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Do you ever have a choice between a glass of soda or a glass of water
你有没有曾经在喝苏打水或是白水之间纠结过，
and you pick the soda because "Well, if you have a glass of soda today,
就算你今天喝了一杯苏打水
it's not like you're going to wake up overweight and unhealthy tomorrow?"
明天醒来后也不会变胖，也不会影响健康，所以你选了苏打水。
That's basically how we all like to think.
我们都会那样认为。
That somehow, success only comes from doing huge, important things right.
好像只有做一些大事才能获得成功。
You're going to only buy kale for your house at some point and become ultra healthy,
有时你只会给家里买蔬菜，然后就会变得无比健康，
but until then, it's not like drinking this one soda will all of a sudden make you this unhealthy person in one day.
但在这种情况下，喝杯苏打水不会突然在一天之内让你不健康。
So you have this big paradox. On one hand, you're right. The little decision doesn't really matter.
所以你很矛盾。一方面，你是正确的。小决定影响不大。
This one decision won't really affect your health in any significant way.
一个决定不会对你的健康产生重大的影响。
But on the other hand, it's really the only thing that matters.
但另一方面，它又是唯一要紧的。
Because in a year, you'll be the result of your every little decision compounded.
因为你的选择会决定一年后的你是什么样子。
So in essence, every little decision matters. And these little things are easy to do.
所以本质上，每个小决定都很重要。而且这些小事情做起来很容易。
When you're on your lunch break tomorrow, you can make the choice to drink water instead of soda.
你明天午休的时候，可以选择用水来代替苏打水。
Anyone is capable of doing that. But since it's easy to do, it's also easy not to do and just order the soda.
任何人都能做到。就是因为很容易做到，所以也很容易不去做，进而仍然选择苏打水。
But what if you decide to do this little thing right? You won't be any healthier the next day,
但如果你决定正确的对待这件小事会怎么样呢？你明天不会比今天更健康，
but after a year of drinking water instead of soda every lunch, you would see huge health benefits from it.
但是如果你每餐午饭都用水代替苏打，一年之后你会从中体会到巨大的健康益处。
And you can apply this to anything. What if you just read 10 pages of a good book every night before you go to bed?
这个道理适用于任何事情。如果你每晚睡觉前都读10页书会怎样呢?
Anyone could do that. That's a pretty easy thing to do. But since it's pretty easy to do,
任何人都能做到。是非常容易的一件事情。但是由于很容易做，
it's also pretty easy to just ignore it and not do it.
人们也就很容易忽视而不去实施。
If you read 10 pages tonight, it's not like you will wake up this smart, enlightened person tomorrow.
如果你今晚读10页书，你不会立马变成一个聪明，开明的人。
But what about a year from now? That's like 15 books.
但从现在起坚持一年会怎么样呢？那就是15本书。
15 good books could literally turn you into a completely different person.
15本书足以令你脱胎换骨。
What if you do this for 4 years at college
当你周围的人因为不能立刻见效而不去读这10页书
while everyone else around you doesn't read the 10 pages because it's not like they're going to be any better the next day?
但你大学四年坚持下来了，会发生什么呢？
That's like 60 books.
你会读60本书。
60 good books could put you ahead of every single one of your friends whether that be related to finances,
60本好书可以让你在经济、
relationships, or just overall happiness.
人际关系或整体幸福感方面超越你所有的朋友。
So again, you have this paradox. On one hand you can fall for the unsuccessful mindset of,
所以，你很矛盾。一方面你陷入了一种失败的心态，
"Well, it's not like this little decision matters." But in reality, the little decisions that we make is all that matters.
“小决定好像不会起什么作用。”但是事实上，我们做的小决定都至关重要。
Every little decision of yours will be compounded at the end of the year and who you are will be the result of it all.
你所做的每一个小决定都会在年底体现出来，你会成为这些决定的产物。
Now here's the thing... I think it's just human and okay to indulge in things...
是这样…我认为人类可以沉迷于某件事…
I do it all the time. It's not like I'm this little robot who does everything quote unquote right.
我就经常这么做。我并不是像机器人一样做着各种被设定的“正确”的事情。
But I'm at least more aware of how I think about the little things.
但至少我更清楚自己对这些琐事的看法。
I have a vision of who I want to be in a year, and I ask myself with every little decision,
我预计在一年之内要变成什么样的人，每做一个小决定都会问一下我自己，
is this going to move me closer to that person or not?
这个决定是否会让我离目标更近？
And the answer isn't always yes, but at least I'm aware of it,
答案并不都是肯定的，但至少我会问问自己，
and at least I try to align more of my little decisions with that vision.
至少我尝试着每做决定的时候都会想想我的目标。
And the more I can answer yes, the more I realize that I'm closer to being that person at the end of the year.
肯定的回答越多，我就更加意识到我离年底想成为的样子更近了一步。
But the surprising realization for me has been how many times the answer is no.
但是否定答案的次数很多这让我很惊讶。
No, this isn't moving me to where I want to be in a year.
不，这并没有让我离年底的目标更近一步。
And this is perhaps the most important lesson of the slight edge.
这可能是轻微边缘最重要的一课。
A huge lesson of taking responsibility for where you are in life.
也是对你的人生定位负起责任的重要一课。
When you get to the end of the year and you're unhealthy,
到了年底你不健康的时候，
having been conscious about all your little decisions will at least make you realize why you're unhealthy.
你知道自己这一年做了什么决定，所以你也明白自己为何不健康。
You're no longer going to blame your poor health on how your job didn't pay you enough to eat healthy,
你不会责怪工资太低无法保障你的健康饮食，
you're going to realize that it's because you decided to buy the soda over the free water every single day at lunch.
你会知道你之所以不健康，是因为每天午餐的时候你决定买苏打水而不是免费的白水，
It's because you decided to buy the more expensive bag of cookies
是因为每次购物的时候你决定买更贵的饼干
instead of buying the cheaper bananas every time you went shopping.
而不是便宜的香蕉。
