英语美文：把握你的生活

 　　Each day you have the ability to make the choice to take control of your life, or to let it control you. You can either be proactive, or you can let circumstances call the shots.

　　To take control of your life or exercise personal leadership is to take responsibility for yourself and for every area of your life. It means being connected with your values, your vision and to set meaningful goals for yourself. When you do, you become more productive, more optimistic, able to solve problems more easily and ultimately have less stress in your life.

　　No doubt, with all the chaos¹ and uncertainty² that is going in the world these days it may be difficult to feel like you are in charge of your life, and while there are some things you have no control over, there is much that you do. Understand that you are the principal architect and creator of your life and that you are where you are at, because of the choices and decisions you have made thus far.

　　An interesting concept that I came across in my readings recently, and as it relates to personal leadership, is to see yourself as the CEO of your own life. If you were to apply it to yourself, how would run your life? What kind of strategic planning would you do and how would you envision your future? I would guess that in seeing yourself as the CEO of your life, you would be inspired to think in a more effective, results oriented manner.

　　As your own CEO, here are some ways in which you can take control of your life and exercise personal leadership:

　　Determine your values and what's important to you. As I wrote in Have A Personal Value System, knowing what your values are gives you structure and purpose, which in turn directs you on how to focus your time and efforts. It would be similar to the 'mission statement' a company would hold. As you probably know, a mission statement typically spells out the overall goals and drives the actions of an organization. It likewise provides a roadmap and guides the decision-making processes for management.

　　In your life your mission statement could be something like: "My purpose is to live life to the fullest by taking the care of my health, relationships, finances and overall happiness to the best of my abilities."

　　When you state your objective so succinctly³, you can't help but be focused and take the right actions for where you need to be. This also helps keep you from being aimless and scattered⁴, not to mention avoiding hit and miss situations.

　　Plan, be organized and set goals. Think of the big picture of what you want in your life and then break it down to manageable parts. For everything that you want to accomplish, you need a strategy or action plan. One way is to set goals appropriate to your mission statement and then devise a plan on how to go about achieving them. Nothing happens by itself; so taking charge of your life entails⁵ taking the bull by the horns. Rather than daydreaming⁶ about what you want or engaging in wishful thinking, you set the wheels in motion for success. In fact, the planning stages can actually be fun and challenging! Not only will you achieve your objectives, you will sharpen your critical thinking and problem solving skills in the process. The most successful CEOs in the world are those who set realistic, achievable goals for their companies, plan the best strategies and then execute them accordingly. They also set their priorities, organize their tasks and duties and make sure all the different departments are running smoothly⁷ and efficiently⁸. There is a famous quote that states, "If you fail to plan, you plan to fail."

　　Maintain a positive attitude. Sometimes one of the hardest things to do is remain positive when your best efforts to take control of your life don't go according to plan. As any CEO will tell you, there are always obstacles and roadblocks that get in the way of any launch or rollout. In another similar example, ask any athlete, inventor or composer. Would you think that everything comes together for them smoothly and without any glitches⁹? Definitely not!

　　The quality or character trait that separates those who succeed and those that do not, is a positive attitude and an unshakable belief in themselves. They do not let negative thoughts or obstacles get in the way of ultimate achievement. Of course, that does not mean that it is easy; it means that persistence¹⁰ and focus are necessary. Those who cannot maintain control of their lives quite often want to give up at first sign of trouble or difficulty. When that happens, all else seems to unravel¹¹ as well, and they mistakenly feel they have no control of anything at all in their lives. This type of mindset is both counterproductive and detrimental¹² to progress. Maintaining a positive attitude is absolutely essential for taking control of your life.

　　Have fun. While taking control of your life involves a lot of planning, strategy and executing, it could weigh you down if you forget to take time to have some fun. Living a full, productive life requires maintaining balance between work, relaxation¹³ and recreation. Too much structure makes Jack¹⁴ or Jill a dull person.

　　To take control of your life try an experiment by envisioning yourself as the CEO of your personal company - your own life. The concept alone will make you feel more in control. Then make the types of plans, choices and decisions that you would expect a successful CEO would make and you will be surprised at how much more in control of your life you will feel. It may take some practice and role playing, but the outcome will be - YOU in control of your life.

