如何更积极更快乐的工作-Shawn Achor Ted英语演讲

 Shawn Achor: The Happy Secret to Better Work改善工作的快乐之道 英语演讲稿

When I was seven years old and my sister was just five years old, we were playing on top of a bunk 1 bed. I was two years older than my sister at the time -- I mean, I'm two years older than her now -- but at the time it meant she had to do everything that I wanted to do, and I wanted to play war. So we were up on top of our bunk beds. And on one side of the bunk bed, I had put out all of my G.I. Joe soldiers and weaponry. And on the other side were all my sister's My Little Ponies 3 ready for a cavalry 4 charge.
There are differing accounts of what actually happened that afternoon, but since my sister is not here with us today, let me tell you the true story -- (Laughter) -- which is my sister's a little bit on the clumsy side. Somehow, without any help or push from her older brother at all, suddenly Amy disappeared off of the top of the bunk bed and landed with this crash on the floor. Now I nervously 5 peered over the side of the bed to see what had befallen my fallen sister and saw that she had landed painfully on her hands and knees on all fours on the ground.
I was nervous because my parents had charged me with making sure that my sister and I played as safely and as quietly as possible. And seeing as how I had accidentally broken Amy's arm just one week before ... (Laughter) ... heroically pushing her out of the way of an oncoming imaginary sniper bullet, (Laughter) for which I have yet to be thanked, I was trying as hard as I could -- she didn't even see it coming -- I was trying as hard as I could to be on my best behavior.
And I saw my sister's face, this wail 6 of pain and suffering and surprise threatening to erupt from her mouth and threatening to wake my parents from the long winter's nap for which they had settled. So I did the only thing my little frantic 7 seven year-old brain could think to do to avert 8 this tragedy. And if you have children, you've seen this hundreds of times before. I said, "Amy, Amy, wait. Don't cry. Don't cry. Did you see how you landed? No human lands on all fours like that. Amy, I think this means you're a unicorn 9."
(Laughter)
Now that was cheating, because there was nothing in the world my sister would want more than not to be Amy the hurt five year-old little sister, but Amy the special unicorn. Of course, this was an option that was open to her brain at no point in the past. And you could see how my poor, manipulated sister faced conflict, as her little brain attempted to devote resources to feeling the pain and suffering and surprise she just experienced, or contemplating 10 her new-found identity as a unicorn. And the latter won out. Instead of crying, instead of ceasing our play, instead of waking my parents, with all the negative consequences that would have ensued for me, instead a smile spread across her face and she scrambled 11 right back up onto the bunk bed with all the grace of a baby unicorn ... (Laughter) ... with one broken leg.
What we stumbled across at this tender age of just five and seven -- we had no idea at the time -- was something that was going be at the vanguard of a scientific revolution occurring two decades later in the way that we look at the human brain. What we had stumbled across is something called positive psychology 13, which is the reason that I'm here today and the reason that I wake up every morning.
When I first started talking about this research outside of academia, out with companies and schools, the very first thing they said to never do is to start your talk with a graph. The very first thing I want to do is start my talk with a graph. This graph looks boring, but this graph is the reason I get excited and wake up every morning. And this graph doesn't even mean anything; it's fake data. What we found is --
(Laughter)
If I got this data back studying you here in the room, I would be thrilled, because there's very clearly a trend that's going on there, and that means that I can get published, which is all that really matters. The fact that there's one weird 14 red dot that's up above the curve, there's one weirdo in the room -- I know who you are, I saw you earlier -- that's no problem. That's no problem, as most of you know, because I can just delete that dot. I can delete that dot because that's clearly a measurement error. And we know that's a measurement error because it's messing up my data.
So one of the very first things we teach people in economics and statistics and business and psychology courses is how, in a statistically 15 valid 16 way, do we eliminate the weirdos. How do we eliminate the outliers so we can find the line of best fit? Which is fantastic if I'm trying to find out how many Advil the average person should be taking -- two. But if I'm interested in potential, if I'm interested in your potential, or for happiness or productivity or energy or creativity, what we're doing is we're creating the cult 17 of the average with science.
If I asked a question like, "How fast can a child learn how to read in a classroom?" scientists change the answer to "How fast does the average child learn how to read in that classroom?" and then we tailor the class right towards the average. Now if you fall below the average on this curve, then psychologists get thrilled, because that means you're either depressed 18 or you have a disorder 19, or hopefully both. We're hoping for both because our business model is, if you come into a therapy session with one problem, we want to make sure you leave knowing you have 10, so you keep coming back over and over again. We'll go back into your childhood if necessary, but eventually what we want to do is make you normal again. But normal is merely average.
