29 April 2013

College students across the country will accept diplomas and step out into the “real world” for the first time this month. Some have jobs, many don’t, but all are hopeful about what lies ahead.

As to their first steps beyond the comfort of campus, whose advice should they follow? What lessons should they heed as they embark on this great journey of independence and self-sufficiency? How about listening to some of the most successful people anywhere: visionary business leaders who built empires from nothing and now rank among the wealthiest on the planet. Here’s a curated list of lessons billionaires have given to college graduates over the years in commencement addresses.

在毕业生们迈出象牙塔之时,他们应该听从哪些人的建议?在走向独立和自主的伟大征程中,他们该吸取哪些教训?听一听各领域成功者们的建议或许不错,这些人是富有远见的商业领导者,他们从无到有建立起自己的帝国,并都跻身世界最富有的人之列。以下是历年来多位亿万富豪在毕业典礼上所做演讲的节选,我们从中提取出了可供应届毕业生采纳的建议。

原文:Billionaires’ Tips For New Grads: Advice From Jobs, Oprah, Zuckerberg And More

1. Steve Jobs: Live Each Day As If It Was Your Last

史蒂夫·乔布斯(Steve Jobs):把每一天都当成生命中的最后一天

When I was 17, I read a quote that went something like: "If you live each day as if it was your last, some day you'll most certainly be right." It made an impression on me, and since then, for the past 33 years, I have looked in the mirror every morning and asked myself: "If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today?" And whenever the answer has been "no" for too many days in a row, I know I need to change something. ~ Stanford University, 2005

在我17岁的时候,我读到了一句箴言,差不多是这样的:“如果你把每一天都当作生命中的最后一天去生活的话,那么终有一天你会发现自己是正确的。”这句话给我留下了深刻的印象,从那时算起的33年以来,我每天早晨都会对着镜子问自己:“如果今天是我生命中的最后一天,我还会做自己今天即将要做的事吗?”当答案连续多次都是“不”时,我就知道自己需要做些改变了。—— 斯坦福大学,2005年

2. Bill Gates: From Those To Whom Much Is Given, Much Is Expected

比尔·盖茨(Bill Gates):你的能力越大,人们对你的期望也就越大

My mother, who was filled with pride the day I was admitted here-never stopped pressing me to do more for others. A few days before my wedding, she hosted a bridal event, at which she read aloud a letter about marriage that she had written to Melinda. My mother was very ill with cancer at the time, but she saw one more opportunity to deliver her message, and at the close of the letter she said: “From those to whom much is given, much is expected.” ~ Harvard University, 2007

我的母亲在我被哈佛大学录取的那一天曾经感到非常骄傲,她从没有停止督促我去为他人做更多的事情。在我结婚的前几天,她主持了一个新娘进我家的仪式。在这个仪式上,她高声朗读了一封关于婚姻的信,这是她写给梅琳达(Melinda)的。那时,我的母亲已经因为癌症病入膏肓,但是她还是认为这是又一个传播自己信念的机会。在那封信的结尾,她写道:“你的能力越大,人们对你的期望也就越大。” —— 哈佛大学,2007年

3. Oprah Winfrey: We All Need Makeovers From Time To Time

奥普拉·温弗瑞(Oprah Winfrey):我们所有人时不时都需要化化妆。

People love makeovers, because the physical results are always so astonishing. But I like doing them because of the possibility of transforming more than the way people look. You want to change the way people feel about themselves. One man, a guy we'd just seen walking down the street, with a beard that was almost to the ground, it looked like he was hiding behind all of that beard. And after we got rid of all that hair and he could actually see himself, he said, "I feel alive again." The makeover allowed him to see himself in a way that he'd forgotten was there. You know, we all need makeovers from time to time in our lives, and graduates, I know this, that if you can see the possibility of changing your life, of seeing what you can become and not just what you are, you will be a huge success. ~ Duke University, 2009

