'美文分享《You Are Stronger than You Think》'

You Are Stronger than You Think

What is Strength?Strength is not always about pure physical strength.Rather,it is about willpower,discipline,drive.It is about the capacity to get things done.

I know some people who are intellectually strong,but they get very little done in their jobs.And I know others who find work extremely challenging,but are able to move mountains by their sheer drive and hard work.

They possess inner strength.More interesting,is that these productive hard-workers often don’t even notice the load.Bystanders are not only amazed,but often ask,“How do you do it?”The answer usually comes back,“I just work harder than the others.”

So,why are some people able to do more?What gives them added drive?What gives them extra strength?Could it be,they have simply given themselves permission to do more?

What I have observed is that most people impose their own limits.They limit their output based on self-framed constraints of their capabilities and strengths.Sometimes these boundaries are based on past experiences.Sometimes they are based on perceived capacities.Sometimes these limits are based on nothing.

I can’t do that.(Why?)

That is too much for me.(How do you know?)

I can’t put in that much effort.(What would happen if you did?)

I am not smart enough to solve that.(Can you be sure if you haven’t tried?)

So,how do we break through these limits?How do we get stronger?

Many people are going through the motions,but are nowhere near their limits.

If you want to be stronger,you have to push your boundaries.Pushing it is what it takes to increase your limits.In the gym,bodybuilders discovered this long ago.But,the same principle is true when it comes to inner strength.Discipline and drive.

Want to test your limits?Push yourself.Test your self-perceived constraints to see how accurate they are.Make sure your goals are slightly beyond what you think can be achieved.

Most people underestimate their strength.As you go through your day,challenge your capacity.Test your limits.Push yourself,to find your true boundaries and define your strength.When you discover how much you’ve really got,you may surprise even yourself.

譯文：

你比自己想象的要強大

什麼是力量？力量並不僅僅指你的肌肉力量，它更多指的是意志力、訓練、動力。它是一種能夠做好事情的能力。

我知道有一些人雖然很聰明，但是他們在工作中能夠做好的事情卻很少。而另外一些人雖然知道工作很具有挑戰性，但他們仍能通過強大的動力和艱苦的工作來移動大山。

他們具有強大的內心力量。更有趣的是，這些非常努力工作的人並沒有意識到工作量的巨大。旁觀者不僅感到很吃驚，而且還經常問，“你是怎麼做到的？”他們經常得到這樣的回答，“我只是比別人更努力一些罷了。”

那麼，為什麼有些人就能做到更多？他們動力是哪裡來的呢？是誰給予他們多餘的力量？還是，僅僅是他們自己給自己力量來做到更多？

據我觀察，很多人都是自己強加給自己的侷限性。他們有時候根據能力和力量自我設定了他們的侷限，有時候根據過去的經歷設定一些邊界，還有的根據想象中的能力設定，還有些則毫無任何根據就限定了自己的力量。

我做不到。（為什麼呢？）

對我來說太難了。（你怎麼知道太難？）

我做不到那麼努力。（如果你做了會怎麼樣？）

我不夠聰明，解決不了這件事。（你不嘗試怎麼能如此確定？）

所以，怎樣才能打破這些侷限？怎麼才能更強大？

很多人都做出了實際行動，但是從來就沒有到達他們的極限。

如果你想變得更加強大，你就要打破你的侷限。給自己施加壓力就能提高你的極限。在體育館，健身者很早之前就體會到了這一點。所以，同樣的原則運用到內心力量方面也是正確的，訓練自己，給自己一些動力。

你想挑戰你的極限嗎？那就給自己點壓力。去測試下自己以前的極限確切來說是多少。要確定一個能稍微超過力所能及的目標。

很多人低估了自己的能力。當你過每一天的時候，都要挑戰一下你的能力，測試下自己的極限。給自己施加點壓力，找到你真正的極限，然後定義你的能力。當你發現你真正能獲取的，你會讓自己都感到不可思議。

——摘自：《高考英語晨讀美文100篇》（亓軍主編）（中國宇航出版社）