And what I posit 12 and what positive psychology posits 20 is that if we study what is merely average, we will remain merely average. Then instead of deleting those positive outliers, what I intentionally 21 do is come into a population like this one and say, why? Why is it that some of you are so high above the curve in terms of your intellectual ability, athletic 22 ability, musical ability, creativity, energy levels, your resiliency in the face of challenge, your sense of humor? Whatever it is, instead of deleting you, what I want to do is study you. Because maybe we can glean 23 information -- not just how to move people up to the average, but how we can move the entire average up in our companies and schools worldwide.
The reason this graph is important to me is, when I turn on the news, it seems like the majority of the information is not positive, in fact it's negative. Most of it's about murder, corruption 24, diseases, natural disasters. And very quickly, my brain starts to think that's the accurate ratio of negative to positive in the world. What that's doing is creating something called the medical school syndrome 25 -- which, if you know people who've been to medical school, during the first year of medical training, as you read through a list of all the symptoms and diseases that could happen, suddenly you realize you have all of them.
I have a brother in-law named Bobo -- which is a whole other story. Bobo married Amy the unicorn. Bobo called me on the phone from Yale Medical School, and Bobo said, "Shawn, I have leprosy." (Laughter) Which, even at Yale, is extraordinarily 26 rare. But I had no idea how to console poor Bobo because he had just gotten over an entire week of menopause.
(Laughter)
See what we're finding is it's not necessarily the reality that shapes us, but the lens through which your brain views the world that shapes your reality. And if we can change the lens, not only can we change your happiness, we can change every single educational and business outcome at the same time.
When I applied 27 to Harvard, I applied on a dare. I didn't expect to get in, and my family had no money for college. When I got a military scholarship two weeks later, they allowed me to go. Suddenly, something that wasn't even a possibility became a reality. When I went there, I assumed everyone else would see it as a privilege as well, that they'd be excited to be there. Even if you're in a classroom full of people smarter than you, you'd be happy just to be in that classroom, which is what I felt. But what I found there is, while some people experience that, when I graduated after my four years and then spent the next eight years living in the dorms with the students -- Harvard asked me to; I wasn't that guy. (Laughter) I was an officer of Harvard to counsel students through the difficult four years. And what I found in my research and my teaching is that these students, no matter how happy they were with their original success of getting into the school, two weeks later their brains were focused, not on the privilege of being there, nor on their philosophy or their physics. Their brain was focused on the competition, the workload 28, the hassles, the stresses, the complaints.
When I first went in there, I walked into the freshmen 29 dining hall, which is where my friends from Waco, Texas, which is where I grew up -- I know some of you have heard of it. When they'd come to visit me, they'd look around, they'd say, "This freshman 30 dining hall looks like something out of Hogwart's from the movie "Harry 31 Potter," which it does. This is Hogwart's from the movie "Harry Potter" and that's Harvard. And when they see this, they say, "Shawn, why do you waste your time studying happiness at Harvard? Seriously, what does a Harvard student possibly have to be unhappy about?"
Embedded 32 within that question is the key to understanding the science of happiness. Because what that question assumes is that our external world is predictive of our happiness levels, when in reality, if I know everything about your external world, I can only predict 10 percent of your long-term happiness. 90 percent of your long-term happiness is predicted not by the external world, but by the way your brain processes the world. And if we change it, if we change our formula for happiness and success, what we can do is change the way that we can then affect reality. What we found is that only 25 percent of job successes are predicted by I.Q. 75 percent of job successes are predicted by your optimism levels, your social support and your ability to see stress as a challenge instead of as a threat.
I talked to a boarding school up in New England, probably the most prestigious 33 boarding school, and they said, "We already know that. So every year, instead of just teaching our students, we also have a wellness week. And we're so excited. Monday night we have the world's leading expert coming in to speak about adolescent depression. Tuesday night it's school violence and bullying 34. Wednesday night is eating disorders 35. Thursday night is elicit 36 drug use. And Friday night we're trying to decide between risky 37 sex or happiness." (Laughter) I said, "That's most people's Friday nights." (Laughter) (Applause) Which I'm glad you liked, but they did not like that at all. Silence on the phone. And into the silence, I said, "I'd be happy to speak at your school, but just so you know, that's not a wellness week, that's a sickness week. What you've done is you've outlined all the negative things that can happen, but not talked about the positive."
