The Fastest Way Create A New Life (A 12 Month Plan)
最快的方式创造新生活（12 个月计划）

The fastest way to ruin your life is to follow someone else’s plan.
毁掉你生活的最快方法就是追随别人的计划。

But here’s the problem:
但问题是：

The mind craves order.
心灵渴望秩序。

Without thinking about it, we seek security, safety, and comfort.
在不加思索的情况下，我们追求安全、安稳和舒适。

When I was young and dumb and learning to survive in the world, my fate was in the hands of my parents. I was too young to trust my own thinking, so the path I was set on is the only one I knew.
当我年轻无知，学习在这个世界上生存时，我的命运掌握在父母手中。我太年轻，无法相信自己的思考，因此我走上的道路是我唯一知道的。

That’s where things start to go wrong.
事情开始出错的地方。

We all know the path of least risk is the greatest risk of them all. We all know that a life of comfort is the most uncomfortable thing in the world. So we get stuck in this loop: seek comfort, become uncomfortable, seek more comfort, become more uncomfortable, and eventually, you end up so deep in a hole that it’s incredibly hard to dig yourself out. If it’s so comfortable, why do you have to numb the pain with quick pleasure?
我们都知道，最小风险的道路是所有风险中最大的风险。我们都知道，舒适的生活是世界上最不舒适的事情。因此，我们陷入了这个循环：追求舒适，变得不舒适，寻求更多舒适，变得更加不舒适，最终，你会陷入一个深坑，难以自拔。如果如此舒适，为什么还要用短暂的快乐来麻痹痛苦呢？

But here’s the thing.
但问题是。

It’s not as simple as setting a new goal.
这并不像设定一个新目标那么简单。

Especially if it’s a New Year’s resolution that you’re only creating because everyone else is. You don’t have an iceberg of “whys” stacked under your goals, so they’re easy to quit pursuing.
尤其是如果这是一个新年决心，而你只是因为其他人都在制定它。你没有一座“为什么”的冰山支撑着你的目标，因此很容易放弃追求。

You’ve done this before. The fancy new goal is motivating for a few hours, but then you find yourself in the same cloud of distractions you were trying to escape.
你以前做过这个。华丽的新目标在几个小时内是有激励作用的，但随后你发现自己又陷入了你试图逃避的同样的干扰中。

If you want to avoid living a robotic and predetermined life, the solution is to equip your mind with the right tools to think for yourself.
如果你想避免过上机械和预定的生活，解决方案是为你的思维配备正确的工具，让你能够独立思考。

Here’s how you start (the journey may be painful):
这是你开始的方式（旅程可能会很痛苦）：

You Need A Plan, But Not Like Most Plans
你需要一个计划，但不是像大多数计划那样

What you aim at determines what you see. – Jordan Peterson
你所瞄准的决定了你所看到的。 – 乔丹·彼得森

You need a plan.
你需要一个计划。

There isn’t any other way.
没有其他办法。

Because if you don’t have one, society does, and they’ve been planning your life for decades.
因为如果你没有一个，社会就有，而他们已经为你的生活规划了几十年。

A plan is not a list of things that won’t happen. It is an evolving blueprint that structures your mind to notice ideas that lead to progress.
计划不是一份不会发生的事情清单。它是一个不断发展的蓝图，帮助你的思维结构化，以便注意到能够推动进步的想法。

The problem is that people conform to the goals of their parents or society and stop there. They know that having a goal is a good thing, but they don’t realize what a goal is. Most people try to achieve a goal for acceptance and status rather than the happiness that stems from resistance being overcome.
问题在于，人们顺应父母或社会的目标，然后止步不前。他们知道有目标是一件好事，但并没有意识到目标是什么。大多数人试图为了被接受和地位而实现目标，而不是为了克服阻力所带来的幸福。

Why is this a problem? Because the goals that compose your mind, identity, and perspective—often in that order, like a set of concentric circles—filter what you perceive.
为什么这会是个问题？因为构成你思维、身份和视角的目标——通常是按这个顺序，就像一组同心圆——过滤了你所感知的事物。

A person with the goal of going to school to get a job will not notice an opportunity to start a business and pursue their life’s work. A person with the goal of starting a business won’t notice ideas that will help them get good grades.
一个以上学找工作为目标的人不会注意到创业的机会和追求自己人生工作的可能性。一个以创业为目标的人则不会注意到能帮助他们取得好成绩的想法。

