15 Advices Really Successful People Want You to Know

 15 Advices Really Successful People Want You to Know

1. Not to Sweat the Small Stuff

The thing that's grand about spending your time thinking about the universe is that it makes you feel insignificant¹. I don't mean that in a bad way. If you understand that we've now discovered entire solar systems that contain planets similar to Earth, and that those are just the ones we know about, since most of the stars we've looked at are within about 300 light- years of Earth and the distance to the center of our galaxy² is nearly 100 times that—then you realize that the laundry you've left undone³ and the dumb thing you said yesterday are about as significant as slime mold.

—Alyssa Goodman, PhD, professor of astronomy, Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics

2. Pace Yourself

A therapist once told me something that's as true now as when I first heard it: "You can only go as fast as the slowest part of you can go."

—Singer Bonnie Raitt, who took a seven-year hiatus from the studio before releasing her new album, Slipstream

3. The Secret to Trying New Things

People say it's gross that I eat grubs and goat liver, but if you haven't tried it, how do you know? Our brains tell us lies, and if we listen, we cost ourselves surprises. When trying something new, cast off your fear and expectations.

—Andrew Zimmern, host of Travel Channel's Bizarre Foods America

4. Simple Ways to Look Polished

Start with a great haircut, neat nails, and well-shaped eyebrows⁴ (if eyes are the windows to the soul, eyebrows are the frames). Invest in a tailor—and in a few no-fail items that will help you look pulled together: a crisp white shirt, a pencil skirt, a great-fitting shift dress (just add shoes and go!), a tissue-weight scarf, and the perfect jacket. Whether it's a black blazer with a structured shoulder and nipped-in waist or a little leather jacket that looks great over anything, the right jacket projects confidence. And isn't that what polished really means?

—Adam Glassman, O Creative Director

5. Know When to Quit

After my first book was published in 2000, I spent two and a half years writing a novel. But it never felt right. I didn't even name it—it was the poor, misshapen beast child I kept hidden under my bed. Then I showed it to my agent. "None of the things you do well are in evidence here," she said. I was devastated⁵, then relieved: I had failed, and now I could stop. If you don't feel a shiver of excitement or fear, if there's no emotional risk involved, let it go. You can't discount how hard it will be to leave your bad marriage or stop writing your bad book, but if you're unhappy, nothing can get better as long as the status quo stays the status quo.

—Elissa Schappell, author of Blueprints⁶ for Building Better Girls

6. How to Delegate

Make certain the people around you have good values, good judgment⁷, and are loyal. Allow them to impress you but be sure they're comfortable coming to you for feedback. Most important, hire people smarter than you!

—Ivanka Trump⁸, executive VP, Trump Organization; principal of Ivanka Trump fashion and accessories lines

7. Fake It Till You Make It

The philosopher William James believed that acting⁹ a certain way could make you feel that way. hundreds of experiments have proved him right. a clark university study showed that smiling made people feel happier. (for best results, smile wide and hold for 20 seconds.) at the university of rochester, when researchers gave subjects an unsolvable problem, those who folded their arms in a stubborn pose persevered¹⁰ nearly twice as long as others. and a study in Singapore revealed that clenching¹¹ your fist powers your willpower. Try it next time you're avoiding french fries.

—Richard Wiseman, PhD, psychology¹² professor at the UK's University of Hertfordshire and author of the forthcoming book The As If Principle

8. How to Laugh at Life

The tap water hits a spoon in the sink and sprays you. You pull a window shade and it just keeps going and going. You can't roll up a garden hose in any dignified¹³ way. You have to become a connoisseur¹⁴ of these events—"Wow, look at that, that's great." You have to hope that a higher power is saying, "That was a good one!" And that you're sharing the divine pleasure it's taking in your misfortune.

—Ian Frazier, author of The Cursing Mommy's Book of Days

9. Not to Waste Time at Your Computer

Disable e-mail sounds. That ding!isa Pavloviancueto procrastinate¹⁵, and once you're distracted, it takes 15 minutes to return to being productive.

Create a second log-in, with a different name, theme, and background than your personal account. Use only this one when you're working.

Download Freedom, a program that will block you from going online for whatever length of time you set.

—Piers Steel, PhD, author of The Procrastination¹⁶ Equation

10. Make Yourself Heard

I had just graduated college, my loans were coming due, I was working two jobs and counting every penny. Five dollars wasn't a ton of money, but it was enough to piss me off. Having signed petitions on change.org before, I knew it was a good platform. Then I went on Twitter to direct people to my petition. Maybe they weren't concerned about the fee for themselves, but when they saw me, they saw their granddaughter or niece. It's important to connect with people on a visceral level. If there's an issue you care about, start locally: Write a letter to your newspaper or talk about it with your friends and neighbors. Then find others who share your beliefs. As cheesy as it sounds, working together is the only way to achieve anything.