The absence of disease is not health. Here's how we get to health: We need to reverse the formula for happiness and success. In the last three years, I've traveled to 45 different countries, working with schools and companies in the midst of an economic downturn. And what I found is that most companies and schools follow a formula for success, which is this: If I work harder, I'll be more successful. And if I'm more successful, then I'll be happier. That undergirds most of our parenting styles, our managing styles, the way that we motivate our behavior.
And the problem is it's scientifically broken and backwards 38 for two reasons. First, every time your brain has a success, you just changed the goalpost of what success looked like. You got good grades, now you have to get better grades, you got into a good school and after you get into a better school, you got a good job, now you have to get a better job, you hit your sales target, we're going to change your sales target. And if happiness is on the opposite side of success, your brain never gets there. What we've done is we've pushed happiness over the cognitive 39 horizon as a society. And that's because we think we have to be successful, then we'll be happier.
But the real problem is our brains work in the opposite order. If you can raise somebody's level of positivity in the present, then their brain experiences what we now call a happiness advantage, which is your brain at positive performs significantly better than it does at negative, neutral or stressed. Your intelligence rises, your creativity rises, your energy levels rise. In fact, what we've found is that every single business outcome improves. Your brain at positive is 31 percent more productive than your brain at negative, neutral or stressed. You're 37 percent better at sales. Doctors are 19 percent faster, more accurate at coming up with the correct diagnosis 40 when positive instead of negative, neutral or stressed. Which means we can reverse the formula. If we can find a way of becoming positive in the present, then our brains work even more successfully as we're able to work harder, faster and more intelligently.
What we need to be able to do is to reverse this formula so we can start to see what our brains are actually capable of. Because dopamine, which floods into your system when you're positive, has two functions. Not only does it make you happier, it turns on all of the learning centers in your brain allowing you to adapt to the world in a different way.
We've found that there are ways that you can train your brain to be able to become more positive. In just a two-minute span of time done for 21 days in a row, we can actually rewire your brain, allowing your brain to actually work more optimistically and more successfully. We've done these things in research now in every single company that I've worked with, getting them to write down three new things that they're grateful for for 21 days in a row, three new things each day. And at the end of that, their brain starts to retain a pattern of scanning the world, not for the negative, but for the positive first.
Journaling about one positive experience you've had over the past 24 hours allows your brain to relive it. Exercise teaches your brain that your behavior matters. We find that meditation 41 allows your brain to get over the cultural ADHD that we've been creating by trying to do multiple tasks at once and allows our brains to focus on the task at hand. And finally, random 42 acts of kindness are conscious acts of kindness. We get people, when they open up their inbox, to write one positive email praising or thanking somebody in their social support network.
And by doing these activities and by training your brain just like we train our bodies, what we've found is we can reverse the formula for happiness and success, and in doing so, not only create ripples 43 of positivity, but create a real revolution.
Thank you very much.
(Applause)
4. Shawn Achor: The Happy Secret to Better Work
5. Arianna Huffington: How to Succeed? Get More Sleep.
6. Tim Ferriss: Smash Fear, Learn Anything
7. Richard St. John: Success is a Continuous Journey
8. Nigel Marsh 44: How to Make Work-Life Balance Work
9. Dan Pink: The Surprising Science of Motivation
10. Tony Robbins: Why We Do What We Do
11. Drew Dudley: Everyday Leadership
12. Dave Morris: The Way of Improvisation 45
13. Chris Guillebeau: Fear and Permission
14. Gary Vaynerchuk: Do What You Love
(Editor’s Note: this talk is featured on TED 2.com’s “Best of the Web” section, but is from his Web 2.0 appearance.)
15. Brené Brown: The Power of Vulnerability
16. Simon Sinek: How Great Leaders Inspire Action
17. John Wooden: The Difference Between Winning and Succeeding
18. Sheena Iyengar: How to Make Choosing Easier
19. Derek Sivers: Keep Your Goals to Yourself
20. Dan Buettner: How to Live to Be 100+
Bonus talk: Did you know that I’ve done a TED talk myself? While mine definitely doesn’t rank among those listed in this post, I thought I’d give you a chance to check it out as well. (After all, it does have to do with lifehacks.)




