There are going to be moments in life when you must make very important decisions. You will find many people ready to offer you advice if you ask for it (and even if you don't), but always remember that the life you lead is yours and nobody else's. It's important to decide for yourself what's important to you and what you want before you turn to others. Because while there will be times when outside advice proves wise, there will be at least as many times when it proves utterly useless. The only way to really evaluate other folks' advice is to first learn everything that you can about whatever challenge you are facing. Once you've done that, in most cases you should be able to make an informed decision on your own anyway.
生活中總有些時候需要你必須做出重大決定。你會發現，如果你開口問（甚至即便你沒問），就會有很多人願意給你提出建議。但是在任何時候都要記得，你的生活是你自己的，不是任何人的。在向別人徵求意見之前，你必須知道對自己來說什麼是重要的，明確自己想要的是什麼，這是很重要的。因為儘管有時候別人的建議是正確的，但事後證明這些建議在多數情況下是完全無用的。真正衡量他人建議的唯一方法就是首先充分了解自己所面臨的一切挑戰。一旦你這樣 做，在絕大多數情況下，你就能自己做出明智的決定。
You were born with the ability to decide what is and what isn't in your best interest. Most of the time, you will make the right decision and take the appropriate actions, and in thinking for yourself, you will become far more successful than had you gone against your own judgment.
你天生就有能力決定什麼對自己有利、什麼對自己不利。多數時候，你能做出正確的決策並採取恰當的行動，而且通過自己的思索比違背自己的判斷更能讓你大獲成功。
Early on in my investment career, I made the mistake of basing a few important business decisions on colleagues' opinions instead of conducting the research necessary to make an informed decision. It wasn't due to laziness on my part; no one could ever accuse me of that. But, being new to Wall Street, I tended to assume that my more senior colleagues knew more than I did, and so I attributed too much significance to their opinions.
在我做投資的早些年，我曾犯了這樣的錯誤：在做一些重大的商業決策時，我聽取了同事們的意見，卻沒有做必要的研究從而得出明智的決定。那並不是因為我懶，沒有人能責備我是一隻懶蟲。但是， 當時作為一名華爾街的新人，我想當然地認為那些有著多年經驗的同事知道的肯定比我多，於是我過分看重了他們的意見。
You know what happened? Each of those investments ended in failure. Eventually I stopped allowing myself to be influenced by others and began doing the work myself and making my own decisions. It took me until I was almost 30 years old to realize this - it's never too late for a person to change his approach both to business and to life.
知道那之後發生了什麼嗎？所有的投資通通都以失敗告終了。最終，我決定不再受他人的影響，開始自己研究並做出決定。直到我快30歲了，我才意識到這一點——一個人要改變他的工作和生活方式， 任何時候都不算晚。
People laughing at your ideas? Take heart!
別人嘲笑你的想法？勇敢面對吧！
If people around you try to discourage you from taking a certain course of action, or ridicule your ideas, take that as a positive sign. Sure it can be difficult not to run with the herd, but the truth is that most long-term success stories are written by folks who've done exactly that. Let me give you an example.
如果周圍的人試圖阻止你做一件事情或者嘲笑你的想法，把它看成一種積極的信號。當然，要想不隨大流的確很困難，但事實上多數長期的成功故事都是由那些不隨大流的人寫就的。讓我給你舉個例 子。
When I was 32 years old or so, a Wall Street colleague of mine invited me to join a smart and successful group of financial guys who regularly got together to swap ideas over dinner. At the time, I and a partner were in the early years of our hedge fund called the Quantum Fund . It was a big deal to be invited to these dinners, and, I must admit, I was a little nervous. After all, these were the big guys in my field, and most of them had a great deal more experience than I did.
我32歲左右的時候，一位華爾街的同事邀請我加入一個由精明而成功的金融人士組成的團隊，他們定期聚餐以交流各自的想法。那時候，我和一名合夥人經營的對沖基金——“量子基金”剛起步。能夠被邀請參加這樣的聚餐對我來說是一件很了不起的事情，而且必須承認，我當時還有點緊張。畢竟，這些人可都是金融領域的大人物，而且他們中的多數人都比我有經驗得多。
We were sitting in the private room of a fancy midtown Manhattan restaurant when the host asked each guest at the table to recommend an investment. Most of them touted so-called growth stocks . When my turn came, I recommended Lockheed, the aerospace company. Once extremely prosperous , by the 1970s it had fallen on hard times. A fellow sitting opposite me smirked and, making sure that I heard him, stage- whispered , "Who buys stocks like this? Why buy a bankrupt company?"
