Tips for Finding Your Life Purpose找到人生目标的秘诀

I began my professional career as an estate-planning attorney， who worked with the super wealthy and helped them plan for their death while avoiding paying as many taxes as possible. Death and taxes are famously said to be the only two certainties in life.

我的职业生涯始于遗产规划律师，我为超级富豪工作，帮助他们准备身后事，尽可能避免缴纳税款。众所周知，死亡和纳税是人生中唯二无法避免的大事。

Funny， because I believe that life and purpose are equally as inevitable.

我觉得这个说法很好笑，因为我认为人生和目标同样不可回避。

While many believe that money and death are two taboo subjects that families do not like to discuss， even more taboo in my experience are conversations about the meaning of life or one’s life purpose. I cannot think of anything more important than finding one’s life purpose. I believe in its importance so much that I traded in my estate-planning hat1 some years ago to build a business that helps individuals discover their life purpose and design a life that ensures its fulfillment. I have spent most of my life and professional career pondering this very issue and asking the question： What does life purpose mean and， more importantly， how does one find and fulfill it？

虽然许多人认为金钱和死亡是家人间不喜欢讨论的两个禁忌话题，但根据我的经验，更忌讳的是谈论人生的意义或人生的目标。我想不出比找到人生目标更重要的事了。我对它的重要性深信不疑，以至于几年前我放弃了遗产规划师的工作，转而成立一家公司，帮助人们找到他们的人生目标，并规划一种确保目标实现的人生。在我人生以及职业生涯的大部分时间里，我一直在思考人生目标，也一直在问这样一个问题：人生目标意味着什么，更重要的是，人们如何找到并实现自己的人生目标？

It has been a long journey getting to this point， and here is what I have learned so far along the way.

为得到答案，我已经历一段漫长的旅程。以下是我在途中学到的秘诀。

1. Your life purpose is bigger than any solvable problem or circumstance.

1. 人生目标比任何可以解决的问题或客观环境都宏大。

Your life purpose cannot be solving a particular problem or based on some circumstance that could potentially no longer exist. Otherwise， your purpose could end while you are alive and then your life will no longer have a purpose or meaning. For example， some may believe that finding the cure for cancer is their life purpose. Finding the cure for cancer may embody their life purpose and be a major accomplishment along their journey， but their life purpose is bigger and beyond cancer. The same is true of being a doctor or scientist. Nobody is “born to be” a doctor or scientist， but their life purpose may be fulfilled through that profession， at least for some time. Understanding the difference between your life purpose and opportunities that fulfill your life purpose is important because life circumstances and opportunities will change over time. That does not mean， however， that your purpose ceases to exist.

人生目标不能是解决一个特定的问题，也不能基于某种可能不再存在的情况。否则，你的目标可能会在你有生之年终止，你此后的人生将不再有目标或意义。例如，有些人可能认为找到治愈癌症的方法是他们的人生目标。找到治愈癌症的方法可能包含在他们的人生目标中，是他们人生之旅中的一项重大成就，但他们的人生目标更宏大，超越了找到治愈癌症的方法。成为医生或科学家也是如此。没有人“天生就是”医生或科学家，但他们的人生目标可能会通过职业实现，至少在一段时间内如此。了解人生目标与实现人生目标的机遇之间有何区别很重要，因为生活环境和机遇会随着时间的推移而改变。然而，这并不意味着你的目标不复存在。

2. Your life purpose is a journey， not a destination.

2. 人生目标是一段旅程，而不是一个目的地。

Your life purpose is not something you can define today， nor is it something you will ever fully know or accomplish during your lifetime. Only in hindsight2， once your life has ended， will we have the full picture to be able to look back and say， “This is what that person’s life meant.” If we are unable to know what our life purpose is in advance， however， how do we live in pursuit of fulfilling it？ How do we design our lives and make the best choices that will lead to fulfilling our life purpose？ The answer is that we work with the pieces of the puzzle that we have and follow life’s clues.

人生目标不是你今天就可以定义的，也不是你有生之年能完全了解或实现的。只有在你的生命结束后，我们回顾过去才能了解你完整的人生，才能说出：“这就是他（她）的人生意义。”然而，如果我们不能提前知道自己的人生目标，我们又该如何为实现它而生活呢？我们该如何规划人生，并作出最好的选择来实现人生目标？答案是，我们要利用已有的拼图碎片并遵循人生给出的线索。

3. Play to your strengths.

3. 发挥长处。

We are not capable of being all things to all people3. You were born with certain natural talents and abilities—use them. Develop your natural talents into skills by studying， exercising and practicing those talents. There is nothing wrong with trying to learn new things， but the likelihood is that you were born with the abilities needed to fulfill your life purpose.

我们不可能做到八面玲珑。你生来具备某些天赋和能力——利用它们吧。通过学习、锻炼和实践，把你的天赋发展成技能。尝试学习新事物没有错，但很可能你天生就具备实现人生目标所需的能力。

4. Pursue your passions.

4. 追随激情。

For whatever reason， we all feel passionate about certain things in life. In order to live your life purpose， you must become completely immersed in whatever it is， which means it must be something you are passionate about. Otherwise， you will be damned to doing something that ultimately makes you miserable and resentful， in which case it will be impossible to perform at the highest level. Your purpose cannot be something you will resent or resist doing， which leads to my next point.

无论出于何种原因，我们都对生活中的某些事物充满激情。为了实现人生目标，你必须完全沉浸其中，这意味着那必须是你热爱的东西。否则，你将被迫做一些最终让你痛苦和怨恨的事情。在这种情形下，你就不可能发挥出你的最高水平。你的目标不能是你反感或抗拒做的事情，这就引出了下一个秘诀。

5. Do what makes you happy.

5. 做让你开心的事。

Living your life purpose will undoubtedly bring you joy and a sense of personal fulfillment. Ask a roomful of people what the meaning of life is and most answers will come back to happiness. Positive Psychology—the study of happiness or well-being—ascribes five elements to well-being： positive feelings， engagement， relationships， meaning （or purpose） and accomplishments （commonly referred to by the acronym “PERMA”）. Each of these elements is naturally achieved and increased when you commit to living in pursuit of your life purpose.