1 Embrace Reality and Deal with

1.1 Be a hyperrealist.（成为超现实主义者）

Understanding, accepting, and working with reality is both practical and beautiful.

I have become so much of a hyperrealist that I’ve learned to appreciate the beauty of all realities, even harsh ones, and have come to despise impractical idealism.（鄙视理想主义者）

我已经成为超现实主义者的一员，学会欣赏所有现实的美好，甚至是苛刻的现实，并且蔑视不切实际的理想主义。

Don’t get me wrong: I believe in making dreams happen. To me, there’s nothing better in life than doing that. The pursuit of dreams is what gives life its flavor. 

My point is that people who create great things aren’t idle dreamers: They are totally grounded in reality. Being hyperrealistic will help you choose your dreams wisely and then achieve them. 

（我的观点是，创造伟大事情的人不是理想主义者，他们是超现实主义者。成为超现实主义者会帮助你明智的选择梦想，并实现它）

（我特意查了一下什么是现实主义者：现实主义者认为生活是最实际的东西，就是现实中的一切，而做事情，只要结果能够达到，过程不需要完美，也不需要充满理想化。他们以最实际的条件和方法达到想要的结果为目的。这个就是现实主义者的意思。--来自网络，不知道对不对）

I have found the following to be almost always true:

Dreams + Reality + Determination = A Successful Life.

People who achieve success and drive progress deeply understand the cause-effect relationships that govern reality and have principles for using them to get what they want. The converse is also true: Idealists who are not well grounded in reality create problems, not progress.

What does a successful life look like? We all have our own deep-seated needs, so we each have to decide for ourselves what success is. I don’t care whether you want to be a master of the universe, a couch potato, or anything else—I really don’t. Some people want to change the world and others want to operate in simple harmony with it and savor life. Neither is better. 

Each of us needs to decide what we value most and choose the paths we take to achieve it.

Take a moment to reflect on where you are on the following scale, which illustrates an overly simplified choice you should think about. Where would you put yourself on it?

品味生活--发挥影响力

The question isn’t just how much of each to go after, but how hard to work to get as much as possible. I wanted crazy amounts of each, was thrilled to work hard to get as much of them as possible, and found that they could largely be one and the same and mutually reinforcing. 

Over time I learned that getting more out of life wasn’t just a matter of working harder at it. It was much more a matter of working effectively, because working effectively could increase my capacity by hundreds of times. 

I don’t care what you want or how hard you want to work for it. That’s for you to decide. I’m just trying to pass along to you what has helped me get the most out of each hour of time and each unit of effort.

Most importantly, I’ve learned that there is no escaping the fact that:

1.2 Truth—or, more precisely, an accurate understanding of reality—is the essential foundation for any good outcome.

Most people fight seeing what’s true when it’s not what they want it to be. That’s bad, because it is more important to understand and deal with the bad stuff since the good stuff will take care of itself.

大多数人看到不是他们想要的现实时（现实不是他们想象的现实），他们会反抗。这很糟糕，因为理解和处理不好的东西更重要，因为好的东西会照顾好自己。

Do you agree with that? If not, you are unlikely to benefit from what follows. If you do agree, let’s build on it.