I love challenging myself. I like to set a goal that seems difficult or even impossible and then do everything I can to reach that goal. It’s not always easy, and sometimes I don’t reach the goal--heck, sometimes I don’t come anywhere close to reaching it--but it’s still something that I love to do. Sometimes the challenges I take on are physical, such as running a very long distance, and sometimes they’re more mental, such as writing a book. Sometimes they’re very abstract, such as trying to deal with my fear of heights or my uneasiness in crowds. But no matter what kind they are, I feel fortunate that I’m able to identify challenges and then take them on.

我喜歡挑戰(zhàn)自己，我喜歡設(shè)定看似難以完成甚至不可能實(shí)現(xiàn)的目標(biāo)，然后盡一切努力達(dá)到這一目標(biāo)。這件事不總是容易做到，有時(shí)我達(dá)不到目標(biāo)——管他呢，有時(shí)與目標(biāo)還相差甚遠(yuǎn)——但這仍然是我喜歡做的。有時(shí)我迎接的挑戰(zhàn)是身體方面的，比如說(shuō)長(zhǎng)跑;有時(shí)更多的是精神上的，比如說(shuō)寫一本書;有時(shí)非常抽象，比如說(shuō)努力擺脫恐高或人多時(shí)的不安。但無(wú)論是什么挑戰(zhàn)，我都感覺很幸運(yùn)能夠認(rèn)清挑戰(zhàn)，然后迎接挑戰(zhàn)。

I actually meet many of them. I’ve run one hundred miles in 26 hours, I’ve written a few novels, and I’ve done some other things that I didn’t think I could do at first. Nowadays, though, after taking on so many challenges, I never really feel that something is impossible--I pretty much know that anything is possible with the right attitude and enough effort. That’s not to say that nowadays I meet every challenge successfully,because I don’t. I just don’t start out by thinking that I can’t do it.

我確實(shí)完成過(guò)很多挑戰(zhàn)，我曾用26小時(shí)跑了一百英里，寫過(guò)幾篇小說(shuō)，還做過(guò)一些其他起初以為自己做不到的事情。然而現(xiàn)在，接受過(guò)如此多挑戰(zhàn)之后，我永遠(yuǎn)不會(huì)感覺有什么是不可能的——我大體上知道只要態(tài)度正確而且足夠努力的話一切皆有可能。我不是說(shuō)我現(xiàn)在能成功地應(yīng)對(duì)一切挑戰(zhàn)，因?yàn)槲易霾坏?。我只是不?huì)在做事之前就覺得自己不行。

And I’ve learned that my attitude towards a challenge is one of the most important keys to meeting it. If I see a challenge ahead and I’am overwhelmed or intimidated, then the chances are very good that I won’t be successful in meeting it.

我學(xué)會(huì)了面對(duì)挑戰(zhàn)的態(tài)度是應(yīng)對(duì)挑戰(zhàn)最關(guān)鍵的因素之一。如果我看到面前有挑戰(zhàn)，就不知所措或者被嚇倒了，應(yīng)對(duì)挑戰(zhàn)時(shí)很有可能會(huì)失敗。

If, on the other hand, I see a challenge and immediately start thinking of different ways that I might be able to meet it, the chances are good that I shall meet it successfully.

相反，如果我看到了挑戰(zhàn)，馬上換個(gè)思路，認(rèn)為自己有能力應(yīng)對(duì)挑戰(zhàn)，那我最終很有可能會(huì)成功。