我在职业生涯中花了20多年的时间来帮助很多人找到自己的激情，追求对自己来说有意义的东西，加入对的平台，激发出自己最大的潜力。从我为大家进行职业生涯指导的经验看，对自己的职业方向感到迷失和沮丧，或者说，搞不清楚自己最适合做什么职业是很正常的。

I’m someone who has spent the past 20+ years of my career understanding and helping others figure out your passion, pursue what’s most meaningful to you, and join “right fit” job and career situations that bring out the best in you. In my experience providing career advice to many people, it’s actually one of the most normal things to feel confused and frustrated about your career. Or to be unable to figure out what kind of job or career will best fit you.

2017年新锐中产调查报告显示，95%中产会感到经常焦虑或偶尔焦虑，其中46%的人对现实不满，31%感觉过去虚度了很多时间。在Boss直聘和虎嗅一起发布的年轻人的职场报告《2017年，年轻人都去哪儿了》里，年轻人平均跳槽间隔为22个月，28.1%的人不到1年就跳一次，换工作的最大原因不是平台、团队或者薪资，是职业成长。

如果你期望你的职业状况有所改变但不知道该怎么做才好，我的建议是关注以下4点。它们能帮助你明白如何更好的去追求你的职业成功：方向、要素、旅程和高品质的工作环境。

If you’re someone who is having a difficult time knowing how to improve your career situation, these are four key things that I always emphasize. They will give you a clearer sense and approach to pursuing and achieving the kind of success you seek: Direction, Elements, Journey, and Quality situations. Here’s why you should embrace them. 

方向——大多数人在尝试思考自己的职业生涯时所犯的最大错误，就是强迫自己想出一个职业规划和职业目标。老实说，在这个日新月异的时代，这事儿一点都不现实。举个例子，五年前，市场上根本没有新媒体的工作。从每一年新兴的技术、行业、商业模式来看，又有谁会知道5年后会有什么新的职业选择呢？

Direction – The biggest mistake most people make when trying to figure out their career is pressuring themselves to come up with a career plan and career objective. Honestly, in a world that’s changing so dramatically and quickly, that’s not even realistic. For instance, five years ago, a career in social media didn’t even exist. From the new technologies, industries, and business models emerging each year, who knows what new career choices will be available five years from now. 

所以，制定一个长达二十年、十年、甚至是五年的职业规划，并没有什么意义。难怪这么多人对自己的未来感到特别失落和焦虑。他们太纠结于去搞清楚一个他们搞不明白的事情了。只会让你感觉自己不够好、沮丧和消沉。

So determining a career plan and where you’ll end up 20, 10, or even 5 years from now, that doesn’t even make sense? No wonder so many people feel so lost and stressed about their future. They’re too caught up trying to figure out things that can’t be determined. And that only cause you to feel inadequate, frustrated, and depressed.

你最多也就是能确定一个对的方向或者职业道路。这是你首先要做的，最重要也是最实用的一件事。为你的事业发展选择一个正确的方向，最终你一定会找到一些你喜欢而且擅长做的事情。但是如果你选择了错误的方向，你做的任何工作变动或职业决定都不会帮助你到达你想去的地方。

The best you can do is to determine a good direction or road to travel for your career. That’s the most important, practical thing to do first. Choose a good direction for your career and you’ll eventually find something you’re likely to enjoy and become successful at. But choose the wrong direction, then any job move or career decision you make is not going to get you to where you hope to get someday.

以我自己为例，我的第一份工作是研发工程师。这是一份好工作，也是一条很好的职业轨迹。但对我来说，工程师的职业并不适合我，我更希望从商。这是我在过去的二十多年里所坚持的道路，也让我追寻到自己喜欢的东西，充分发挥我真正的才能，做一些对我来说更有意义的事情。

For instance, I began my career as an R&D engineer. It was a good job and a good career track. But an engineering career was the wrong direction for me. The much better direction was a business one. It’s the road I’ve spent the past 20+ years on, and one that’s allowed me to pursue what I enjoy, apply my true strengths, and do the things that are most meaningful to me.

要素——如何为你的职业生涯选择正确的方向或道路？你先要确定什么对你来说是最重要的。在我的线下课程《如何找到最适合你的行业》中，我让学员们找到三个对他们职业发展最重要的三个要素。有以下几点：

• 什么对你来说最重要

• 什么是你最感兴趣的

• 什么是你最喜欢做的

• 什么会激发你的热情

• 
  

Elements – So how to choose the right direction or road to travel for your career? Well, it’s all about identifying what’s most important to you. In my workshop on figuring out your career, I have people identify three elements that you hope can be a part of whatever you do and whatever situation you’re in. These are things that . . .

