[美文欣賞]

Stick to your special talents

You were born with a special talent. It may be to sing, write, teach, paint, mentor, preach, defend or befriend. You have something special to offer the world, something you can do better than 10,000 others. You must keep learning and trying new things to find your special talent. The world needs your gift. Be aware that even a special talent can go stale if you don’t keep using and honing it. Endeavor to keep your talents and all your skills up to date.

An advantage isn’t an advantage unless you use it. Find ways to use your advantages to set and reach your goals. Likewise, you should recognize and then try to minimize the impact of your limitations. Remember that not all advantages are transferable. Just because you are talented in one area doesn’t mean that you will be talented at everything you try. The successful real estate investor can easily lose her money opening a restaurant. Stick to your advantages and don’t stray from them without reasoned justification.

[參考譯文]

固守自己的優勢

你生而有自己的特殊天賦。你的特長可能是唱歌，寫作，教書，繪畫，勸導，步道，辯護或交友。你總有些特殊之處可以貢獻給這個世界，有些事你可以做的比另外一萬個人做的都好。你必須不斷學習和嘗試新的事物從而發現自己的特殊才能。時間需要你的貢獻饋贈。要明白即使是特殊才能如果不經常使用而且磨練的話也會失效。因此要盡力使自己的天賦與所有的技能跟上時代。

任何優勢如果不用的話也就不稱其為優勢了。找到辦法運用你的優勢來確定并實現你的目標。同樣的你應該意識到自己的不足之處并盡力將其不利影響限制在最小程度。切記并不是所有的優勢都能夠相互轉換的：你在某一方面有天賦并不意味著你在自己所嘗試的一切事情上都有天賦。一個成功的房地產投資商很可能因為開餐館而虧本。因此要固守自己的優勢，在沒有理性的確定判斷之前不要輕易離開自己擅長的領域。