—Molly Katchpole, creator of an online petition that received more than 300,000 signatures and pressured Bank of America to drop a proposed $5 debit¹⁷ card fee

11. Keep the Faith

The draft lasts seven rounds, and I knew I wasn't going to be in the top 100 guys, but I was sure a team would call and say they wanted me by early in the sixth round. When the sixth round ended and my phone still hadn't rung, for a second I thought, "This is the worst day of my life." But I'd had a pretty cool college career, and I'd done well in tryouts. Plus, my girlfriend and my family were right there all day telling me I was a great player. I realized then that you can't be successful on your own; you need a supportive loved one and some spiritual guidance. I knew I was meant to play football, and if you know your purpose, and you're patient, the ball will eventually bounce your way.

—Chandler Harnish, Indianapolis Colts draft pick and 2012's Mr. Irrelevant¹⁸, the name given to the last of the 253 players selected in the NFL draft

12. How to Spot a Good Opportunity

A lot of people ask me how I knew Mad Men or Breaking Bad would make great TV. I knew because when I read those scripts, I felt something. I didn't do any market testing or focus groups—I just asked myself, Would I want to watch this? When you're weighing an opportunity, make the question that simple: Do I really want this, or am I doing it for the money or the prestige or because I think I should? It can't just be about those things. It has to make you feel good, too. and by the way, if opportunities aren't knocking, you can make your own. When I was looking for work several years ago, I took everyone I knew in New York, where I'd just moved, to dinner or drinks or tea. I explained that I was open to anything. Six months later, one of those dinner dates called about a possible job at AMC. If I hadn't put myself out there, that never would have happened.

—Christina Wayne, former senior VP at AMC, current president of Cineflix Studios, and an executive producer of the new BBC America series Copper¹⁹

13. The One Thing to do If You're Starting a Business

Scout²⁰ a business space the same way you would a home—by studying the neighborhood. Get to know local business owners and pay attention to what kinds of people walk by and when. If you're opening a coffee shop where no one will see it, you won't succeed.

—Tabatha Coffey, salon²¹ owner and host of Bravo's Tabatha's Salon Takeover

14. Win the Fight

It's always more effective to be civil.

—Sandra Fluke, former law student whose congressional testimony²² in favor of birth control insurance coverage²³ prompted Rush Limbaugh to call her a "slut" and a "prostitute" on his nationally syndicated radio show

15. Adapt When Your Life Takes a Turn

You can't move very fast if you're carrying a lot of baggage. I try to remind myself of that every day. It's easy to get weighed down by bad stuff from your past— an accident, a difficult breakup, family issues, whatever. But if you're tied to the past, you're not going to get very far. When I was lying in the hospital after the accident, my surgeon, Dr. DeLong, handed me some magazines about the Paralympics and told me to think about it. I had no idea what it would take to be an amputee, let alone a sprinter²⁴, let alone a gold medalist. But I told myself, "This is your new dream. Here it is. Take the first step."

—April Holmes, Paralympic gold medalist in the 100-meter dash. In 2001, at age 27, the former college track star lost her left leg from the knee down in a train accident.

1 insignificant   

adj.无关紧要的，可忽略的，无意义的

参考例句：

• In winter the effect was found to be insignificant.在冬季，这种作用是不明显的。
• This problem was insignificant compared to others she faced.这一问题与她面临的其他问题比较起来算不得什么。

2 galaxy   

n.星系；银河系；一群(杰出或著名的人物)

参考例句：

• The earth is one of the planets in the Galaxy.地球是银河系中的星球之一。
• The company has a galaxy of talent.该公司拥有一批优秀的人才。

3 undone   

a.未做完的，未完成的

参考例句：

• He left nothing undone that needed attention.所有需要注意的事他都注意到了。

4 eyebrows   

眉毛( eyebrow的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Eyebrows stop sweat from coming down into the eyes. 眉毛挡住汗水使其不能流进眼睛。
• His eyebrows project noticeably. 他的眉毛特别突出。

5 devastated   

v.彻底破坏( devastate的过去式和过去分词)；摧毁；毁灭；在感情上（精神上、财务上等）压垮adj.毁坏的；极为震惊的

参考例句：

• The bomb devastated much of the old part of the city. 这颗炸弹炸毁了旧城的一大片地方。
• His family is absolutely devastated. 他的一家感到极为震惊。

6 blueprints   

n.蓝图，设计图( blueprint的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Have the blueprints been worked out? 蓝图搞好了吗？ 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• BluePrints description of a distributed component of the system design and best practice guidelines. BluePrints描述了一个分布式组件体系的最佳练习和设计指导方针。 来自互联网

