Do you think Harvard is the university in this world that is the hardest to enter?
你是不是还认为哈佛大学是这个世界上最难进入的大学？
Let me tell you there is another school that is much harder and more rigorous in terms of admissions process: First, you will have to start your application in the eleventh grade, and you will need to be nominated or recommended by a member of Congress, a senator or even the vice president of the United States. Top scores on SAT or ACT cannot guarantee your admission.
让我来告诉你吧！这世界上有所学校申请比哈佛严格得多：首先，你必须在高二的时候开始你的申请流程；你需要被一名国会议员或参议员提名，这个政要甚至可以是美国总统。美国高考SAT/ACT得高分也不能保证你被录取。
You will also have to have outstanding marks in fitness assessment. Which school, you may wonder, is it?
你还需要在体能测试中表现优异。你可能内心掂量：这到底是什么学校？！
Yeah, the West Point Military Academy it is！
是的，正是西点军校！
Here is the number that may surprise you: Every year, out of 14000 applicants, 1200 are selected and admitted. But in the very first 2 months, majority of them dropped out, and only 240 students can make it through a seven-week training program, so called Beast.
我们来看看其惊人的数据吧：每年，申请西点军校的学生有1万4千人，只有1200人能通过筛选和确认入学。但这还没有结束：最初两个月里，大多数人会辍学，最终仅仅有240人能够通过头7个星期的魔鬼训练营。
For many years, researchers and psychologists long wondered why some people succeed and others fail? After many years of research on kids and adults not only from West Point, but also from all kinds of super challenging settings, one characteristic emerged as a significant predictor of success or greatness: it wasn't social intelligence, it was not good looks, it was not physical health and it wasn't even IQ. A motivational and psychological aspect stood out: it was Grit: Grit is passion and perseverance for very long term goals.
多年来，研究者和心理学家们一直都想知道，为什么这些人能留下而其余的人都会失败？经过长达数年的研究，被试群体不限于西点军校的学生，还包含有极具挑战性的各行各业的精英，有一项指标成为伟大和成功的预测性指标：这项指标与情商无关，与美貌无关，与体能无关，甚至和智商都不具备相关性。一个心理动机指标超越一切其他指标，在预测伟大与成就方面跃然纸上：那就是坚毅。坚毅，是为了长远目标所具备的激情和持之以恒的精神。
Grit is to stick with your future, your dream, day in and day out, not just for the week, not just for the month but for years and working really hard to make that dream reality. Grit is to live a life like it were a marathon, not a sprint.
坚毅，就是执着于未来，执着于梦想，日以继日地努力付出。不是只努力这一周，这个月，而是坚持数年，通过努力梦想成真。坚毅是将人生活成一场马拉松，而不是短跑比赛。
We tend to think those successful people or great men were born with talent. We call them genius. Contrary to many people’s thought, statistics showed that there are many talented individuals who simply do not follow through on their commitments. Even more astonishing, grit is unrelated or even inversely correlated to measures of talents. Most of the time, talent is distracting. Think of Mozart, a commonly viewed genius, who started composing since 5 years old.
我们普通大众总是认为成功人士、具有伟大成就的人，其才华是与生俱来的。我们因此称呼他们——天才。与大多数人的想法相左，统计结果表明，越聪明和越有天赋的个体，越通常正是那些无法坚持梦想的一群人。更令人吃惊的是：坚毅与天赋之间没有相关性，甚至可以反向预测一个人的成就！普通人一旦具有天赋，反而成为更大的干扰！试想一下莫扎特吧！一个我们公认的音乐天才，据称他从5岁就开始作曲了。
But what common people failed to know is that his early “works” were mostly done with his father’s help. Not until 21 years old, did he become an independent composer. Until that moment, he kept practicing the piano and composing for over 10000 hours. Greatness achievers are not born naturally. It is always efforts that count. If talent counts once, efforts count twice!
