Attitudes toward Work
佚名 / Anonymous
A person may have an idea about himself that will prevent him from doing good work.
He may have the idea that he is not capable of it. It is easy to get such an idea even though there is not justification for it. A child may think he is stupid because he does not understand how to make the most of his mental faculties, or he may accept another person's mistaken estimate of his ability. Older people may be handicapped by the mistaken belief that they are incapable of learning anything new because of their age.
A person who believes that he is incapable will not make a real effort, because he feels that it would be useless. He won’t go at a job with the confidence necessary for success, and he won’t work his hardest, even though he may think he is doing so. He therefore is likely to fail, and the failure will strengthen his belief in his incompetence.
Alfred Adler, a famous psychiatrist, had an experience which illustrates this. When he was a small boy, he got off to a poor start in arithmetic. His teacher got the idea that he had no ability in arithmetic, and told his parents what she thought in order that they would not expect too much of him. In this way, they too developed the idea, “Isn’t it too bad that Alfred can’t do arithmetic?” He accepted their mistaken estimate of his ability, felt that it was useless to try, and was very poor in arithmetic, just as they expected.
One day he became very angry at the teacher and the other students because they laughed when he said he saw how to do a problem which none of the other students had been able to solve.
Adler succeeded in solving the problem. This gave him confidence. He rejected the idea that he couldn’t do arithmetic, and was determined to show them that he could. His anger and his newfound confidence stimulated him to go at arithmetic problems with a new spirit. He now worked with interest, determination, and purpose, and he soon became extraordinarily good in arithmetic. He not only proved that he could do arithmetic, but also he learned early in life from his own experience that, if a person goes at a job with determination and purpose, he may astonish himself as well as others by his ability.
This experience made him realize that many people have more ability than they think they have, and that lack of success is as often the result of lack of knowledge of how to apply one’s ability, lack of confidence, and lack of determination as it is the result of lack of ability.
自我认识可能会妨碍人们出色地完成工作。
他或许觉得自己力不能及，即便这种想法毫无道理，可人们还是很容易产生这种想法。孩子可能会认为自己笨，因为他不了解如何去充分利用自己的智慧，或者可能接受了别人对他能力的错误定论。上了年纪的人可能会被错误的观念阻挠，认为因为年龄的关系，自己没有能力再学习新的东西。
相信自己没能力的人，是不会真正付出努力的，因为他觉得努力也是徒劳。他不会带着成功必需的信心去工作，也不会竭尽全力去做，即使他认为自己尽力了。这样，他很可能会失败。而失败更会让他认为自己无能。
著名精神病学家阿尔弗雷德·阿德勒的经历证实了这点。当他还是个小孩时，一开始时他的算术很差。老师认为他是算术白痴，并把自己的想法告诉了他的父母，让他们别对这个孩子抱太大的希望。就这样，父母也有了这种想法，“阿尔弗雷德不会做算数，难道还不够糟糕吗？”阿尔弗雷德接受了他们对自己能力的错误定论，认为尝试也会毫无意义。于是，他的算术成绩就如他们所想的那样差。
一天，他对老师和同学感到非常生气，因为当他说知道如何解答一道其他同学都不会的题目时，大家都嘲笑他。
阿德勒成功地解答了那道难题，这让他有了信心。他拒绝了自己不会做算术的想法，并下定决心证明自己的能力给别人看。愤怒和新得到的信心激励他以一种全新的精神状态去解答算术题。现在，他带着兴趣、决心和目的学习，很快他的算术成绩就格外优秀了。他不仅证明了自己能做算术，还在他生命的早期，从自己的经历中学会了这个道理：如果一个人怀着决心和目的去干事，他的能力可能会让自己和他人都感到震惊。
这一经历让他意识到，很多人的能力都比自我评估的要高。但是，由于对怎样运用自己能力的认识，信心和决心的匮乏，而导致了成功的匮乏。
记忆填空
1. A child may think he is because he does not understand to make the most of his mental faculties, or he may accept another person’s mistaken estimate his ability. Older people may be handicapped by the mistaken belief they are incapable of learning anything new because of their .
2. he was a small boy, he got off to a poor start in arithmetic. His got the idea that he had no ability in arithmetic, and told his parents she thought in order that they would not expect much of him.
佳句翻译
1. 他或许觉得自己力不能及，即便这种想法毫无道理，可人们还是很容易产生它。
2. 他拒绝了自己不会做算术的想法，并下定决心证明自己的能力给别人看。
3. 如果一个人怀着决心和目的去干事，他的能力可能会让自己和他人都感到震惊。
短语应用
1. A person may have an idea about himself that will prevent him from doing good work.
prevent from：阻止，制止；妨碍
2. he may astonish himself as well as others by his ability.
as well as：也；和……一样