点击收听单词发音  






1
bunk

  
 


n.(车、船等倚壁而设的)铺位；废话


参考例句：





He left his bunk and went up on deck again.他离开自己的铺位再次走到甲板上。
Most economists think his theories are sheer bunk.大多数经济学家认为他的理论纯属胡说。












2
ted

  
 


vt.翻晒，撒，撒开


参考例句：





The invaders gut ted the village.侵略者把村中财物洗劫一空。
She often teds the corn when it's sunny.天好的时候她就翻晒玉米。












3
ponies

  
 


矮种马，小型马( pony的名词复数 )； ￡25 25 英镑


参考例句：





They drove the ponies into a corral. 他们把矮种马赶进了畜栏。
She has a mania for ponies. 她特别喜欢小马。












4
cavalry

  
 


n.骑兵；轻装甲部队


参考例句：





We were taken in flank by a troop of cavalry. 我们翼侧受到一队骑兵的袭击。
The enemy cavalry rode our men down. 敌人的骑兵撞倒了我们的人。












5
nervously

  
 


adv.神情激动地，不安地


参考例句：





He bit his lip nervously,trying not to cry.他紧张地咬着唇，努力忍着不哭出来。
He paced nervously up and down on the platform.他在站台上情绪不安地走来走去。












6
wail

  
 


vt./vi.大声哀号，恸哭；呼啸，尖啸


参考例句：





Somewhere in the audience an old woman's voice began plaintive wail.观众席里，一位老太太伤心地哭起来。
One of the small children began to wail with terror.小孩中的一个吓得大哭起来。












7
frantic

  
 


adj.狂乱的，错乱的，激昂的


参考例句：





I've had a frantic rush to get my work done.我急急忙忙地赶完工作。
He made frantic dash for the departing train.他发疯似地冲向正开出的火车。












8
avert

  
 


v.防止，避免；转移(目光、注意力等)


参考例句：





He managed to avert suspicion.他设法避嫌。
I would do what I could to avert it.我会尽力去避免发生这种情况。












9
unicorn

  
 


n.(传说中的)独角兽


参考例句：





The unicorn is an imaginary beast.独角兽是幻想出来的动物。
I believe unicorn was once living in the world.我相信独角兽曾经生活在这个世界。












10
contemplating

  
 


深思，细想，仔细考虑( contemplate的现在分词 )； 注视，凝视； 考虑接受（发生某事的可能性）； 深思熟虑，沉思，苦思冥想


参考例句：





You're too young to be contemplating retirement. 你考虑退休还太年轻。
She stood contemplating the painting. 她站在那儿凝视那幅图画。












11
scrambled

  
 


v.快速爬行( scramble的过去式和过去分词 )；攀登；争夺；（军事飞机）紧急起飞


参考例句：





Each scrambled for the football at the football ground. 足球场上你争我夺。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
He scrambled awkwardly to his feet. 他笨拙地爬起身来。 来自《简明英汉词典》












12
posit

  
 


v.假定，认为


参考例句：





If she needs salvation,she will posit a savior.如果她需要救助，她就会设想一个救助者。
Other historians posit that she died of old age around 550 BC.别的史学家则认为她一直活到公元前550年左右才寿终正寝。












13
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。












14
weird

  
 


adj.古怪的，离奇的；怪诞的，神秘而可怕的


参考例句：





From his weird behaviour,he seems a bit of an oddity.从他不寻常的行为看来，他好像有点怪。
His weird clothes really gas me.他的怪衣裳简直笑死人。












15
statistically

  
 


ad.根据统计数据来看，从统计学的观点来看


参考例句：





The sample of building permits is larger and therefore, statistically satisfying. 建筑许可数的样本比较大，所以统计数据更令人满意。
The results of each test would have to be statistically independent. 每次试验的结果在统计上必须是独立的。