人们喜欢化妆,因为实际的效果总是令人惊叹。但我之所以喜欢这样做,是因为化妆提供的可能性超越了仅仅改变人们的面貌,你可能会想去改变人们对他们自己的看法。我们曾在大街上遇到一个人,他的胡须几乎拖到地面,看起来他整个人就藏在胡须后面。当我们帮他剪去所有的须发之后,他看到了自己的样子,并说:“我觉得自己重生了。”化妆让他能够用一种已经被他忘却的方式去看待自己。你们知道,在生活中,我们所有人时不时都需要化化妆。同学们,我清楚这一点,如果你们能看到改变自己人生的可能性,如果你们能看到自己可以成为怎样的人而不是原本的面貌,那么你们将获得巨大的成功。—— 杜克大学,2009年

4. Michael Dell: Never Be The Smartest Person In The Room

迈克尔·戴尔(Michael Dell):永远不要当房间里最聪明的那个人

Try never to be the smartest person in the room. And if you are, I suggest you invite smarter people … or find a different room. In professional circles it’s called networking. In organizations it’s called team building. And in life it’s called family, friends, and community. We are all gifts to each other, and my own growth as a leader has shown me again and again that the most rewarding experiences come from my relationships. ~ University of Texas, 2003

永远不要尝试成为房间里最聪明的那个人,如果你是的话,我建议你请来一位更聪明的……或者自己换个不同的房间。在职场中,这叫做人际关系。在组织中,这叫做队伍建设。在生活中,这被称为家庭、朋友和圈子。我们都是彼此的礼物,在我成长为一名领导者的过程中,我得到的启示一遍遍地重复,即最有益的经验是来自人与人之间的关系。—— 得克萨斯大学,2003年

5. Michael Bloomberg: Don’t Stay Down Long

迈克尔·布隆伯格:保持乐观,别消沉太久

My first job out of school was on Wall Street and I stayed there for 15 years. It was a terrific ride: Fun times, and lots of praise from my bosses. Everybody loved me - right up until the day they fired me! But I remained optimistic - because happiness for me has always been going out and trying to beat the odds. So the next day after I got fired, literally the next day, I started a new company. ~ Tufts University, 2007

我离开学校后在华尔街找到了第一份工作,我一直在那儿工作了15年。那是一段不错的历程,有快乐的时光,也有很多老板们对我的称赞。每个人都喜欢我,直到他们炒我鱿鱼的那一天!不过,我仍然保持着乐观,因为幸福对我来说一直是走出去以及尝试战胜种种困难。所以,在被解雇后的第二天——真的就是第二天——我创办了一家新的公司。—— 塔夫斯大学,2007年

6. JK Rowling: Failure Can Be the Foundation Of Success

J.K.罗琳(JK Rowling):失败乃成功之母

So why do I talk about the benefits of failure? Simply because failure meant a stripping away of the inessential. I stopped pretending to myself that I was anything other than what I was, and began to direct all my energy into finishing the only work that mattered to me. Had I really succeeded at anything else, I might never have found the determination to succeed in the one arena I believed I truly belonged. I was set free, because my greatest fear had been realized, and I was still alive, and I still had a daughter whom I adored, and I had an old typewriter and a big idea. And so rock bottom became the solid foundation on which I rebuilt my life. ~ Harvard University, 2008

那么,我为什么要谈论失败的好处呢?因为失败意味着剥离掉那些不必要的东西。我因此不再伪装自己、远离自我,而重新开始把所有精力放在对我最重要的事情上。如果不是没有在其他领域成功过,我可能就不会在一个我确信真正属于的舞台上找到取得成功的决心。我获得了自由,因为最害怕的虽然已经发生了,但我还活着,我仍然有一个我深爱的女儿,我还有一台旧打字机和一个很大的想法。所以,困境的谷底成为了我重建生活的坚实基础。—— 哈佛大学,2008年

J.K.Rowling 給哈佛畢業生的致辭:

Youku

Youtube

7. Jeff Bezos: Gifts Are Easy, Choices Are Hard

杰夫·贝索斯:天赋得来很容易,而选择却颇为艰难

I will hazard a prediction. When you are 80 years old, and in a quiet moment of reflection narrating for only yourself the most personal version of your life story, the telling that will be most compact and meaningful will be the series of choices you have made. In the end, we are our choices. Build yourself a great story. ~ Princeton University, 2010