但普通大众并不知情的是：他早年的作品大多出自他宫廷乐师父亲之手。直到21岁前，他都不是一个独立作曲家。直到莫扎特真正独立作曲，他每日练琴练习作曲的时间，累计超过1万小时。伟大成就者绝非天生，努力才是关键。如果一定要将伟大的成就归因于天赋，那么努力至少是天赋的两倍！
Can you grow grit to be more successful? Research shows that if you believe that the ability of learning is not fixed, especially when you read and learn about the brain and how it changes and grows in response to challenges or difficulties, it is more likely that you will become gritty. Because when you fail, you don't believe that failure is permanent condition. This is called growth mindset. And it is foundation to build Grit.
那么咱们普通人能发展自己的“坚毅”品格，而变得更成功么？研究表明：如果你相信学习能力并不是固定不能改变的，当你学习和阅读了关于脑科学的知识，了解大脑是如何通过挑战和战胜困难而获得成长和改变的，你就更可能变得坚毅。因为当你失败的时候，你不相信失败是个永久的状态。这就是所谓的“成长式思维”，并且这是养成坚毅品质的坚实基础。
To be more specifically, grit can be built by 4 means:
具体而言，坚毅的构建有四个方式：
First, find your true love of interest. Passion starts with simply saying to yourself: I love what I do!
首先，找到你的兴趣所在，必须是真爱。激情始于对自己说：我爱我所做的事！
Next, practice, practice, and practice. You must devote yourself to the sort of focused, full-hearted practice that leads to mastery.
其次，练习、练习、再练习！你把自己全身心地投入到所热爱的事务上去，打磨技能，直至成为该领域的大师。
Third is purpose. For most people, interest without a purpose is nearly impossible to sustain for a lifetime. It should be related to not only your own interest, but to the well-being of others.
第三，意义。对于大多数人而言，没有意义的兴趣几乎无法持续一生。你所热爱的不仅与你的个人爱好相关，更能为他人的福祉带来价值。
And finally, hope. If you have ever seen a movie called Shaw Shank Redemption, you would really get to know what hope is all about. If you have never seen the movie, see it right after the meeting!
最后，是希望。如果你曾经看过一部叫做《肖申克救赎》的电影，你就懂什么是希望。如果你从没有看过这部电影，会后请各位马上去看吧！（Judy 按：全文为Judy Kaku在Toastmaster 演讲俱乐部会议上的7分钟发言稿）
You may know it or not, actors and actresses have to work really hard on their appearance coz they are in show business. I am big fan of Will Smith. I am amazed to find out he is Grammy Award-winning musician on top of Oscar-nominated actor and director.
你或许明白一个道理：演员们由于在演艺圈工作，会格外努力保持体形。我是Will Smith的粉丝，让我惊奇无比的是，他不仅入围了奥斯卡最佳演员及导演，同时是格莱美音乐奖的获得者。
He was once interviewed, and I’d love to share what he said to you guys as my final words:
他在一次接受采访时，说过一段话，我希望和各位分享作为我发言的结尾：
The only thing that I see that is distinctly different about me is I am not afraid to die on a treadmill. I will not be outworked, period. You might have more talent than me, you might be smarter than me, and you might be sexier than me. You might be all of those things. You got it on me in nine categories. But if we get on the treadmill together, there are two things: you are getting off first or I am going to die. It’s really that simple.
我所知道的我最与众不同的一点，在于我不怕死在跑步机上。没人在这方面能压倒我，就是这么简单。你可能比我更有天赋，你可能比我聪明，你可能比我性感，你什么都具备。十个方面九个方面你都胜出。但是一旦咱俩上了跑步机，只会发生两个结果：你先下来，或者我死在上面，真的就是这么简单！
Judy按： 全文摘要改写自Angela Duckworth的英文原著《Grit》，我将其改编为7分钟的头马俱乐部演讲稿，今日翻译过来，作为我公众号的开篇，以便让更多重视自我成长、终身学习的你们看到。
