The School of Life｜你的成功，由你自己定义

Success on your terms

In our societies, we use the word "success" a lot, and we think we know just what it means: money, status, fame, and power.

But take a look in the dictionary and things start to look, thankfully, a lot more complicated. Because success is, in truth, rather more neutral and less value-laden then we tend to assume.

It just means doing anything well, excelling at something and that might encompass a lot of different activity: running 100 meters, for sure, selling your app for a lot of money, okay, but also stranger, less heralded things like:

Listening a lot, very attentively, to a child, or being extremely kind to strangers, or filling your mind with interesting ideas and associations, or knowing just when to put an arm around someone when it's too much for them. People who triumph here are also big success stories.

No one can be successful at everything, whatever they tell us, it's almost impossible to succeed with a career and a family, or with popularity and integrity, there are always sacrifices.

It's great to be successful. It's even better to make sure you followed your own distinctive and, not necessarily, always obvious path to the success that can truly fulfill you.

词汇表
neutral [ˈnjuːtrəl] adj. 中性的，中立的，不偏不倚的
value-laden [ˈvæljuː leɪdn] adj. 充满价值判断的，带有价值观色彩的
excel at [ɪkˈsel] 擅长，在…方面表现出色
encompass [ɪnˈkʌmpəs] vt. 包含，包括，涵盖
herald [ˈherəld] vt. 推崇，宣扬；宣布，预示
attentively [əˈtentɪvli] adv. 专注地，全神贯注地
association [əˌsəʊʃiˈeɪʃn] n. 联想；联系，关联
put an arm around someone 搂住某人，拥抱某人（以示安慰）
triumph [ˈtraɪʌmf] vi. 获胜，成功，取得胜利
popularity [ˌpɒpjuˈlærəti] n. 受欢迎，人气，声望
integrity [ɪnˈteɡrəti] n. 正直，诚实，完整
sacrifice [ˈsækrɪfaɪs] n. 牺牲，舍弃
distinctive [dɪˈstɪŋktɪv] adj. 独特的，与众不同的

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