我斗胆做一个预测:在你们80岁时某个追忆往昔的时刻,当你一个人静静地对内心诉说自己的人生故事,其中最为充实、最有意义的那段讲述会被你们作出的一系列决定所填满。最后,是选择塑造了我们的人生。为你自己塑造一个伟大的人生故事吧。—— 普林斯顿大学,2010年

8. Mark Zuckerberg: It’s Easier If You Do Something You Love

马克·扎克伯格:如果你喜欢自己做的事,事情会容易很多

When you go home to dinner and you have the worst tasting vegetable on your plate you can make yourself eat that if you want. But if you play a game, even if it's really hard, if it's something that you like you're going to power through it. If you actually do something you love it's a lot easier and takes on a lot more purpose. ~ Belle Haven Community School in Menlo Park, CA, 2011

当你回家吃饭,盘子里是最难吃的蔬菜,如果你愿意可以勉强自己吃下去。但如果你是玩游戏,即使非常难,只要自己喜欢,你也会努力通关。如果你喜欢自己做的事,事情会容易很多,而你也将拥有更大的决心。—— 加州门罗公园贝拉港社区学校,2011年

9. Steve Ballmer: Don’t Have Passion, Have Tenacity

史蒂夫·鲍尔默(Steve Ballmer):不要激情,要有韧性

Passion is the ability to get excited about something. Irrepressibility and tenacity is about the ability to stay with it. If you take a look at all of the companies that have been started in our business, most of them fail. If you take even a look at the companies that have succeeded, Microsoft, Apple, Google, Facebook, you name it, all of these companies went through times of hardship. You get some success. You run into some walls. You try a formula for a new idea, a new innovation, it doesn’t work. And it’s how tenacious you are, how irrepressible, how ultimately optimistic and tenacious you are about it that will determine your success. ~ University of Southern California, 2011

激情是对某件事物产生兴奋的能力,而控制力和韧性则是保持这种兴奋的能力。如果你考察一下我们这个行业的那些创业公司,你会发现它们大多数都失败了。如果你再考察一下那些获得成功的公司,比如微软、苹果、谷歌以及Facebook,凡是你能叫出名字的,它们都经历过困难时期。你取得了一些成功,你也撞了几回南墙,你为新的点子和创新尝试新的途径,但未能成功,这时候决定事业成败的就是,你有多顽强,你有多大的控制力,你有多乐观以及你有多少韧性。—— 南加州大学,2011年

10. Larry Page: Tackle Big Dreams, There’s No Competition

拉里·佩奇(Larry Page):追寻伟大的梦想,你不会遇到竞争

I think it is often easier to make progress on mega-ambitious dreams. I know that sounds completely nuts. But, since no one else is crazy enough to do it, you have little competition. There are so few people this crazy that I feel like I know them all by first name. They all travel as if they are pack dogs and stick to each other like glue. The best people want to work the big challenges. That is what happened with Google. ~ University of Michigan, 2009

我认为,追寻雄心万丈的梦想通常更加容易,我知道这听起来完全是一派胡言。不过,既然没有别的人疯狂到会做这件事情,你就没有竞争对手了。达到这种疯狂程度的人是如此之少,以至于我感觉自己跟他们都认识。他们像狗群一样漫游,像胶水一样相互亲近,这些最优秀的人乐于接受艰巨的挑战,这就是在谷歌发生的事情。—— 密歇根大学,2009年

11. Eric Schmidt: Don’t Bother To Have A Plan

埃里克·施密特(Eric Schmidt):不要刻意制定计划

Don’t bother to have a plan at all. All that stuff about plan, throw that out. It seems to me that it’s all about opportunity and make your own luck. You study the most successful people, and they work hard and they take advantage of opportunities that come that they don’t know are going to happen to them. You cannot plan innovation, you cannot plan invention. All you can do is try very hard to be in the right place and be ready. You know, the pacemaker for example was invented 70 years in one form or another before it was applied. It was applied to this one poor fella, and 25 pacemakers later he was still alive. But the important part is he wouldn’t have been at all had the pacemaker not have been invented. You never know. ~ Carnegie Mellon University, 2009