In both cases, each person could read the same book (or read this letter) and leave with completely different takeaways for how to implement the information.
在这两种情况下，每个人都可以阅读同一本书（或阅读这封信），并带走完全不同的收获，以便如何实施这些信息。

The point is that we don’t want conformity. We want creativity. We want to be different. We want to be unique. We want to create our own lives, not live someone else’s. We want new discoveries, not the same results of past generations, because if you look around, most people don’t have anything remotely close to the future you want.
关键是我们不想要一致性。我们想要创造力。我们想要与众不同。我们想要独特。我们想要创造自己的生活，而不是过别人的生活。我们想要新的发现，而不是过去几代人的相同结果，因为如果你环顾四周，大多数人都没有任何接近你想要的未来的东西。

A Plan Is Your Surface Area For Discovery
计划是你发现的表面面积

Let’s get one thing straight:
让我们明确一件事：

There is an order of operations to achieve anything you want in life (within the boundaries of what reality allows).
在生活中实现你想要的任何事情（在现实允许的范围内）都有一个操作顺序。

Think of the simple equation 4 + 6 x (5 + 3 – 2) = ?
想想这个简单的方程 4 + 6 x (5 + 3 – 2) = ?

The answer to that equation is the goal you’re trying to achieve.
该方程的答案是您试图实现的目标。

The equation itself is the problem you’re trying to solve.
方程本身就是你试图解决的问题。

In order to solve that problem and achieve the goal, you need to add, subtract, and multiply in a specific order. If executed in the wrong order, you won’t get the right answer.
为了解决这个问题并实现目标，您需要按照特定顺序进行加、减和乘。如果顺序错误，您将得不到正确的答案。

But this is life.
但这就是生活。

You don’t have the equation.
你没有方程。

You don’t even know the answer.
你甚至不知道答案。

All you have is a guess for what you want the answer to be and the ability to create an equation, or knowledge, through experimentation and error correction. That equation is valuable to both yourself and others. It is specific knowledge that can take many forms. Sometimes, the equation is a product or service, a book, or advice you give your children to contribute to the progress of humanity. If happiness comes from overcoming resistance and a connection to something greater than yourself, creativity is the vessel for both. This is why I write.
你所拥有的只是对你想要的答案的猜测，以及通过实验和错误纠正来创建方程或知识的能力。这个方程对你自己和他人都是有价值的。它是具体的知识，可以有多种形式。有时，这个方程是一个产品或服务，一本书，或者你给孩子的建议，以促进人类的进步。如果幸福来自于克服阻力和与超越自我的事物的连接，那么创造力就是两者的载体。这就是我写作的原因。

So that’s where we start.
所以这就是我们开始的地方。

A goal or a problem.
一个目标或一个问题。

One doesn’t exist without the other.
一个不存在于另一个之外。

But most people don’t know what goal they want to pursue. Or their mind is programmed with assigned goals which makes it incredibly difficult to notice a problem. Partying, sleeping in, and all other bad habits aren’t problems unless they prevent you from achieving a goal. Since the goals of the known path are to go to school, get a job, and retire at 65, those don’t require much effort or creativity, so you can afford to be a degenerate.
但大多数人不知道他们想追求什么目标。或者他们的思维被设定的目标所编程，这使得注意到问题变得极其困难。聚会、睡懒觉和其他所有坏习惯都不是问题，除非它们妨碍你实现目标。由于已知路径的目标是上学、找工作，并在 65 岁时退休，这些目标并不需要太多的努力或创造力，因此你可以负担得起堕落。

The best place to start is pure honesty with where you are at.
最好的起点是对你目前所处的状态保持完全诚实。

Are you content with your life?
你对自己的生活满意吗？

Trick question.
陷阱问题。

Nobody is.
没有人。

Show me someone who is happy at every second of the day and I’ll show you a liar. Life comes in waves. Cycles. Highs and lows. It’s baked into reality. If there were no lows, there would be no creativity, and thus no life as we know it today.
给我看一个每天每时每刻都快乐的人，我就给你看一个骗子。生活是波动的。循环。高峰和低谷。这是现实的本质。如果没有低谷，就不会有创造力，因此也就没有我们今天所知的生活。