16
valid

  
 


adj.有确实根据的；有效的；正当的，合法的


参考例句：





His claim to own the house is valid.他主张对此屋的所有权有效。
Do you have valid reasons for your absence?你的缺席有正当理由吗？












17
cult

  
 


n.异教，邪教；时尚，狂热的崇拜


参考例句：





Her books aren't bestsellers,but they have a certain cult following.她的书算不上畅销书，但有一定的崇拜者。
The cult of sun worship is probably the most primitive one.太阳崇拜仪式或许是最为原始的一种。












18
depressed

  
 


adj.沮丧的，抑郁的，不景气的，萧条的


参考例句：





When he was depressed,he felt utterly divorced from reality.他心情沮丧时就感到完全脱离了现实。
His mother was depressed by the sad news.这个坏消息使他的母亲意志消沉。












19
disorder

  
 


n.紊乱，混乱；骚动，骚乱；疾病，失调


参考例句：





When returning back,he discovered the room to be in disorder.回家后，他发现屋子里乱七八糟。
It contained a vast number of letters in great disorder.里面七零八落地装着许多信件。












20
posits

  
 


v.假定，设想，假设( posit的第三人称单数 )


参考例句：





If a book is hard going, it ought to be good. If it posits a complex moral situation, it ought to be even better. 如果一本书很难读，那么它应该是一本好书；如果它提出了一个复杂的道德状况，那么它就更应该是本好书了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
Ray posits that this miracle is an object lesson for the disciples. 雷把这个奇事当作教训信徒们的事件。 来自互联网












21
intentionally

  
 


ad.故意地，有意地


参考例句：





I didn't say it intentionally. 我是无心说的。
The local authority ruled that he had made himself intentionally homeless and was therefore not entitled to be rehoused. 当地政府裁定他是有意居无定所，因此没有资格再获得提供住房。












22
athletic

  
 


adj.擅长运动的，强健的；活跃的，体格健壮的


参考例句：





This area has been marked off for athletic practice.这块地方被划出来供体育训练之用。
He is an athletic star.他是一个运动明星。












23
glean

  
 


v.收集(消息、资料、情报等)


参考例句：





The little information that we could glean about them was largely contradictory.我们能够收集到的有关它们的少量信息大部分是自相矛盾的。
From what I was able to glean,it appears they don't intend to take any action yet.根据我所收集到的资料分析，他们看来还不打算采取任何行动。












24
corruption

  
 


n.腐败，堕落，贪污


参考例句：





The people asked the government to hit out against corruption and theft.人民要求政府严惩贪污盗窃。
The old man reviled against corruption.那老人痛斥了贪污舞弊。












25
syndrome

  
 


n.综合病症；并存特性


参考例句：





The Institute says that an unidentified virus is to blame for the syndrome. 该研究所表示,引起这种综合症的是一种尚未确认的病毒。
Results indicated that 11 fetuses had Down syndrome. 结果表明有11个胎儿患有唐氏综合征。












26
extraordinarily

  
 


adv.格外地；极端地


参考例句：





She is an extraordinarily beautiful girl.她是个美丽非凡的姑娘。
The sea was extraordinarily calm that morning.那天清晨，大海出奇地宁静。












27
applied

  
 


adj.应用的；v.应用，适用


参考例句：





She plans to take a course in applied linguistics.她打算学习应用语言学课程。
This cream is best applied to the face at night.这种乳霜最好晚上擦脸用。












28
workload

  
 


n.作业量，工作量


参考例句：





An assistant one day a week would ease my workload.每周有一天配一个助手就会减轻我的工作负担。
He's always grousing about the workload.他总是抱怨工作量大。












29
freshmen

  
 


n.（中学或大学的）一年级学生( freshman的名词复数 )


参考例句：





We are freshmen and they are sophomores. 我们是一年级学生，他们是二年级学生。 来自《简明英汉词典》
University freshmen get lots of razzing, but they like the initiation. 大一新生受各种嘲弄，但是他们对这种入门经验甘之如饴。 来自辞典例句












30
freshman

  
 


n.大学一年级学生(可兼指男女)


参考例句：





Jack decided to live in during his freshman year at college.杰克决定大一时住校。
He is a freshman in the show business.他在演艺界是一名新手。