不要刻意制定计划,那些有关计划的东西,你们可以扔掉了。在我看来,一切都关乎机遇和争取到自己的运气。如果你观察那些最成功的人士,你会发现,他们工作努力并充分利用了机遇,但他们并不知道那些机遇会降临到自己头上。你无法为创新制定计划,你也无法为发明制定计划。你所能做的就是,尽自己最大的努力呆在正确的地方,并随时准备着。举例来说,我们都知道,心脏起搏器在其70年历史中经历了各种各样的形式才最终投入实用。它被植入到一个可怜人的体内,在更换了25台起搏器后,他仍然活着。不过,这个故事的重点在于,如果心脏起搏器没有被发明出来,这个人就不会有存活的机会,这一切你永远都搞不懂。—— 卡内基-梅隆大学,2009年

12. Eli Broad: You Can’t Be Successful By Being Timid

埃里·布罗德(Eli Broad):胆小成不了大事

No one ever made a million bucks by being cautious or timid or reasonable. I was 22 years old and recently married when I had the crazy idea that I should give up my career as a CPA and become a homebuilder. I didn’t know anything about building houses. Sometimes the craziest ideas are the ones that yield the greatest payoffs. I took the risk in 1953 of building houses without basements – something that hadn’t been done in the Midwest — because the monthly mortgage payment would be less than what most people were paying for rent. ~ UCLA School of Arts and Architecture, 2006

从没有一个人是靠着小心翼翼、羞怯或讲道理赚到百万美元财富的。在我产生放弃注册会计师的职业生涯而成为住房建筑商的疯狂念头时,我才22岁并刚刚结婚,并且对建筑一窍不通。但有时候,最疯狂的想法能够带来最丰厚的回报。1953年,我冒险开始建造不带地下室的住宅楼——这在中西部是史无前例的——因为这种住宅的月供要比大多数人所付的房租更低。—— 加州大学洛杉矶分校艺术和建筑学院,2006年

13. Pierre Omidyar: Prepare For The Unexpected

皮埃尔·奥米迪亚(Pierre Omidyar):有备无患

To truly prepare for the unexpected, you’ve got to position yourself to keep a couple of options open – so when the door of opportunity opens, you’re close enough to squeeze through. To a large degree, life – like a software program — is a linear thing. We all face the temptation to freeze-frame the past, and project it into the future. The future doesn’t always follow a straight line. So as a software engineer, you learn to strive for a certain flexibility in design: You learn to avoid being locked in to a single solution – to build a platform that can be used for a number of purposes. ~ Tufts University, 2002

要真正做到有备无患,你需要调整定位来制定一些备选方案,这样当机会之门洞开时,你就能近水楼台先得月。在很大程度上,生活跟软件程序一样都是线性的。我们都面对着这样一种诱惑,即把过去定格并投射到未来当中。但未来并不总是沿着一条直线发展,所以,作为一名软件工程师,你要学会在设计中融入一定的灵活性:避免被单一的解决方案局限,建立一个适用于多种用途的平台。—— 塔夫斯大学,2002年

14. Ross Perot: Plan Your Decades

老罗斯·佩罗(Ross Perot, Sr.):制定你的十年规划

Your generation has more decades to plan than any that have come before it. Many of you should expect to be productive into your 80s and 90s. As you step into that future I encourage you to think about serving your country and giving something back to the United States. In your 20’s I encourage you to travel and explore the world. Get to know and respect the citizens of this planet. Have some adventure and learn about yourself and discover your true passions. And then I hope you bring it all back. ~ Southern Methodist University, 2006

你们这一代人比上代人有更多的十年用来规划,你们很多人应该预期自己在八九十岁时仍然拥有生产力。当你们到达那个点时,我建议你们想一想怎样为国家服务,以及怎样回馈社会。而在20岁出头时,我建议你们去周游和探索这个世界,去认识这个星球的居民并表达对他们的敬意。去冒险吧,去认识你自己,发现你自己真正的激情所在,然后,我希望你们把学到的东西都带回来。—— 南卫理公会大学,2006年

