夏輝

I was driving with a friend recently and telling him about some projects that really excited me. I mentioned a new book Im working on， an article Im writing and this new hobby of adventure motorcycling in the desert.

He interrupted me and said， “How do you stay so motivated and so excited about things？”

It caught me off guard1）. I hadnt really considered the “why” behind my list of activities. But as I thought about it， I realized that the one aspect each of these projects had to make me so motivated—the common thread—was the feeling of being in just a little over my head2）. In other words， doing things despite the fact that， as the marketing guru Seth Godin3） likes to say， “this might not work.”

Now， that may sound a little bit counterintuitive4）. Its easy to wonder how doing stuff that makes you uncomfortable， and might not even work， is a source of motivation.

Ive been thinking a lot about this paradox， and I could not get my friends question out of my head. I wondered whether Im wired differently. But theres something about a sink-or-swim environment that excites me.

I posted on Instagram about constantly getting in a little over my head， and my friend Dallas Hartwig told me about this concept called hormesis5）， a phenomenon by which something that could significantly impair6） or even kill you in high doses can make you stronger in low doses. Or as the National Institutes of Health puts it， “In the fields of biology and medicine， hormesis is defined as an adaptive7） response of cells and organisms to a moderate （usually intermittent） stress.”

Of course， I thought. What doesnt kill you makes you stronger. Its not a new concept. Its well documented that the way to grow muscle is to rip the muscle tissue， and then give it time to regrow. You give it stress， then rest， and it comes back on the other side stronger than it was before.

So what if we did the same thing in other areas of our lives？ In our work， in our family life or in our recreational activities？

It makes sense that the business equivalent of building muscle is trying new things. When you throw yourself into the deep end8） of something new， you often face a steep learning curve. That forces you to grow， adapt， change and develop your skill set. Its almost irrelevant if the particular project ends up succeeding. The very act of taking on9） something new helps you become better at your work over all.

You cannot spend your whole life in the deep end， as that is a recipe for drowning. Muscles get tired. So just like physical exercise， you have to take breaks. You have to calibrate10） the stress and rest cycle of any sort of entrepreneurial or creative work.

The more I thought about it， the more I began to see these experiences， of diving into the unknown， for what they really were. Some people call them work projects， but I call them adventures. After all， isnt the definition of “adventure” to set off into the unknown， endure hardships， come back and then rest？

With this reframing， I finally had an answer to my friends question about how I stay motivated. Its because Im constantly setting off on the next adventure！ How could I not？

I know that adventures are not for everyone. I know they can feel scary and intimidating. But making a habit of seeking adventures， in spite of how scary they are， may be the secret to staying motivated about the things you do.

And that， if nothing else， confers11） a key economic benefit onto anyone who experiences it. Even if we set aside all the tangible benefits that come from stepping outside our comfort zone， it is intuitively obvious that being more excited about your work is a surefire12） way to improve your performance—and turn your various ventures into adventures.

最近有一次我開車載朋友時，跟他聊起了一些讓我非常興奮的事。我提到了一本還沒完成的新書，一篇正在寫的文章，還有在沙漠里騎摩托車冒險這項新愛好。

他打斷我說：“你是怎么做到一直如此干勁兒十足又興致高昂的？”

這個問題讓我措手不及。我之前從來沒有真正考慮過自己做這些事背后的“為什么”。但在想了一會兒之后，我意識到，所有這些讓我如此充滿干勁兒的事都有一個特點，一個共性，那就是它們都讓我覺得有點太難了。換用市場營銷大師賽斯·高汀愛說的那句話來講，我喜歡做那些事實上“可能成不了”的事。

我知道，這聽起來可能有點不合常理。人們很可能會覺得奇怪：做那些讓你覺得不舒服甚至可能根本成不了的事怎么會成為一種動力來源呢？

我一直在思考這一悖論，無法將朋友的問題拋諸腦后。我不知道自己是不是天生就和別人不一樣。但是這種背水一戰(zhàn)的情境會令我興奮不已。

我在Instagram上發(fā)文說自己經常做有點難以實現(xiàn)的事，之后我的朋友達拉斯·哈特維希跟我講了一個叫做“毒物興奮效應”的概念，它指的是這樣一種現(xiàn)象：有些東西如果大劑量使用可能會非常嚴重地致殘甚至致死，而如果少量使用則可能讓你變得更強?；蛘呔拖衩绹鴩⑿l(wèi)生研究院公布的那樣：“在生物和醫(yī)藥領域，毒物興奮效應被定義為細胞和有機體對于溫和的（常常是間歇性的）壓力所表現(xiàn)出的一種適應性反應?！?/p>

那是自然，我心想。凡是殺不死你的事物都讓你變得更強壯。這不是個新概念。有切實的資料表明，使肌肉增長的方法就是先撕裂肌肉組織，然后給它時間，讓它重新生長。你給它壓力，然后停止施壓，等它恢復的時候，它就會比從前更強壯。

那如果我們在生活的其他領域也這么做會怎樣？如果我們在工作、家庭生活或娛樂活動中這么做會怎樣呢？

不難理解，在商業(yè)領域里，與增長肌肉原理相同的行為就是嘗試新事物。當你跳入某些新事物的“深水區(qū)”時，你經常會面臨要急速學習新東西的狀況。它逼著你去成長、適應、改變以及拓展你的各項技能。這一新事物最終成功與否甚至都無關緊要。著手處理新事物本身就能幫你在工作的方方面面變得更加出色。

你也不能終生都待在“深水區(qū)”，因為那樣遲早會溺水出事，肌肉會疲勞，所以就像體能練習那樣，你需要不時停下來歇歇。在任何一項創(chuàng)業(yè)或創(chuàng)造性的活動中，你都要調整承受壓力和休息的周期。

我越是細想這個問題，就越能開始看清這些經歷——這些一頭扎向未知的行為——具有怎樣的真實面貌。有些人稱它們?yōu)楣ぷ黜椖?，而我把它們稱為冒險。畢竟，“冒險”的定義不就是向著未知啟程，歷經艱險，回返，而后休養(yǎng)生息嗎？

經過這一番重新梳理，對朋友關于我是如何保持干勁兒的問題，我終于有了答案。那是因為我一直不斷地向著下一個冒險前進！我怎么可能不去冒險呢？

我知道并不是人人都適合冒險。我知道冒險會讓人覺得恐懼和膽怯。但是無論它們有多嚇人，不斷尋求新的冒險的習慣養(yǎng)成可能正是讓你對自己所從事的事情充滿動力的秘訣。

別的不說，單是這一點就已經能夠給每一個經歷過冒險的人帶來重要的經濟收益了。即使我們不考慮踏出舒適區(qū)能帶來的所有實際好處，我們憑直覺也能清晰地認識到，對你的工作保持更興奮的態(tài)度一定能成功提升你的工作表現(xiàn)——還能將你的各種冒險都變成異乎尋常的經歷。