Day 271: On How to Use Books
第271天：關於如何使用書籍
Books... are like lobster shells, we surround ourselves with ‘em, then we grow out of ‘em and leave ‘em behind, as evidence of our earlier stages of development.
書籍……就像龍蝦殼一樣，我們用它們把自己包裹起來，然後隨著時間的推移，我們逐漸長大，不再需要它們，把它們留在身後，作為我們早期成長階段的見證。
—Dorothy L. Sayers
When you’re new to the world of personal development, you read whatever you can grab your hands on. Every single classic, every book recommended to you by somebody you respect, every new bestselling release. At first, it’s a fine strategy: you get to expose yourself to different authors, learn the fundamentals, and look at personal development from different perspectives.
當你剛開始接觸個人成長領域時，你會閱讀手邊能找到的任何書籍——每一本經典著作，每一個你尊重的人推薦給你的書籍，每一本最新的暢銷書。
起初，這是一種不錯的策略：你可以接觸不同的作者，學習基礎知識，從不同的角度看待個人成長。
However, as time passes, you should leave some books behind and progress to more specific advice. For example, I used to read one general self-help book after another. Soon I found them all similar to each other. Each new title added little to my knowledge. I outgrew those books, and needed to find a new teacher.
然而，隨著時間的推移，你應該舍棄一些書籍，轉而尋求更具體的建議。
例如，我曾經一本接一本地閱讀自助類書籍。
很快我發現它們彼此之間非常相似。
每一本新書都沒有給我帶來太多新的知識。
我厭倦了那些書，需要尋找新的老師。
I transitioned to reading books about a more specific topic than general personal development: how to change myself to become a successful entrepreneur (and how to actually start and run a profitable company), how to improve my communication skills, how to eat healthily, or how to develop focus.
我開始閱讀關於特定主題的書籍，而不是關於個人整體發展的泛泛之談：比如如何改變自己——成為成功的企業家（以及如何真正開始並經營一家盈利的公司）、如何提高溝通技巧、如何健康飲食，或者如何培養專註力。
Then I started reading more biographies and autobiographies, where the lessons usually aren’t as clearly laid out as in a regular how-to book, but which are unique and more insightful, related to a specific problem the person portrayed in the biography had dealt with.
然後我開始閱讀更多的傳記和自傳，這些書裏的教訓通常不像常規的「如何做」書籍那樣明確列出來，但它們是獨一無二的，而且更富有洞察力，與傳記中所描述的人物所面對的具體問題有關。
Recently I started expanding my horizons and seeking out books about specific problems I struggle with (for example, how to develop a better life philosophy) and reading books from other domains, so I could draw parallels from them and apply their principles to my own life.
最近我開始拓寬自己的視野，尋找關於我所面臨的具體問題的書籍（例如，如何培養更好的人生哲學），並閱讀來自其他領域的書籍，以便從中汲取靈感並將其原則套用到自己的生活中。
Think of different categories of books as your development stages. When a given type of a book no longer serves you, find a new teacher.
把不同類別的書籍看作是自己成長的不同階段。
當某一類別的書籍不再對我有幫助時，就尋找新的老師。