In lies the infinite set of problems that become the source of your quality of life.
在这里存在着无限的问题集合，这些问题成为你生活质量的源泉。

Pick one.
选择一个。

Start there.
从那里开始。

Don’t ask me which one.
别问我哪个。

You know which one.
你知道哪个。

But now things start to get scary. The unknown creeps nearer. You’re knee-deep in the water and want to sprint back to shore. The thought of that problem starts to multiply because your mind has lost all constraints and boundaries.
但现在事情开始变得可怕。未知的事物逐渐逼近。你已经膝盖深陷水中，想要冲回岸边。那个问题的想法开始成倍增加，因为你的思维失去了所有的约束和界限。

This is known as psychic entropy, or disorder in the mind. One thought about the extra weight you gained this past week can easily splinter into a thousand more about what your friends will think, how you’ll look without a shirt on, and if you’ll end up alone for the rest of your life.
这被称为心理熵，或心智中的混乱。关于你上周增加的额外体重的一个想法很容易分裂成关于你朋友会怎么想、你脱掉衬衫后的样子，以及你是否会在余生中孤独的千个想法。

In between the problem and goal lies the opportunity for a plan. A strategy. A hierarchy of goals that frames your mind to keep chaos at bay as you trek into the unknown. A surface area for discovery.
在问题和目标之间存在着制定计划的机会。一种策略。一种目标的层次结构，帮助你保持思维的清晰，以抵御混乱，勇敢迈向未知。一个发现的表面区域。

But how do you create a plan?
但是你如何制定计划呢？

How do you stop the walls from closing in?
你如何阻止墙壁逼近？

How To Navigate The Unknown (& Create The Life You Want)
如何驾驭未知（并创造你想要的生活）

This will be a painful process.
这将是一个痛苦的过程。

You aren’t just creating a new life. You’re creating a new identity. You’re expanding your mind to house more complexity that allows you to solve more valuable problems.
你不仅是在创造一个新生活。你是在创造一个新身份。你正在扩展你的思维，以容纳更多的复杂性，这使你能够解决更有价值的问题。

It’s not as simple as setting a goal or creating a New Year’s resolution because you aren’t the person who would achieve those goals.
这并不像设定目标或制定新年决心那么简单，因为你并不是那个能够实现这些目标的人。

You don’t have the identity that would achieve those goals.
你没有能够实现那些目标的身份。

Bodybuilders don’t have a problem eating, training, and recovering. Their entire life revolves around their goals. Every decision is a vote toward their future. Writers don’t have a problem generating ideas or publishing their work. On the other end, gamers don’t have a problem staring at a screen for 8 hours at a time, for better or worse.
健美运动员在饮食、训练和恢复方面没有问题。他们的整个生活都围绕着他们的目标。每一个决定都是对未来的投票。作家在产生创意或发表作品方面没有问题。另一方面，玩家在屏幕前连续盯着 8 个小时也没有问题，无论好坏。

It’s not that you aren’t disciplined. You have no problem eating, partying, going to bed late, and eating brain-fogging Totino’s pizza rolls as a midday snack (because it doesn’t clash with the goals of your identity). A bodybuilder, on the other hand, would be in deep chaos if they didn’t have access to the food that was a requirement for their vision. Discipline is a feature of identity. When you are trying to become a new person, who you are is fighting who you want to become, and that’s painful. You will go through a period of growing pains until your new identity solidifies.
并不是说你没有自律。你吃东西、聚会、熬夜、在午餐时吃让人脑袋昏沉的 Totino’s 披萨卷都没有问题（因为这与你身份的目标不冲突）。另一方面，如果一个健美运动员无法获得他们愿景所需的食物，他们将陷入深深的混乱。自律是身份的一种特征。当你试图成为一个新的人时，你的本我在与想要成为的自我抗争，这很痛苦。在你的新身份巩固之前，你会经历一段成长的痛苦。

We need to take this process gradually.
我们需要逐步进行这个过程。

1) Create Your Own Little World
1) 创建你自己的小世界

The most successful people I know live in their own little world.
我认识的最成功的人都生活在他们自己的小世界里。

