更多地道的英語表達，請繼續關注“跟誰學”。

今天給大家分享的是美國前總統奧巴馬寫給女兒的信，也是一封細緻入微的家書。

每一條建議都可以做得到，每一條都有益，行文的語氣沒有作為父親或者總統的諄諄教導，從“懷疑自己”到“浪費時間”，奧巴馬都說得貼切，自然，優美。

希望能夠對你有所裨益。

Life is short. It may feel like it takes　forever sometimes, but the reality is that you live, and a short time later, you die. It happens so quickly, many people don’t even realize they had a life until it’s already over.

生命如此短暫。我們有時候覺得生命怎麼也走不完，實際上，你現在活著，過不了多久，就會死去。人生真是轉眼一瞬間的事情，很多人到臨死前才意識到這一生已經結束。

1

停止懷疑自己

Stop Doubting Yourself

If you don't believe in yourself, nobody will. Success starts in your mind, and if all you're doing is putting yourself down and predicting failure, it'll become a self-fulfilling prophecy. Instead of doubting yourself, think positively. Not only will you be happier and more successful, you'll spread it to everyone around you.

如果你自己都不相信自己，那沒人會相信你。成功源於你的頭腦，如果你所做的是不斷地看扁自己，預言著未來的失敗，這就真的會成為現實。與其懷疑自己，不如積極的考慮問題。不僅會讓自己更加開心和成功，你還能夠感染到周圍的人。

2

停止消極

Stop Being Negative

Now that you're done doubting yourself, stop doubting others. You don't like when people are critical of you, so stop being critical of others. Think about how you make other people feel – even if you have good intentions, people don't like hearing negativity.

現在你不要再懷疑自己了，也別再懷疑身邊的人。你不希望被人對你挑剔，那麼也不要再去挑剔身邊的人。想想你給別人帶來的什麼樣的感受吧——即使出發點是好的，別人也不想聽到那麼多消極的事情呀。

3

停止拖延

Stop Procrastinating

I don't feel like procrastinating right now – I'll do it tomorrow. When you procrastinate, you remain stagnant. Whatever you're putting off doesn't go away; resolve the problem, and move on. You'll be much happier in the long run.

我現在不想做，還是留到明天吧。一旦開始拖延，其實你已經停滯不前了。你拖延的事情不會自行解決。解決問題，繼續前行吧。從長遠角度來說你會更加快樂。

4

不要那麼刻薄

Stop Being Mean

It's completely possible to step on someone's toes without meaning to – it happens all the time. There's no need to pile on by purposefully doing mean things, so make a conscious effort to stop being mean. If someone wrongs you, let it go. There's no need to seek vengeance unless that's the type of person you want to be.

無意踩到別人的情況真的有可能會發生——常常會發生。但沒必要去處心積慮地做一些不好的事情，所以要有意識地讓自己不要那麼刻薄。如果有人對你無理地對待，隨他們去好了。沒必要去報復，除非你也想成為那一類的人。

5

停止軟弱

Stop Being a Pushover

We live in a capitalistic society in which everyone’s trying to sell us something. Everyone’s looking out for themselves in one way or another, and you need to do the same. Stop putting yourself out because you’re too shy to say no.

我們處於一個資本主義社會，每個人都在試圖向我們推銷些什麼。每個人都在用不同的方式關注自己，你也要這樣做。別因為太害羞、不敢說“不”而任人擺佈。

6

不要聽懷恨者的話

Stop Listening to Haters

No matter what you want to do in life, there’s always someone around to tell you why it can’t and won’t work. I can come up with millions of reasons Twitter won’t work, and yet it’s one of the most popular social media sites on the web. My opinion didn’t stop Twitter’s success any more than it convinced Kobe Bryant to quit the NBA or Josh Hartnett to stop acting. Why would you let someone’s opinion stop you?

無論你想幹什麼，總會有人告訴你不要這麼做，沒有用的。我可以想出成百萬條推特不實用的理由，但它還是互聯網上最流行的社交網站之一。我的想法不會阻止推特的成功，就像你無法勸科比退出NBA或喬什·哈奈特不要當演員了一樣，都毫無意義。那麼為什麼要讓別人的想法阻止你呢?

7

不要再偷懶

Stop Being Lazy

Lazy people are annoying – it's like pulling teeth getting them to do anything. If I can't do something as simple as going to a movie with you without having to factor in an hour of convincing you to get your lazy butt out of bed, I'd rather go alone. People have enough trouble motivating themselves; don't make your friends and family waste their valuable energy motivating you as well.

懶人真的很招人煩——得像趕驢磨墨一樣逼著他們做事情。如果我想跟你看一場電影，卻不得不花一個小時說服你起床，那我寧願一個人去看。給自己動力都不是件容易的事情，就別讓朋友和家人浪費寶貴的精力再來給你動力了吧。

8

停止抱怨

Stop Complaining

We all have problems, and sometimes we need to vent to someone. That's acceptable, but pay attention to how often you're venting. We all love helping our friends and family, but when all you get from someone is negativity, it's easier to cut them off than help, especially if they're always complaining about the same things.

我們都有麻煩事，有時候總想跟別人傾訴。這可以理解，但要注意你吐槽的頻率。我們都喜歡幫助朋友和家人，但如果從那個人身上我只能感知到負能量，那麼還是離得越遠越好吧，尤其是當他們在反覆抱怨同一件事的時候。

9

別再那麼自私

Stop Being Selfish

If you only think about yourself, you'll soon find yourself by yourself. Stop for a minute and think about how your actions affect other people – did you take the last cup of coffee from the break room? Refill it! Do you live with others? Don't drink out the milk carton. We share this world 100% of the time, so every action you take can affect other people.

如果你只考慮你自己，那麼很快你會發現身邊只剩下你自己。停一分鐘想想你的行為會給別人帶來什麼影響吧——你是不是從休息室拿了最後一杯咖啡?再倒滿呀!你是不是和別人合租?不要喝光所有的牛奶，這個世界是一個完全由大家分享的世界，你所做的每件事都會影響到別人。

10

別再浪費時間

Stop Wasting Time

I've said it before, and I'll say it again: time is the most valuable resource we have. Don't waste your time on unproductive things. If you want to explore the world's dark corners, that's great. I still associate with people who have not-so-kosher careers, but I don't hang out with those people at the expense of my own short- and long-term goals。

雖然之前說過了，但我還想再說一遍：時間是我們擁有的最寶貴的資源，不要把時間浪費在沒有意義的事情上面，如果你想探索這個世界的黑暗角落，很好。我也認識一些沒有固定工作的一些自由職業者，但我不會以犧牲自己的短期長期目標為代價和他們出去玩樂。

更多地道的英語表達，請繼續關注“跟誰學”。

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關鍵字: 奧巴馬 巴拉克·侯賽因·奧巴馬 英語