當時我們坐在曼哈頓中城一家華麗的餐廳包間裡，聚會主持者要在座的每一位賓客推薦一個投資項目。多數人都吹捧所謂的增長股。輪到我的時候，我推薦的是洛克希德航空公司。洛克希德曾經極為成功，但是到了20世紀70年代卻陷入了艱難時期。一個坐在我對面的傢伙滿臉假笑，並且故意用讓我聽得到的聲音低聲說：“誰會買這樣的股票？誰會買一家破產的公司？”
About six years later, I ran into this schoolyard bully. I resisted the urge to remind him of his condescending remark. It wasn't easy, given that Lockheed Corp. stock had since increased in value a hundredfold, and for all the reasons that I had explained over dinner: The company shed a huge money-losing division and instead concentrated on the exciting new area of electronic warfare systems. Furthermore, as could have been predicted, defense spending had grown rapidly following a period of decline.
大約六年後，我無意間遇到了這個“校園小霸王”。我差點沒控制住想要提醒他那次高高在上的言論。想到洛克希德公司的股票價值在那之後漲了100倍，要控制住自己不說真的不容易。正如我在那次聚餐時解釋的原因一樣：洛克希德公司裁掉了一個龐大的虧損部門，從此致力於一個令人興奮的全新領域——電子戰系統。除此之外，正如意料之中，國家防務支出在經歷了一段低迷時期之後也迅速增長起 來。
Be ethical
遵循倫理道德
As you continue to grow to adulthood, I will continue to offer you guidance. There may be times when I disagree with your choices, but you do not have to accept my advice merely because I am your father. I look at you as independent human beings. Others may say that you are too young to decide for yourself. l say do what you want, as long as you use your own judgment to determine what is right ethically .
隨著你慢慢長大成人，我會不斷地給你提供指引。可能有時候我會不認同你的選擇，但你也不必僅僅因為我是父親就接受我的建議。我把你看成獨立的人。別人可能會說，你太年輕，自己做不了決定。我會說，你想做什麼就做吧，只要你根據自己的判斷來決定什麼是符合道德標準的。
But while you need not concern yourself with conventional wisdom and other so-called established notions , you must respect and follow the rules, laws, and ethical practices without which society cannot exist. This is expected of everyone. It is not simply the proper way to live, it's the smart way. Honorable people don't find themselves entangled in legal problems.
儘管你不需要被那些傳統智慧和其他所謂的既定觀念所束縛，但你必須遵守規則、法律和道德觀念，沒有這些，這個社會就不復存在。這對每個人都適用。這不僅僅是人在社會中生存的合理方式，更是一種精明的方式。那些值得尊敬的人不會讓自己陷入法律糾葛。
Save
學會儲蓄
You will meet people who will urge you to spend your money freely; they will tell you, "You can't take it with you!" As you get older, you will probably have friends who eat at expensive restaurants every night, buy the latest gadgets or fashion trends, and spend vacations at fancy beach resorts. You must avoid the trap of spending money willy-nilly simply because you can. Not only is this a road to financial ruin, it can cause you to forget what's important in life.
你會碰到這樣的人，他們會鼓勵你隨心所欲地花錢，他們會告訴你：“錢財是生不帶來、死不帶去的。”等你漸漸長大，你可能會有這樣的朋友，他們每晚都在高級餐廳吃飯，買最新的玩意兒，穿最時尚的服裝，去奢華的海濱度假勝地度假。千萬不要因為你有能力負擔得起，就陷入揮金如土的陷阱——這不僅是通往破產之路，而且還會讓你忘記生活中重要的東西。
I am not saying that you should never travel or buy anything nice. I am merely suggesting that you should think wisely about whether the thing you are contemplating doing or buying is really worthwhile or whether its benefits will be, at best , fleeting .
我不是說要你永遠都不去旅遊或者不買好東西。我只是建議你在考慮做某件事情或買某件物品之前，應該考慮清楚這件事情或物品是否值得去做或去買，或者它們的好處是否只是轉瞬即逝。
Happy, you already have five piggy banks, and you love putting money into them. Please continue to save. Those who save and invest wisely will face fewer financial woes throughout life.
我很高興你已經有五個小豬存錢罐，而且你也很喜歡把錢存到那裡面。記得要繼續存錢。那些懂得存錢並且投資明智的人，他們一生中遇到的經濟難關將會比別人少。
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