I love challenging myself. I like to set a goal that seems difficult or even impossible and then do everything I can to reach that goal. It’s not always easy, and sometimes I don’t reach the goal--heck, sometimes I don’t come anywhere close to reaching it--but it’s still something that I love to do. Sometimes the challenges I take on are physical, such as running a very long distance, and sometimes they’re more mental, such as writing a book. Sometimes they’re very abstract, such as trying to deal with my fear of heights or my uneasiness in crowds. But no matter what kind they are, I feel fortunate that I’m able to identify challenges and then take them on.

我喜歡挑戰(zhàn)自己，我喜歡設定看似難以完成甚至不可能實現(xiàn)的目標，然后盡一切努力達到這一目標。這件事不總是容易做到，有時我達不到目標——管他呢，有時與目標還相差甚遠——但這仍然是我喜歡做的。有時我迎接的挑戰(zhàn)是身體方面的，比如說長跑;有時更多的是精神上的，比如說寫一本書;有時非常抽象，比如說努力擺脫恐高或人多時的不安。但無論是什么挑戰(zhàn)，我都感覺很幸運能夠認清挑戰(zhàn)，然后迎接挑戰(zhàn)。

I actually meet many of them. I’ve run one hundred miles in 26 hours, I’ve written a few novels, and I’ve done some other things that I didn’t think I could do at first. Nowadays, though, after taking on so many challenges, I never really feel that something is impossible--I pretty much know that anything is possible with the right attitude and enough effort. That’s not to say that nowadays I meet every challenge successfully,because I don’t. I just don’t start out by thinking that I can’t do it.

我確實完成過很多挑戰(zhàn)，我曾用26小時跑了一百英里，寫過幾篇小說，還做過一些其他起初以為自己做不到的事情。然而現(xiàn)在，接受過如此多挑戰(zhàn)之后，我永遠不會感覺有什么是不可能的——我大體上知道只要態(tài)度正確而且足夠努力的話一切皆有可能。我不是說我現(xiàn)在能成功地應對一切挑戰(zhàn)，因為我做不到。我只是不會在做事之前就覺得自己不行。

And I’ve learned that my attitude towards a challenge is one of the most important keys to meeting it. If I see a challenge ahead and I’am overwhelmed or intimidated, then the chances are very good that I won’t be successful in meeting it.

我學會了面對挑戰(zhàn)的態(tài)度是應對挑戰(zhàn)最關鍵的因素之一。如果我看到面前有挑戰(zhàn)，就不知所措或者被嚇倒了，應對挑戰(zhàn)時很有可能會失敗。

If, on the other hand, I see a challenge and immediately start thinking of different ways that I might be able to meet it, the chances are good that I shall meet it successfully.

相反，如果我看到了挑戰(zhàn)，馬上換個思路，認為自己有能力應對挑戰(zhàn)，那我最終很有可能會成功。