想成功就必须抛弃这5样东西

我的职业经历非常丰富。我做过最基层的行政助理，而且是打字水平很糟糕的那种，后来进入了纽约一家有名的广告公司，如今在美国一家最大的公共健康机构担任CEO。因此，本着传承精神，对于20岁左右刚刚迈入职场的年轻人，我想给他们提供几条“希望自己能早知道的”建议：

1、放弃“自以为是”

这听起来有些刺耳，不过我会用最温和的方式来阐述：你并没有自己想象的那么特别。如果你是千禧一代，你很可能是被一对用心良苦，但不幸误入歧途的“直升机式父母”抚养成人的——他们事无巨细地管理你的方方面面，即便最平庸的成绩，也能得到他们的不吝褒奖。

虽然积极的自尊和鼓励，对于儿童成长至关重要，但现在的研究显示，像足球比赛第6名奖杯这类东西，对孩子的伤害可能远远超过它们带来的好处。在真实世界里，有竞争是好事。竞争给我们带来挑战。竞争会激励我们。竞争让我们变得更擅长自己的工作。

进入工作之后，我很快便知道，在广告业从来没有“银牌”。最终获胜的只有一家广告公司。如果你能迅速地摆脱自以为是的心态，埋头苦干，认认真真做好最终能够带来胜利的工作，你就能取得更大的成功。

2、放弃白日梦

那些受到流行文化追捧，致力于将梦想可视化的伪科学，都掩盖了一个事实：横亘在成功的梦想和实现梦想的现实之间的，是艰难、枯燥、有时候令人失望，通常都极其痛苦的实际工作。

我的祖母经常说：“要想实现梦想，首先你要醒过来！”你还在等什么？别再梦想着你想要取得什么丰功伟绩。雅诗•兰黛说的很有道理：“我从来不会梦想成功。我会为了成功而努力。”

3、放弃长期计划

有一份未来计划没什么错，不考虑未来是愚蠢的表现。但是，我们的未来计划最好是一个松散的框架，而不是详细的路线图。专注于当下，可以帮助我们接受“计划之外的”新机遇。

实话实说，有计划当然是好事，但一旦计划遭遇现实，你很有可能无法按照自己希望的方向执行这些计划。

成功往往源自灵活，源于你能够接受B计划、C计划甚至D计划。詹姆斯•戴森经过5000多次尝试，才完成了如今举世闻名的双旋风真空吸尘器。他说：“我能取得超乎想象的成功，是因为我愿意去了解怎样做行不通。”

4、放弃急功近利

流行文化给我们传达了一种被曲解的信息——除非我们在25岁便成为亿万富翁，成为《好声音》的冠军，或者成为《创智赢家》的下一个大热门，否则我们就是失败者。真人秀告诉我们，成功就是一夜暴富。我们看《减肥达人》，就认为在60分钟内减掉60磅是可能的。

以上这些用最少的努力换取最大的成功的想法，是不切实际的。那种在30岁之前不成功便是失败的想法，只会让职场上的年轻人对自己失望。

事实上，硅谷创业者们大多都是在40岁以后才取得成功。在年轻时取得巨大成功的压力，令许多20岁左右的年轻人过早辞去了工作，低估自己的经验，对自己失去耐心，很难致力于一个目标、一份职业甚至一项使命。所以，在思考未来的时候，不要害怕等待，让自己接受磨练。

5、放弃朝三暮四

在当下这种容易令人分心的文化当中，要专注于目标并不容易。事实上，一位哈佛大学研究人员为此创造出一个专门的术语：注意力缺乏特质，这种特质来自我们永远在线、始终互连的生活方式。只要我们能坚定信念，最终一定可以获得回报。

就以我们公司组织的真相®青少年戒烟活动为例。这项活动于2000年启动时，青少年吸烟率为23%。如今，青少年吸烟率已经下降到7%。为此，我们花了15年时间，现在我们已经看到了成功的曙光。虽然我们一直在针对新一代的年轻人调整我们的策略、信息和技巧，但我们一直没有偏离最初的核心信念——告诉年轻人与香烟有关的事实，可以让他们作出正确的选择。

