
come up with:提出;想出;赶上;
Here's my job and here's how much it pays, this is the kind of person my boss is, the kind of people my colleagues are, and here's how my customers are, here's how much I travel, [16:02]
colleagues:n.同事;同行(colleague的复数);
here's how big my office is, how deep the carpeting is, how many windows I have -- a bunch of parameters . [16:11]
carpeting:n.毛毯,[纺]地毯;地毯料;v.铺以地毯(carpet的现在分词); parameters:n.决定因素;规范;范围;(parameter的复数)
And what I tell them is what I want to share with you, because all of that stuff -- first of all , it doesn't exist. [16:17]
first of all:adv.首先;
But second, even if it did and you were plugged into it, it would not take more than six months for you to be the same sorry, miserable self there as you are now, because passion exists inside you. [16:23]
plugged:v.堵塞;封堵;补充;供给;推广;(plug的过去分词和过去式) miserable:adj.悲惨的;痛苦的;卑鄙的;
It does not exist in the job. [16:36]
And if you don't find a way to ignite it within you right where you are, you are not going to find it outside. [16:39]
ignite:vt.点燃;使燃烧;使激动;vi.点火;燃烧;
But if you do find a way to ignite it where you are, then you will find that the external world rearranges itself to accommodate the new person that you are becoming. [16:48]
external:n.外部;外观;形式;外部情况;adj.外部的;外面的;外界的;外来的; rearranges:vt.重新排列;重新整理; accommodate:vt.容纳;使适应;供应;调解;vi.适应;调解;
And as you do that, you will find that miracles happen on a regular basis. [17:03]
miracles:n.奇迹;奇人;不平凡的事;(miracle的复数)
Persons come up whom you're delighted to meet. [17:08]
delighted:adj.高兴的; v.使高兴; (delight的过去分词和过去式)
New people enter your life. [17:10]
It's just a breeze , because all you do in your life is you take journeys . [17:11]
breeze:n.微风;和风;轻而易举的事;v.轻盈而自信地走;
You came here to this conference; you went on a journey. [17:17]
You hang around the water cooler , talking about how terrible your place of work is; you went on a journey. [17:21]
hang around:闲荡;徘徊; water cooler:n.饮水机;[新闻传媒]指办公室里人们可以放松闲谈的场所;
You watch "Desperate Housewives ," you go on a journey. [17:27]
Housewives:n.家庭主妇;(housewife的复数)
You go on a journey where 40-something women are having affairs with 19-something gardeners while the husbands are playing around with models. [17:29]
gardeners:n.花匠;园丁;园艺爱好者;(gardener的复数)
All you do is go on journeys. [17:37]
There's nothing wrong with that, but just ask yourself, "Is this a journey I want to take? [17:39]
Does this take me to a place I want to spend time?" [17:44]
And if you start doing that, you will find that your life changes. [17:48]
The kind of people you meet, the things you talk about, the movies you go to, the books you read -- everything changes. [17:53]
And you begin all of that by focusing on the process. [18:00]
Invest in the process, not in the outcome. [18:05]
Thank you. [18:09]