• . . . matter most to you

• . . . you’re most interested in

• . . . you enjoy doing most

• . . . you may have a passion for

最后，工作选择和职业发展并不分对或错、好或坏。它们与你的个性、兴趣以及你自己对成功的定位有关。有些人可能会选择做技术、交易或创意，其他人可能喜欢创造或打造一些事物、领导别人或是赚钱。这些都很好。在职业早期，我确定了“商业”、“帮助他人”、“中国”是我最感兴趣的三个关键要素，从那之后我选择的任何平台都必须包含这3个要素。

At the end of the day, job choices and career moves aren’t about what’s right or wrong, or good or bad. They’re relative to your personality, interests, and kind of success that’s most attractive to you. Some people may identify technology, deal-making, or the ability to be creative. Others may like to build things, lead others, or make money. It’s all good. Early on, I identified business, helping people, and China as the three key elements that I was most interested in. They’ve been a big part of everything I’ve pursued and every situation I’ve been in ever since.

旅程——我遇到过的人中很少有人的事业发展是一条笔直的线，意味着，他们很早就确定了自己的职业方向。当然，这种人还是有的。但对包括我在内的大多数人来说，事业是一条蜿蜒曲折的道路，是一场旅程。

Journey – Few people I’ve ever met have a career path that’s a straight line. Where they’re doing the same thing many years later that they identified early in their career. Of course, this happens for some. But for most people, your career is a winding road. It’s a journey. This includes mine.

你不可能通过坐在原地思考来搞清楚自己的职业道路。你必须经历一些事情，才能真正发现自我，发现什么才是真正适合自己的。你必须不断前行，走到下一个转角，才能看到更远的路。

You don’t figure out your career by sitting around and thinking about it. You have to do and experience things to discover more about yourself and what you may be a great fit for you. You have to move forward and reach the next corner to see further down the road you’re traveling.

所以我鼓励大家要有耐心，面对现实。享受建立事业和追求成功的过程，接受这个旅程。因为最终你要在路上花费大量的时间去你想去的地方。

So I encourage people to be more patient and realistic. Enjoy the process of building your career and pursuing the success you seek. Recognize the journey you’re on. Because ultimately, you spend most of your time on the road to where you’re trying to go.

高品质的工作环境——很难说你什么时候会发现你真正想做的事情。这种顿悟在任何时刻都有可能发生，但也可能需要一段很长的时间。当它发生的时候，那些你曾经待过的优质环境会帮助你进入你想进的公司或平台。高质量的工作环境会让你获得你需要的能力、软技能和竞争优势，来帮助你抓住吸引你的工作机会。

Quality situations – It’s hard to tell when you’ll discover what you really want to do. That realization could come at any time. And it could take a while. When it does, it’s the quality situations you’ve been in that will help you to get into the jobs and companies you now want to join. It’s quality situations that allow you to build the capabilities, transferrable skills, and competitive advantages you need to capture the opportunities that you’re attracted to.

我遇到过很多人，他们花了大量的时间和精力去搞清楚他们对做什么有激情。因为他们觉得现在做的事儿好像跟他们未来的工作并没有什么关系，所以他们也不太关注目前的工作情况。但是当他们最终弄清楚他们真正感兴趣的是什么时，他们却没有足够的竞争力在那个领域获得好的工作机会。

I’ve met many people who spend a lot of time and energy trying to figure out what they have a passion for doing. Because what they’re doing now doesn’t seem related to what they’ll be doing in the future, they don’t pay much attention to their current job situation. But when they finally figure out what they’re genuinely interested in, they’re not competitive enough to get into good opportunities in that area. 

另一方面，我有大概五年半的时间都在做一名研发工程师。我在一家非常好的公司工作，处在一个非常专业的工作环境中，这个环境给了我很好的锻炼机会。因此，我在那边学到的技能和成就，能够帮助我成功转型到一个对我来说是全新的商业领域。尽管在我这五年多的大部分时间里，我都没有意识到我会做出这么大的职业转变。

On the other hand, I spent the first 5 ½ years of my career as an R&D engineer. I worked for a very good company, in a very professional environment, where I was given very good opportunities. As a result, I was able build up the kind of skills and achievements that helped me transition my career into the business world, which was completely new to me. Even though it wasn’t apparent to me for most of those 5 ½ years that I was going to make such a big change in my career.

认识到这四点，你会有一个更实际和可实现的方法找到适合自己的事业和最适合自己的工作。这个方法能帮你消除你对自己事业的沮丧和困惑。因为现在，试图去想一个职业规划和职业目标是不现实的，至少不适合现在我们所生活的环境。除非你有能力预测未来！那就啥也不用想了，直接带我去赌城吧！

Recognizing these four things will give you a more practical, achievable approach to figuring out your career and the kind of job that will best fit you. It will remove your frustration and confusion about your career situation. Because these days, trying to come up with a career plan and career objective is not realistic. Not in the world we live in today. Unless, you have the ability to predict the future. In that case, forget your career and let’s go to Las Vegas together!