They’ve programmed their own video game.
他们编程了自己的视频游戏。

It’s addictive. It’s enjoyable. It provides a logical sequence of steps that results in experience. It helps them understand what’s worth paying attention to and what’s worth learning. It is a frame for their mind that repels distractions and constrains entropy.
它令人上瘾。它很愉快。它提供了一系列逻辑步骤，带来经验。它帮助他们理解值得关注的事物和值得学习的内容。它为他们的思维提供了一个框架，抵御干扰并限制熵。

You start building your world by setting the foundations of your new identity.
你通过建立新身份的基础开始构建你的世界。

We need to cover all bases. We need to create a full circle that will act as your frame of reference. We need a lens to view life from to notice new opportunities, make better decisions, and sense when we are off track so we can error correct in a better direction.
我们需要全面考虑。我们需要创建一个完整的框架，作为你的参考框架。我们需要一个视角来观察生活，以发现新的机会，做出更好的决策，并感知何时偏离轨道，以便我们能够朝着更好的方向进行纠正。

Don’t expect this to happen all at once. It took decades for your mind to take its current shape. It will take some time for it to fit the expanding mold you provide for it.
不要指望这一切会一下子发生。你的思维花了几十年才形成现在的样子。它需要一些时间来适应你为它提供的不断扩大的模具。

Write these down:
把这些写下来：

Anti-vision. Your picture for the life you despise.
反视觉。你对你所鄙视的生活的描绘。

Vision. Your picture for your ideal future.
愿景。你理想未来的图景。

Constraints. What you aren’t willing to sacrifice to reach your vision.
约束。为了实现你的愿景，你不愿意牺牲的东西。

10-year goal. Where you want to be in 10 years.
10 年目标。你希望在 10 年后在哪里。

1-year goal. Where you want to be in 1 year.
1 年目标。你希望在 1 年后在哪里。

If you want a worksheet for this, here it is.
如果你想要一个工作表，这里有。

Remember, a goal is an aim or desired outcome. That’s it. Goals can, and should, evolve when exposed to better information. A goal is not a static point in the future that must be achieved at all costs. A goal is a tool for identifying a problem. A problem requires a solution. The solution must be arrived at creatively through making guesses and correcting errors. Goals are points of view that must be refined on a consistent basis.
记住，目标是一个目的或期望的结果。就这样。目标可以并且应该在接触到更好的信息时演变。目标不是一个必须不惜一切代价实现的未来静态点。目标是识别问题的工具。问题需要解决方案。解决方案必须通过创造性地猜测和纠正错误来得出。目标是必须不断完善的观点。

With this, you are creating the outline for the story you plan to write.
通过这个，你正在为你计划写的故事创建大纲。

When you write a story, you don’t sit down and start writing. You create a structure by which your mind can begin to surface ideas and influence your perception of conversations, information, and internal dialogue.
当你写故事时，你不会坐下来就开始写。你会创建一个结构，让你的思维能够开始浮现想法，并影响你对对话、信息和内心独白的感知。

From there, you add, subtract, reorder, and refine the ideas until you have the clarity to write the first draft.
从那里开始，您可以添加、减去、重新排序和完善这些想法，直到您有足够的清晰度来写出第一稿。

The thing is, life isn’t a book or game that ends. There is no final goal. The only real goal is to continue playing.
问题是，生活不是一本书或一场游戏，它没有结束。没有最终目标。唯一真正的目标就是继续玩下去。

How do you start making progress toward these goals?
你如何开始朝着这些目标取得进展？

Projects.
项目。

2) Invest Energy Into A Series Of Projects
将精力投入一系列项目

Don’t learn skills.
不要学习技能。

Build projects.
构建项目。

Skills, like degrees, are practically useless in isolation.
技能就像学位一样，单独存在几乎没有用处。

A series of projects is how you move toward the life you want. If you want to receive, you must give, and keeping your knowledge in your head is a surefire way to become bitter about how smart you are and how little people care.
一系列项目是你朝着想要的生活前进的方式。如果你想要获得，你必须付出，而把你的知识留在脑海中无疑是让你对自己的聪明感到苦涩以及对人们的漠不关心的可靠方法。

