Day 225: On Following Someone Else’s Plan

第225天：关于追随他人的计划

Ester asked why people are sad.

“That’s simple,” says the old man. “They are the prisoners of their personal history. Everyone believes that the main aim in life is to follow a plan. They never ask if that plan is theirs or if it was created by another person. They accumulate experiences, memories, things, other people’s ideas, and it is more than they can possibly cope with. And that is why they forget their dreams.”

埃斯特问人们为什么悲伤。

“这很简单，”老人说，“他们是个人经历的囚徒。每个人都相信生活的主要目标是遵循一个计划。他们从不问这个计划是他们的，还是别人创造的。他们积累了经验、记忆、事情和别人的想法，这超出了他们的承受能力。这就是为什么他们忘记了自己的梦想。”

—Paulo Coelho

I like to say that self-discipline can change a lot in your life, but it won’t change much if you’re following someone else’s dreams.

我想说，自律可以改变你生活中的很多东西，但如果你追随的是别人的梦想，那么改变就不会太大。

For example, I went to college because my parents wanted me to do it. Graduating from college was, according to them, a necessity to succeed in life. I couldn’t care less about formal education, but they did, and since I was young and inexperienced, I obeyed.

例如，我上大学是因为父母希望我上大学。

他们认为，大学毕业是人生成功的必要条件。

我根本不在乎正规教育，但他们在乎，因为我还年轻，没有经验，所以我服从了。

Despite being a self-disciplined and persistent person, I didn’t last even two years. I dropped out, tired of constantly forcing myself to follow a plan that was not created by me. The day I decided to drop out was one of the happiest days of my life. It was also the moment when I finally embarked on my own journey, focused on my own goals.

尽管我是一个自律、坚持不懈的人，但我连两年都没坚持下来。

我退学了，因为我厌倦了不断强迫自己遵循一个并非由我制定的计划。

决定退学那天是我一生中最快乐的日子之一。

也是在那一刻，我终于开始了自己的旅程，专注于自己的目标。

If no matter what you’re doing, you’re finding it immensely difficult to pursue your goals, ask yourself if they’re really your own goals. Are you studying because you want to study? Are you a lawyer because it was your own choice? Do you want to make money to buy a house in the suburbs because it’s your idea of a perfect life or is it what society expects you to desire?

如果无论你在做什么，你都发现追求自己的目标非常困难，那么问问自己，这些目标真的是你自己的吗？

你学习是因为你想学习吗？

你当律师是因为你自己的选择吗？

你想赚钱在郊区买房子，是因为这是你心目中的完美生活，还是社会对你的期望？

Don’t forget your dreams. Discard any goal or idea that was forced upon you by somebody else that isn’t aligned with your values and personality. Get to work on your own plans and then follow them instead.

不要忘记你的梦想。

摒弃任何别人强加给你的不符合你价值观和个性的目标或想法。

着手制定你自己的计划，然后遵照执行。