如果你不能与这样的人竞争，最好还是给别人打工吧

文/Mike Xie 译 /赵欣然 绘 /也圆

如果你不能与这样的人竞争，最好还是给别人打工吧

If You Can’t Do It， You’d Better off Working for Someone Else

文/Mike Xie 译 /赵欣然 绘 /也圆

My favorite uncle's mom had this game she liked to play with her children when they were fairly young.

She would ask them random basic arithmetic①arithmetic 英 ［ə'rɪθmətɪk］ 美 ［ə'rɪθmətɪk］ n. 算术，算法questions. For example， what is 5 plus 2？

And then she would hit them on the head with a stick if they got the answer wrong.

So for this question， my uncle，on average②average英 ［'æv（ə）rɪdʒ］ 美 ［'ævərɪdʒ］ n. 平均； adj. 平均的；普通的， would get hit on the head something like four to six times or until the stick broke .

Eventually she gave up on him. He gave up on school and started work moving boxes on the dock③dock 英 ［dɒk］ 美 ［dɑk］ n. 码头；船坞.

Fast forward a couple years and he was working three full time blue collar jobs. He logged④log 英 ［lɒɡ］ 美 ［lɔɡ］ vi. 伐木； vt. 切；伐木；航行；n. 记录；航行日志about ninety hours a week on average and only took a break on New Years'.

Fast for ward a couple years and he's started his first company. They move boxes off the dock.

Fast forward a decade or two and he runs half a dozen companies and sits on the board of a dozen more. He has a really nice wife and some well adjusted kids who are fairly bright. Everywhere he goes he is welcomed， loved even， because he spends a large amount of his profits⑤profit英 ［'prɒfɪt］ 美 ［'prɑfɪt］ n. 利润；利益donating to schools， the arts， the homeless， etc. And to his family. A color television for my father. A new home for his mother. A BMW for his father.

He tells me in many ways he is very lucky. As he idly⑥idly英 ［'aɪdlɪ］ 美 ［'aɪdli］ adv. 无所事事地；空闲地stirs the soup that was given free to him by a waiter who he once bought all the textbooks that the kid couldn't afford but desperately

needed. That he could never comprehend⑦comprehend 英 ［kɒmprɪ'hend］ 美 ［，kɑmprɪ'hɛnd］ vt. 理解himself.

For the most par this companies run themselves my father told me. And of course he could retire. He could have years ago. But he likes making other people's lives better. It's what he does. It's who he is. Did you notice that when he came over and slept in your room that when he left， all of your jumbled clothes were neatly folded and put back in their places？ I hope you could grow to be someone like him. My father says.

And of course， it's true. He was very lucky. But， you don't need to be intelligent to succeed or， more importantly，be happy. Attitude， the ability to persevere⑧persevere英 ［pɜːsɪ'vɪə］ 美 ［，pɝsə'vɪr］ vi. 坚持；不屈不挠， discipline， kindness，social ability. These are all far better indicators.

If you want to be a successful entrepreneur can you compete with a person like this？ By the time he was thirty he had logged on average four thousand hours a year for eighteen years.

He has all of the practical skills of a contractor， manager， lawyer，accountant， union negotiator，copy writer. He speaks five languages. And he has hundreds of fanatically loyal and loving fans/customers because of all of the giving that he has done，the extra miles he has gone and continued to do. Even back when he had nothing.

If you can't then maybe you'd be better off working for someone else.

我最喜欢的一个叔叔，他妈妈很喜欢在孩子们还比较小的时候和他们玩这个游戏。

她会随机问他们比较基础的算术题。比如 5+2 等于多少？

如果他们答错了，她就会用棍子打他们的头。

对于这样的算术题，我叔叔的脑袋平均要挨4到6次打，或是直到棍子打断为止。

最终她放弃了他。叔叔也退学了，并在码头做搬箱工。

过了几年，叔叔同时做3个全职的蓝领工作。他平均每周要工作90 个小时，只在新年的时候才休息。

又过了几年，叔叔创立了自己的第一家公司。他们做的是码头卸货的生意。

又过了一二十年，他同时运营着 6家公司，还入股十余家企业。他有一个很好的妻子，还有几个很有教养、聪明伶俐的孩子。不管他去哪儿，都很受欢迎，甚至是受爱戴的。因为他把自己利润的大部分都捐给了学校、艺术院校、无家可归的人。家里的话，他给我爸爸送了彩色电视。给他妈妈买了新房子，给他爸爸买了一辆宝马。

他告诉我他总是很幸运，当时他有意无意地搅拌着一碗汤，这是一个服务生免费送给他的。然而，这是因为叔叔曾经给那个服务生买下了全部的课本，这些课本是那个孩子当年买不起但极其需要的。他还不知道那个人在报答他的恩情。

我父亲告诉我，叔叔的公司基本上已经可以自主运营了，他完全可以退休，几年以前就可以了。但是他喜欢让别人的生活变得更好。这正是他所做的事，他就是这样的人。你注意到他来拜访咱们家睡在你屋里吗？他走的时候，你所有的乱七八糟的衣服都叠得整整齐齐，放回了它们原来的地方。我希望你可以成为像他一样的人。我父亲说道。

当然，我叔叔的确很幸运。但是你不必很聪明才能成功，或者（更重要的）快乐。你的态度、坚持、律己、友善，以及社交能力，这些才是更重要的因素。

如果你想成为一个成功的企业家，你能够和这样的人竞争吗？他30岁的时候，平均每年工作4000小时，持续了18年之久。

他学会了几乎所有实用的技能，能做承包人、经理、律师、会计、工会谈判代表、文案编辑，并且会说5种语言。由于他为人慷慨，一路上，有成百上千的热情、忠实的粉丝/顾客，在他一无所有的时候依旧支持他。

如果你不能与这样的人竞争，最好还是给别人打工吧。