A project is a quest in your game. The more you build, the more experience you put into your traits, profession, character, and abilities. When you build a project, you learn relevant techniques that allow you to solve a problem and achieve a specific result.
项目是你游戏中的一个任务。你建造得越多，就越多地将经验投入到你的特质、职业、角色和能力中。当你建造一个项目时，你会学习相关的技术，这些技术使你能够解决问题并实现特定的结果。

But projects don’t start out meaningful. They become meaningful as you invest energy into them. This acts as a filter for people who can’t overcome the fear of what people will think.
但项目一开始并没有意义。随着你投入精力，它们变得有意义。这对那些无法克服对他人看法恐惧的人起到了过滤作用。

A project that increases in meaning consists of a problem, ideal outcome, milestones, levers, tasks, and interest-based education.
一个意义不断增加的项目由一个问题、理想结果、里程碑、杠杆、任务和基于兴趣的教育组成。

Your projects must solve problems that stem from your anti-vision and breed solutions that build toward your vision.
你的项目必须解决源于你的反愿景的问题，并孕育出朝着你的愿景发展的解决方案。

If you struggle with money, that’s a problem. From there, you fabricate a project to build in alignment with the example vision of having a successful business with the constraint of working 4 hours a day so you have time for your family or relationships. That drastically narrows what kind of project you will build.
如果你在金钱上挣扎，那就是一个问题。从那里，你构思一个项目，以符合成功商业的示例愿景，同时限制每天工作 4 小时，以便有时间陪伴家人或维持人际关系。这大大缩小了你将要构建的项目类型。

If you aren’t in the right environment, you won’t notice this as an option. If you’re up to speed with something like modern business models, then you’ll see the one-person business as a viable option.
如果你不在合适的环境中，你不会把这视为一个选项。如果你对现代商业模式等有所了解，那么你会看到个人企业是一个可行的选择。

From there, you create a project, like starting a newsletter. You don’t get trapped in tutorial hell learning about newsletters. You start. You search for techniques like how to choose a topic and write a headline. You continue stacking techniques like how to structure persuasive writing. Before you know it, you have “newsletter writing” as a skill, but not in a way that can be taught in a linear progression in a similar context. You are one step closer to becoming irreplaceable. Then you move to the next project after identifying a problem like your newsletter not growing or it not leading to any money.
从那里，你创建一个项目，比如开始一个新闻通讯。你不会陷入学习新闻通讯的教程地狱。你开始了。你搜索一些技巧，比如如何选择主题和写标题。你继续积累技巧，比如如何构建有说服力的写作。在你意识到之前，你已经掌握了“新闻通讯写作”这项技能，但并不是以一种可以在类似背景下线性教授的方式。你离成为不可替代的又近了一步。然后，在识别出一个问题后，比如你的新闻通讯没有增长或没有带来任何收入，你就转向下一个项目。

Again, a project is like a goal. They evolve with time and are not static. Stop worrying about that.
再次，项目就像一个目标。它们随着时间而发展，并不是静态的。别再担心这个了。

3) Hunt For A Stack Of Reasons
3) 寻找一堆理由

There were a few big moments that changed my life for good.
有几个重要时刻改变了我的生活。

It usually started with me realizing how I had become stagnant. I hated that. That realization alone made me want to search for reasons to dig myself out.
通常是我意识到自己变得停滞不前。我讨厌那种感觉。仅仅这个意识就让我想要寻找理由来把自己挖出来。

You see, your mind is wired to hunt for its survival. But humans survive on the conceptual level. We can notice the same mental responses from a physical threat as we can from a conceptual threat. A threat to your identity.
你看，你的思维是为了生存而运作的。但人类在概念层面上生存。我们可以从身体威胁和概念威胁中注意到相同的心理反应。对你身份的威胁。

Since goals compose your identity, a bodybuilder with feel pain when they are thrown out of their routine. They aren’t under any real threat, but it feels like they are because their identity is threatened by the lack of progress toward its goals.
由于目标构成了你的身份，健美运动员在被迫改变日常训练时会感到痛苦。他们并没有面临真正的威胁，但由于缺乏朝着目标的进展，他们的身份感受到威胁。

Dopamine signals when something is important to our survival. We remember that information because it will come in handy in the future.
多巴胺在某件事对我们的生存重要时发出信号。我们记住这些信息，因为它在未来会派上用场。