7 judgment   

n.审判；判断力，识别力，看法，意见

参考例句：

• The chairman flatters himself on his judgment of people.主席自认为他审视人比别人高明。
• He's a man of excellent judgment.他眼力过人。

8 trump   

n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭

参考例句：

• He was never able to trump up the courage to have a showdown.他始终鼓不起勇气摊牌。
• The coach saved his star player for a trump card.教练保留他的明星选手，作为他的王牌。

9 acting   

n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的

参考例句：

• Ignore her,she's just acting.别理她，她只是假装的。
• During the seventies,her acting career was in eclipse.在七十年代，她的表演生涯黯然失色。

10 persevered   

v.坚忍，坚持( persevere的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• She persevered with her violin lessons. 她孜孜不倦地学习小提琴。
• Hard as the conditions were, he persevered in his studies. 虽然条件艰苦，但他仍坚持学习。 来自辞典例句

11 clenching   

v.紧握，抓紧，咬紧( clench的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• I'll never get used to them, she thought, clenching her fists. 我永远也看不惯这些家伙，她握紧双拳，心里想。 来自飘（部分）
• Clenching her lips, she nodded. 她紧闭着嘴唇，点点头。 来自辞典例句

12 psychology   

n.心理，心理学，心理状态

参考例句：

• She has a background in child psychology.她受过儿童心理学的教育。
• He studied philosophy and psychology at Cambridge.他在剑桥大学学习哲学和心理学。

13 dignified   

a.可敬的，高贵的

参考例句：

• Throughout his trial he maintained a dignified silence. 在整个审讯过程中，他始终沉默以保持尊严。
• He always strikes such a dignified pose before his girlfriend. 他总是在女友面前摆出这种庄严的姿态。

14 connoisseur   

n.鉴赏家，行家，内行

参考例句：

• Only the real connoisseur could tell the difference between these two wines.只有真正的内行才能指出这两种酒的区别。
• We are looking for a connoisseur of French champagne.我们想找一位法国香槟酒品酒专家。

15 procrastinate   

v.耽搁，拖延

参考例句：

• Most often we procrastinate when faced with something we do not want to do.面对不想做的事情，我们经常拖延。
• It's easy to procrastinate when the deadline seems infinitely far away.当最终期限总是遥遥无期时是很容易延期的。

16 procrastination   

n.拖延，耽搁

参考例句：

• Procrastination is the father of failure. 因循是失败的根源。
• Procrastination is the thief of time. 拖延就是浪费时间。

17 debit   

n.借方，借项，记人借方的款项

参考例句：

• To whom shall I debit this sum?此款应记入谁的账户的借方？
• We undercharge Mr.Smith and have to send him a debit note for the extra amount.我们少收了史密斯先生的钱，只得给他寄去一张借条所要欠款。

18 irrelevant   

adj.不恰当的，无关系的，不相干的

参考例句：

• That is completely irrelevant to the subject under discussion.这跟讨论的主题完全不相关。
• A question about arithmetic is irrelevant in a music lesson.在音乐课上，一个数学的问题是风马牛不相及的。

19 copper   

n.铜；铜币；铜器；adj.铜(制)的；(紫)铜色的

参考例句：

• The students are asked to prove the purity of copper.要求学生们检验铜的纯度。
• Copper is a good medium for the conduction of heat and electricity.铜是热和电的良导体。

20 scout   

n.童子军，侦察员；v.侦察，搜索

参考例句：

• He was mistaken for an enemy scout and badly wounded.他被误认为是敌人的侦察兵，受了重伤。
• The scout made a stealthy approach to the enemy position.侦察兵偷偷地靠近敌军阵地。

21 salon   

n.[法]沙龙；客厅；营业性的高级服务室

参考例句：

• Do you go to the hairdresser or beauty salon more than twice a week?你每周去美容院或美容沙龙多过两次吗？
• You can hear a lot of dirt at a salon.你在沙龙上会听到很多流言蜚语。

22 testimony   

n.证词；见证，证明

参考例句：

• The testimony given by him is dubious.他所作的证据是可疑的。
• He was called in to bear testimony to what the police officer said.他被传入为警官所说的话作证。

23 coverage   

n.报导，保险范围，保险额，范围，覆盖

参考例句：

• There's little coverage of foreign news in the newspaper.报纸上几乎没有国外新闻报道。
• This is an insurance policy with extensive coverage.这是一项承保范围广泛的保险。

24 sprinter   

n.短跑运动员，短距离全速奔跑者

参考例句：

• He is more a sprinter than a swimmer. 他是短跑健将，而不是游泳选手。 来自辞典例句
• The sprinter himself thinks he can run the race at 9.4 seconds. 这位短跑运动员自认为可以用9.4秒跑完比赛。 来自互联网