What's Blocking Your Peak Career Performance?

By Debra Woog

∷文露 选 刘宇佳 注

Often we think of peak career performance in terms of momentous1. momentous: 重大的。events, like publishing research or closing a huge sale. These are commendable2. commendable: 值得赞美的。high points. Yet by keeping our focus solely on a few accomplishments, we can miss out on3. miss out on: 错失良机。developing the key skills that will get us to them reliably. Without learning and practicing these skills, you’re limited to a finite number of peaks, and even these may feel a bit too “hard won” to celebrate.4.不学习和使用这些技巧的话，你的事业顶峰就会很有限。即使你好不容易取得成功，给人感觉也没什么值得庆祝的。

What if peak career performance were not a small number of wins, but a series of brilliant moments that could extend inde finitely? What if, as smart talented women, we could set ourselves up to have regular, frequent“moments” where our skills, interests, and qualities intersect5. intersect: 贯穿。in work that is truly meaningful and valuable to us and to those we serve?

Consider Jocelyn. A gifted writer and strategist with a bachelor’s degree from Stanford,6. gifted: 有天赋的； strategist:战略家。a Master’s from Harvard, and a long list of happy clients,Jocelyn put off making a major decision—one with the potential to advance her career.

回想一下，你有没有过这样的时候：事业频频不顺，无论自己怎么努力，似乎都无法取得满意的成果。于是，你开始自我怀疑，自我否定，觉得这辈子都无法再有所建树？其实无需害怕，你只是碰到事业发展的瓶颈期罢了。一旦突破这个瓶颈，相信我，你将再次大放光彩。然而，在突破瓶颈的过程中，有没有什么可以采纳的技巧呢？

Despite a long list of evidence that she’s good at what she does,Jocelyn felt anxious about whether the skills, interests and qualities she brings to the table were good and valuable enough. Recently rejected by committee for an award she applied for, Jocelyn worried that she was not worthy of achieving the next level of success in her chosen profession.7. 最近，委员会驳回了乔斯林所申请的奖项。她担心自己将无法在所从事的领域里取得进一步的成功。

Jocelyn’s frustration brought her to a question that plagues many woman professionals today: “What do I really want?”8. 面对此次挫败，乔斯林不禁反思：“我到底想要什么？”而这也是如今困扰众多职业女性的一个问题。frustration: 挫折；plague: 困扰。As someone with a commendable track record of getting things done, Jocelyn wondered why it’s so hard to decide… so she spent time and energy looking at many options from all angles9. angle: 角度。to be “fully informed.” But really her mind was spinning10. spin: 旋转。with wonder about what it would take for her to have another “win,” when that would happen, and how hard would it be to achieve.

Even successful women professionals unknowingly hold themselves back from peak career performance by falling into the selfdoubt trap.11. unknowingly: 不知不觉地；trap: 困境。The antidote12. antidote: 解决办法。? Cultivate stress hardiness to achieve peak career performance that lasts over time.13. cultivate: 培养; stress hardiness:抗压性。

Stress hardiness, also known as emotional resilience14. emotional resilience: 情绪恢复能力。, is de fined as one’s ability to adapt to stressful situations or crises. Suzanne Kobasa Ouellette, Professor Emeritus at the City University of New York, where she taught psychology, social science, and liberal studies,developed a pro file for what she called a “hardy personality.”15. liberal studies: 人文学科；profile:（对能力、个性等的）简要描述；hardy: 坚忍的，有耐性的。

Dr. Ouellette wrote that the three C’s of hardiness—control, commitment16. commitment: 承诺。, challenge—could be developed through a series of speci fic skills, three of which are especially relevant to Jocelyn and any other woman who feels she’s working too hard, questions her next move or wonders whether what she offers has value.

1. Recognize and tolerate anxiety and act anyway

Uncertainty is pretty much a given in today’s volatile job market and economy, and anxiety often stems from the fact that future outcomes are uncertain.17. 在当今反复无常的就业市场和经济趋势下，不确定性时有发生；人们的焦虑源于对未来结果的不确定性。volatile: 反复无常的，动荡的；stem from: 源于。Learning to recognize when uncertainty makes you anxious—and acting in spite of18. in spite of: 尽管。that feeling—allows you to direct the course of your career. Identifying and controlling the aspects of a situation that you can control can make it easier to make peace with the factors you can’t control.19. 在某一情况下，发现并掌握那些你所能控制的方面，可以使你更容易应对那些不可控因素。make peace with:（与……）讲和。Continued practice of this skill builds “anxiety tolerance” that can free you to achieve more peak performance moments throughout your career.

2. Discriminate20. discriminate: 区别，辨别。 and make choices consistent with goals and values

Getting clear on your innate values can do wonders for your career trajectory.21. 清楚自己的内在价值，可以助你在事业轨迹上创造奇迹。innate: 内在的；trajectory: 轨迹。Once you do, it becomes easier to set meaningful goals. This step illuminates22. illuminate: 阐明。a clear path down which you can base every decision on what’s most important to you to express in the world. With your values in mind, decisions of any magnitude23. magnitude: 大小，量级。become so much easier to make. Like a muscle, your decisionmaking ability is strengthened with consistent practice.

3. Ask assertively24. assertively: 断言地。 for what you want and desire

Studies show that women negotiate for higher salaries far less often than their male counterparts.25. 研究表明，与男性相比，女性很少就加薪这一问题（与公司）进行商讨。counterpart: 相对应的人。If you’re job hunting, do your market research and decide what salary and bene fits you seek. Then,negotiate! Similarly, if you’re considering a prospective client26. prospective client: 潜在客 `户。, ask good questions to decide if they’re a fit for the way you work. If you’re applying for an award, be clear on why you’re applying, do your best in the process, and then cede27. cede: 放弃。control. Getting clear about what you want and desire is the first step. The more you ask for what you want and desire, the more often you’ll get it.

By committing to28. commit to: 致力于。practicing these three skills, Jocelyn has increased her own strength hardiness. She has created and regularly revisits her unique de finition of what success means for her. Today she acknowledges that her self-doubt is a part of life; she invites it to sit at the table but no longer gives it a vote when she faces challenging decisions.29. 现在，她承认自我怀疑是生活的一部分；她接受它的存在，但在面对挑战时却不会再让这种怀疑影响她做出决断。acknowledge: 承认；vote:投票。She has accepted that she is both brilliant and imperfect.

Now Jocelyn sees each choice as a step into something bigger—and she’s getting better at controlling what’s within her power and letting the rest go. She’s less tentative30. tentative: 踌躇的。and fearful, more decisive and brave. In short,Jocelyn has become a lot more con fident and comfortable acting in the face of anxiety, making choices consistent with her values and goals, and asking for what she wants.

The results? Opportunities have opened up for Jocelyn, including new clients and new projects she’s excited to work on. She’s let go of responding to each choice as a “once and for all” decision.31. let go of: 放手；once and for all: 一劳永逸的。She’s experienced more peak moments in the last six months than she had in the last five years.