As you are recreating who you are in the pursuit of the life you want, your mind will start to change. You will feel the tension of continuing the habits that hold you back.
当你在追求想要的生活中重塑自我时，你的思维将开始改变。你会感受到继续那些束缚你的习惯所带来的紧张。

Use that as an opportunity to actively search for reasons to make the change.
把这作为一个机会，积极寻找改变的理由。

Read new books. Consume new information. Search for a reason to commit to what you are doing, not the other way around.
阅读新书。获取新信息。寻找一个理由来坚持你正在做的事情，而不是反过来。

It’s all too common for people to quit 2 weeks after they start. Their mind searches for reasons to quit. You need to do the opposite. Search for reasons to continue. This can be as simple as typing, “Why should I build a business?” or “Why should I go to the gym?” into a Google and letting your curiosity take over from there.
人们在开始后两周就放弃的情况太常见了。他们的思维寻找放弃的理由。你需要做相反的事情。寻找继续的理由。这可以简单到在谷歌中输入“我为什么要建立一个企业？”或“我为什么要去健身房？”然后让你的好奇心接管。

Make it difficult not to change.
让改变变得困难。

4) Document Your Life
4) 记录你的生活

The protégé effect – a concept in learning that suggests we learn more effectively by teaching information to others, even if those others aren’t necessarily any less knowledgeable.
被保护者效应——一个学习概念，表明我们通过向他人教授信息来更有效地学习，即使那些他人并不一定知识水平较低。

In the great ancient societies, those in the upper class, like Marcus Aurelius, had access to the best teachers of their time.
在伟大的古代社会中，上层阶级的人，如马库斯·奥勒留斯，能够接触到他们时代最优秀的老师。

Today, we have something even better.
今天，我们有更好的东西。

The internet.
互联网。

You have access to most of the world’s greatest minds at the click of a button. You can read their books, watch their videos, and follow their work. If you wanted to, you could email them, message them, or get them on a podcast.
您只需点击一个按钮即可接触到世界上大多数伟大的思想家。您可以阅读他们的书籍，观看他们的视频，关注他们的工作。如果您愿意，您可以给他们发电子邮件、发消息或邀请他们参加播客。

But the benefits of this new digital world don’t stop there.
但这个新数字世界的好处并不止于此。

What do you do with your projects once you build them?
一旦你完成项目，你会怎么处理它们？

Do you just toss them into a “portfolio” and share it with potential employers when the time is right?
你只是把它们扔进一个“作品集”里，然后在合适的时候与潜在雇主分享吗？

Or did you set out on this path to do something unique?
或者你是为了做一些独特的事情而走上这条道路的吗？

On the internet, you don’t need permission to publish your work.
在互联网上，您无需获得许可即可发布您的作品。

Beyond that, you don’t need permission to share what you know.
除此之外，您无需获得许可即可分享您所知道的内容。

The best way, in my opinion, to drastically increase your chances of success is to document your journey where anyone can discover it.
在我看来， drastically 增加成功机会的最佳方法是记录你的旅程，让任何人都能发现它。

To become a creator. Not a content creator. But a creator that utilizes resources, like content, to spread their work.
成为一个创作者。不是内容创作者，而是一个利用资源（如内容）来传播自己作品的创作者。

Share your thoughts, opinions, problems, vision, and learnings toward your goals.
分享你的想法、观点、问题、愿景和在实现目标过程中的学习。

Turn your projects into products and test their value.
将您的项目转化为产品并测试其价值。

When you put your creations in public in the form of posts and products, you don’t need to question whether they are valuable or not. The market will tell you.
当你以帖子和产品的形式将你的创作公开时，你不需要质疑它们是否有价值。市场会告诉你。

If they suck, which they will at first, good. You’ve identified a problem that you couldn’t if you were to keep your progress quiet.
如果他们表现糟糕，起初确实会如此，那很好。你已经识别出一个问题，如果你保持进展的秘密，就无法发现这个问题。

I could spend an entire letter on this topic, and I have multiple times before, or I teach you how to start in 2 Hour Writer, so I’ll end here and leave this as an idea for you to think about as you go about your day.
我可以在这个话题上写一整封信，我之前多次这样做过，或者我教你如何在 2 Hour Writer 中开始，所以我在这里结束，把这个作为一个想法留给你在日常生活中思考。

Thank you for reading.
谢谢你的阅读。

– Dan