我现在已经工作很多年了。回首往事，我更加确信，自己之所以能有今时今日的成就，与其说是因为我非常聪明能干，倒不如说是因为我愿意埋头苦干，保持开放心态，败而不馁，并且从未失去激情。我愿意将所有这些称为一种“坚韧不拔”的品质。这种品质永远不会过时。（财富中文网）

本文作者Robin Koval 是Truth Initiative总裁兼CEO。

译者：刘进龙/汪皓

审校：任文科

There have been a lot of steps in my career journey, from bottom-rung administrative assistant with poor typing skills, to leading anadvertising agency in New York, and now CEO of the one of the largest public health organizations in the U.S. So, in the spirit of paying it forward, here are a few “wish I had known that then” tips for 20-somethings setting out on their own climb:

Get over yourself

This may sound harsh, but I mean it in the kindest way possible: you’re not as special as you think youare. If you’re a millennial reading this, chances are you were raised by well-meaning, but unfortunately as we now know, misguided “helicopter parents” who micromanaged your every move and lavished praise for even the most mundane accomplishments. While positive self-esteem and encouragement are vitally important to child development, research now shows that all those sixth place soccer trophies may have hurt you more than they helped. In the real world, competition is a good thing. It challenges us. It motivates us. It inspires us to be better at what we do. I learned quickly that there are no silver medals in advertising. At the end of the day, only one agency wins the pitch. The sooner you get over yourselves, dig in, and get down to the hard work of winning, the better off you’ll be.

Ditch the dream

All the pop-culture pseudo-science about visualizing our dreams has obscured the fact that between thedream of success and the reality of achieving it lies in the gritty, boring, sometimes disappointing and usually painful process of doing the actual work. My grandmother was fond of saying: “If you want to make your dreams come true, wake up already!” So, what are you waiting for? Stop dreaming about what you want to accomplish. Estee Lauder had it right when she said, “I never dreamed about success. I worked for it.”

Forego the long-term plan

There’s absolutely nothing wrong with having a plan for the future. It would be foolish NOT to consider what’s to come. But it’s best to think of a plan as a loose framework rather than a detailed roadmap. Focusing on the present helps keep each of us open to new or emerging opportunities that may not have been “part of the plan”. And let’s be honest, while having a plan is great, once your plan meets the real world, it’s pretty likely you’ll never get to execute it quite the way you’d hoped. Success more often results from being flexible and open to plan B, C, or even D. James Dyson had to try more than 5000 times before he perfected his now-famous, Dual Cyclone Vacuum Cleaner. He said, “I go to a place I never would have imagined because I was willing to learn what didn’t work.”

Wait for it

Popular culture sends us the much-distorted message that unless we’re billionaires by the age of 25, winners of The Voice, or the next sensation onShark Tank, we’re losers. We learn from reality TV that success is an overnight game. We watch The Biggest Loser and think it’s possible to lose 60 pounds in 60 minutes. This idea that minimal effort equals maximum success is a myth. The notion that if you haven’t “made it” by the time you’re 30 has set young professionals up for disappointment. It turns out that the majority of those Silicon Valley entrepreneurs who are actually successful are older than 40. The intense pressure to be extremely successful at a young age causes many 20-somethings to leave jobs too early, undervalue their experiences, lose patience with themselves, and have trouble committing to a goal, career, or even mission. So, as you ponder your future, don’t be afraid to put in a little “wait” training.

Maintain focus

Keeping your eyes on the prize can be hard in our very distracting culture. In fact, a Harvard researcher has coined a term for it, “attention deficit trait” and we give it to ourselves with our always-on, always-connected lifestyles. If we hold our convictions steady; we’ll eventually reap the rewards. Case in point: my organization’s truth®youth tobacco prevention campaign. When thetruth campaign launched in 2000, the teen smoking rate was 23%. Today, the teen smoking rate has dropped to just 7%. It has taken us 15 years, but we are now in sight of being able to “Finish It” for good. Although we’ve had to reinvent our strategy, message, and techniques for an entirely new generation of young people, we’ve never lost focus on our original core belief that giving teens the facts about tobacco will lead them to do the right thing.

It’s been a while since I was a newly minted college graduate competing to win an entry-level job at an advertising agency. As I look back, I am convinced now more than ever, that what got me from there to here is more than smarts or talent; it is my willingness to dig in, be open, bounce back and never lose my passion. I like to call that “grit”– and that never goes out of style.