1 chaos   

n.混乱，无秩序

参考例句：

• After the failure of electricity supply the city was in chaos.停电后，城市一片混乱。
• The typhoon left chaos behind it.台风后一片混乱。

2 uncertainty   

n.易变，靠不住，不确知，不确定的事物

参考例句：

• Her comments will add to the uncertainty of the situation.她的批评将会使局势更加不稳定。
• After six weeks of uncertainty,the strain was beginning to take its toll.6个星期的忐忑不安后，压力开始产生影响了。

3 succinctly   

adv.简洁地；简洁地，简便地

参考例句：

• He writes simply and succinctly, rarely adding too much adornment. 他的写作风格朴实简练，很少添加饰词。 来自互联网
• No matter what question you are asked, answer it honestly and succinctly. 总之，不管你在面试中被问到什么问题，回答都要诚实而简明。 来自互联网

4 scattered   

adj.分散的，稀疏的；散步的；疏疏落落的

参考例句：

• Gathering up his scattered papers,he pushed them into his case.他把散乱的文件收拾起来，塞进文件夹里。

5 entails   

使…成为必要( entail的第三人称单数 )； 需要； 限定继承； 使必需

参考例句：

• The job entails a lot of hard work. 这工作需要十分艰苦的努力。
• This job entails a lot of hard work. 这项工作需要十分努力。

6 daydreaming   

v.想入非非，空想( daydream的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• Stop daydreaming and be realistic. 别空想了，还是从实际出发吧。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• Bill was sitting and daydreaming so his mother told him to come down to earth and to do his homework. 比尔坐着空想， 他母亲要他面对现实，去做课外作业。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

7 smoothly   

adv.平滑地，顺利地，流利地，流畅地

参考例句：

• The workmen are very cooperative,so the work goes on smoothly.工人们十分合作，所以工作进展顺利。
• Just change one or two words and the sentence will read smoothly.这句话只要动一两个字就顺了。

8 efficiently   

adv.高效率地，有能力地

参考例句：

• The worker oils the machine to operate it more efficiently.工人给机器上油以使机器运转更有效。
• Local authorities have to learn to allocate resources efficiently.地方政府必须学会有效地分配资源。

9 glitches   

n.小过失，差错( glitch的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Manufacturing glitches have limited the factory's output. 生产中的故障影响了该厂的产量。 来自辞典例句
• Another kind of period variation,\"Glitches,\" are seen in several pulsars. 在几个脉冲星中还看到了周期的另一种变化，即“自转突快”现象。 来自辞典例句

10 persistence   

n.坚持，持续，存留

参考例句：

• The persistence of a cough in his daughter puzzled him.他女儿持续的咳嗽把他难住了。
• He achieved success through dogged persistence.他靠着坚持不懈取得了成功。

11 unravel   

v.弄清楚（秘密）；拆开，解开，松开

参考例句：

• He was good with his hands and could unravel a knot or untangle yarn that others wouldn't even attempt.他的手很灵巧，其他人甚至都不敢尝试的一些难解的绳结或缠在一起的纱线，他都能解开。
• This is the attitude that led him to unravel a mystery that long puzzled Chinese historians.正是这种态度使他解决了长期以来使中国历史学家们大惑不解的谜。

12 detrimental   

adj.损害的，造成伤害的

参考例句：

• We know that heat treatment is detrimental to milk.我们知道加热对牛奶是不利的。
• He wouldn't accept that smoking was detrimental to health.他不相信吸烟有害健康。

13 relaxation   

n.松弛，放松；休息；消遣；娱乐

参考例句：

• The minister has consistently opposed any relaxation in the law.部长一向反对法律上的任何放宽。
• She listens to classical music for relaxation.她听古典音乐放松。

14 jack   

n.插座，千斤顶，男人；v.抬起，提醒，扛举；n.（Jake）杰克

参考例句：

• I am looking for the headphone jack.我正在找寻头戴式耳机插孔。
• He lifted the car with a jack to change the flat tyre.他用千斤顶把车顶起来换下瘪轮胎。