31
harry

  
 


vt.掠夺，蹂躏，使苦恼


参考例句：





Today,people feel more hurried and harried.今天，人们感到更加忙碌和苦恼。
Obama harried business by Healthcare Reform plan.奥巴马用医改掠夺了商界。












32
embedded

  
 


a.扎牢的


参考例句：





an operation to remove glass that was embedded in his leg 取出扎入他腿部玻璃的手术
He has embedded his name in the minds of millions of people. 他的名字铭刻在数百万人民心中。












33
prestigious

  
 


adj.有威望的，有声望的，受尊敬的


参考例句：





The young man graduated from a prestigious university.这个年轻人毕业于一所名牌大学。
You may even join a prestigious magazine as a contributing editor.甚至可能会加入一个知名杂志做编辑。












34
bullying

  
 


v.恐吓，威逼( bully的现在分词 )；豪；跋扈


参考例句：





Many cases of bullying go unreported . 很多恐吓案件都没有人告发。
All cases of bullying will be severely dealt with. 所有以大欺小的情况都将受到严肃处理。 来自《简明英汉词典》












35
disorders

  
 


n.混乱( disorder的名词复数 )；凌乱；骚乱；（身心、机能）失调


参考例句：





Reports of anorexia and other eating disorders are on the increase. 据报告，厌食症和其他饮食方面的功能紊乱发生率正在不断增长。 来自《简明英汉词典》
The announcement led to violent civil disorders. 这项宣布引起剧烈的骚乱。 来自《简明英汉词典》












36
elicit

  
 


v.引出,抽出,引起


参考例句：





It was designed to elicit the best thinking within the government. 机构的设置是为了在政府内部集思广益。
Don't try to elicit business secrets from me. I won't tell you anything. 你休想从我这里套问出我们的商业机密, 我什么都不会告诉你的。












37
risky

  
 


adj.有风险的，冒险的


参考例句：





It may be risky but we will chance it anyhow.这可能有危险，但我们无论如何要冒一冒险。
He is well aware how risky this investment is.他心里对这项投资的风险十分清楚。












38
backwards

  
 


adv.往回地，向原处，倒，相反，前后倒置地


参考例句：





He turned on the light and began to pace backwards and forwards.他打开电灯并开始走来走去。
All the girls fell over backwards to get the party ready.姑娘们迫不及待地为聚会做准备。












39
cognitive

  
 


adj.认知的，认识的，有感知的


参考例句：





As children grow older,their cognitive processes become sharper.孩子们越长越大，他们的认知过程变得更为敏锐。
The cognitive psychologist is like the tinker who wants to know how a clock works.认知心理学者倒很像一个需要通晓钟表如何运转的钟表修理匠。












40
diagnosis

  
 


n.诊断，诊断结果，调查分析，判断


参考例句：





His symptoms gave no obvious pointer to a possible diagnosis.他的症状无法作出明确的诊断。
The engineer made a complete diagnosis of the bridge's collapse.工程师对桥的倒塌做一次彻底的调查分析。












41
meditation

  
 


n.熟虑，（尤指宗教的）默想，沉思，（pl.）冥想录


参考例句：





This peaceful garden lends itself to meditation.这个恬静的花园适于冥想。
I'm sorry to interrupt your meditation.很抱歉，我打断了你的沉思。












42
random

  
 


adj.随机的；任意的；n.偶然的(或随便的)行动


参考例句：





The list is arranged in a random order.名单排列不分先后。
On random inspection the meat was found to be bad.经抽查，发现肉变质了。












43
ripples

  
 


逐渐扩散的感觉( ripple的名词复数 )


参考例句：





The moon danced on the ripples. 月亮在涟漪上舞动。
The sea leaves ripples on the sand. 海水在沙滩上留下了波痕。












44
marsh

  
 


n.沼泽，湿地


参考例句：





There are a lot of frogs in the marsh.沼泽里有许多青蛙。
I made my way slowly out of the marsh.我缓慢地走出这片沼泽地。












45
improvisation

  
 


n.即席演奏(或演唱)；即兴创作


参考例句：





a free-form jazz improvisation 自由创作的爵士乐即兴演出
Most of their music was spontaneous improvisation. 他们的大部分音乐作品都是即兴创作的。