15. Ted Turner: Work Like Hell And Advertise

特德·特纳(Ted Turner):早睡早起,拼命工作,并且极力宣传

When I get asked a one liner, ‘what’s the secret to success?’ I just say: “Early to bed, early to rise, work like hell and advertise.” ~ Montana State University-Northern, 2011

当我被反复问及,‘你的成功秘诀是什么?’我都会这样回答:“早睡早起,拼命工作,并且极力宣传。” —— 蒙大拿州立大学北分校,2011年

16. Reid Hoffman: Be Contrarian And Be Right

雷德·霍夫曼(Reid Hoffman):逆势而动,做正确的事

Always think creatively and boldly. Where do you see a massive opportunity? Where do you think something is going to change, where you see something that most other people don’t see? Part of being a successful entrepreneur is to be contrarian and to be right. It’s the two that are particularly important because if it was obvious to everyone there’s no market opportunity, there’s no gap to go do something about it. But then you have to be right about it. ~ UC Berkeley School of Information, 2011

始终进行创造性和大胆的思考,你在哪里可以看到一个巨大的机会?你觉得哪些事物将发生变化?你能看到哪些别人看不到的东西?成为一名成功的企业家,部分诀窍在于逆势而动并且做正确的事。这两者特别重要,因为如果大家都看到没有市场机会,那你逆势而为就不存在阻碍,但接着你必须确保自己的判断是正确的。—— 加州大学伯克利分校信息技术学院,2011年

17. Carl Icahn: Think For Yourself

卡尔·伊坎(Carl Icahn):独立思考

When you go out there, you can be one of two types of guys. You can be a guy that thinks for himself, and I think the world and our corporations are now waiting for that. There are CEOs that really do think for themselves, that are innovative, that go against the trend… You should try to stand against the trend, even though it might cost you your job, cost your promotion. But in the end, think for yourself, be innovative. If you have ideas, go slam the table, don’t worry about it, because that’s what this company needs. ~ Drexel University School of Business, 2008

当你们踏入社会,你们要成为两种人中的一种,你们要成为自己独立思考的人,我认为这个世界和我们的公司正在为此等待。一些公司管理者真的能够做到这一点,他们富有创新性,能够反潮流而动……你们应该试着对抗潮流,即使这可能会让你们失去工作或者晋升的机会。但最终,你还是要独立思考,勇于创新。如果你有了想法,那就去拍桌子吧,不要担心,因为这正是公司所需要的。—— 德雷克塞尔大学商学院,2008年

18. Steve Case: The People Around You Matter

史蒂夫·凯斯(Steve Case):你周围的人很重要

No matter what you do in life, your ability to succeed will be largely dependent on your ability to work with people. Indeed, it has often been said that what you do is less important then who you do it with – that the people you surround yourself with, whether a spouse, or friends, or co-workers, will ultimately be the principal determinant of the course your life will take. So don’t just focus on the job descriptions, or the brand name of the organization you’re going to join – also focus on who you’ll be working for, and with. ~ George Mason University, 2009

无论你做的是什么工作,你取得成功的能力在很大程度上取决于你跟他人合作的能力。事实上,常言有云,你做了什么没有你跟谁一起做重要——那些在你周围的人,不管是配偶、朋友还是同事,他们将成为你人生轨迹的决定性因素。因此,不要只关注职位的工作说明,或是你所加入的品牌或组织本身,你还要关心自己将为谁工作以及跟谁一起工作。—— 乔治·梅森大学,2009年

19. Jerry Yang: Don’t Let The News Get You Down

杨致远:不要被经济低迷的新闻吓坏

I can promise you that great things are being started in down-times like this. Yahoo! started in an economic downturn in the early 90s. Other great companies, great ideas, products, even social movements have come about as people were throwing away the status quo and doing EVERYTHING in new ways. In some ways, there’s not a better time to be a graduate to be part of this renewal ~ University of Hawaii, 2009

我能向你们保证,经济低迷正是孕育伟大事物的时候,就像现在这样。雅虎创立于上世纪90年代初的经济衰退时期,其他伟大的公司、想法和产品,甚至是社会运动,都是在人们抛弃教条和采用新方法的时候发展成形的。从某些方面看,在这种经济恢复时期毕业是再好不过的时机。—— 夏威夷大学,2009年



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