Each moment, each situation, each turn of events presents you with an opportunity to build the self you are capable of being. It’s just a matter of accepting opportunities, implementing ideas, taking action, and actively expressing the purpose that is uniquely YOU.

每个瞬间，每个场合，每个转机所带来的都是让你成长的机会。这时候你要做的就是抓住机会，开拓想法，采取行动，积极朝着目标前进，变成的你。

You are stronger than any barrier standing in your way, because you have a purpose that cannot be denied. You can be adaptable, innovative, hard working and tenacious. You can imagine the possibilities and then work to make them real.

只要胸怀不可抵挡的目标，那么你就比沿途的一切障碍都要强大。你可以适当改变，创新努力和顽强。你可以想象所有的可能性，再努力使其成为现实。

Here are five life skills that will help you do just that – the real fundamentals of being an empowered, self-directed human being:

下面的五项人生技能可以帮你做到这些——这些也是帮你变得强大自主的基础。

1. Curiosity

好奇心

Joy comes easy to us in our youth because we haven’t become set too firmly in our ways. Our willingness to curiously assess new things and varying perspectives allows us to experience flashes of insight and beauty wherever we go. Those of us who fight the draw of our comfort zones as we age, who sustain our curiosity into our later years, learn a lot more and see far more beauty throughout our lifetime.

年轻的时候，快乐似乎如此简单，因为我们不用太固守自己的方式。无论走到哪，好奇心都会给我们带来新的视野体验和美的享受。那些随着年纪增长仍然保持一颗好奇之心的人们，会在人生道路中学到更多，领略到更多的美。

Curiosity, after all, is the foundation of lifelong growth. It allows us to retain a beginner’s mind even as our wisdom expands. In this way, an enduring curiosity permits our hearts and minds to grow younger, not older every day.

好奇心是毕生成长的基础。即使智慧不断增长，我们还是保持初学者的头脑。这样，恒久的好奇心会让心境和思想更加年轻，而不是日益衰老。

Always remain curious and teachable. Keep an open mind and do not stop questioning and learning. Look forward, open new doors and experience new things. Do so because you’re curious, and because you know that today’s journey is always just beginning.

永远保持好奇心和求教心吧，开拓思想，不要停止怀疑和学习。朝前看，打开一扇新门来体验新事物。因为这份好奇，每天的旅程都是个新的开始。

2. Creativity

创造力

When it comes to human growth, if curiosity is the engine, creativity is the steering wheel. Creativity is the most powerful instrument of progress – a mindset that endows resources with a new capacity to create possibility and growth.

在人生成长过程中，如果好奇是发动机，创造力就是方向盘。创造力是最有力的进步工具——赋予我们创造无限可能和成长的新能力。

The world is moving so fast these days that those who say something can’t be done are often interrupted by those who are doing it. This is precisely why it’s important to exercise your creative mind on a regular basis. Ultimately, the creative learners inherit the world while the doubters and complacent minds find themselves perfectly suited for a world that no longer exists.

世界日新月异，那些只会说什么做不了的人会被那些一直在实干的人取代。所以时不时地训练你的创造力非常必要。最终，具有创造力的学习者占领了世界，而那些老顽固也会发现他们不再属于这个世界。

3. Resilience

包容

Except for your own thoughts, there’s nothing that’s absolutely in your power. Knowing and accepting this gives you the ability to cope proficiently with life’s constant little inconveniences – a vital life skill we called resilience.

除了自己的思想，没有什么是完全在你的掌控之中的。意识并接受这点就能让你轻松应对生活中时不时出现的小不愉快——这个重要的人生技能我们称之为包容。

Resilience is accepting reality, even if it’s less than the fantasy you had in your mind or the reality that was once yours. You can fight it, you can do nothing but complain about what you’re missing, or you can accept what you have and try to put it together to create something good.

包容就是接受现实，即使现实没有达到你的预期，或是你不幸错过。你可以抗争，但除了可以抱怨错过的你别无他选。抑或你接受目前拥有的，利用这些去创造更好的东西。

As you progress, life will inevitably challenge you on a regular basis. No matter how much falls on you, keep your head up and plow ahead. That’s the only way to keep the road to your dreams clear. It won’t get any more forgiving, but it will get easier and easier to deal with, because over time you will grow stronger and more resilient.

成长过程中，生活总会不可避免的赐予你挑战。无论挑战多少，都要昂起头朝前走。这是确保道路一直朝着梦想前进的方法。即使这些挑战不会减少，但会越来越容易应对，因为你一直在成长，越来越强大，越来越包容。

4. Patience

耐心

In the sweetest little voice Winnie-the-Pooh once said, “Rivers know this: there is no hurry. We shall get there some day.” This is the power of patience.

维尼熊曾憨憨的说过：“河流知道，不用急，我们总有会到达。”这就是耐心的力量。

Patience is not sitting still. Rather, it’s mastering your time by applying the right principles in the right way to attain a long-term desired result. It’s moving forward steadily for as long as it takes to get where you want to go. Enduring the time between your departure and arrival requires a great deal of will. But no matter how tedious these moments of waiting are, you have to get used to the feeling, knowing that what you’re working toward is coming your way, even though it’s not with you at the moment.

耐心不是让你坐着不动。而是需要把握时间，在正确的地方使用正确的方法来达到最终的长期目的。你会一步一步的前进直到达到想去的地方。在出发和到达之间的等待需要的是你强大的意志力。无论等待的时间多么无聊，你都要去适应，知道你正朝着自己的目标前进着，只是时机还没到而已。

Ultimately the two hardest tests on the road to personal growth are the patience to wait for what you want and the courage not to be disappointed when it doesn’t arrive as soon as you had expected. Patience can be bitter, but the seeds you plant now will bear sweet fruit. These fruits are worth waiting for. There’s no advantage to hurrying through life and never tasting their sweetness.

人生道路上最难的两个考验，莫过于那份等待自己想要的东西的耐心，以及期盼没有到来时不畏惧失望的勇气。耐心也许很苦涩，但你种下的总有会结成甜果实，这些果实值得你去等待。人生如果太过匆忙，反而会让你品尝不到其中的甜味。

5. Self-reliance

自我独立

Self-reliance is the most important of all life skills, because without it you can’t practice any other life skill consistently. It’s honestly a virtue that brings all the rest together.

这是人生技能中最重要的一项，没有它，你就无法施展其他的技能。不错，这是一项能把其他几项整合在一起的技能。

Quite simply, self-reliance is the unswerving willingness to take responsibility for your life from this moment forward, regardless of who had a hand in making it the way it is now. It’s taking control of your life, finding your true self by thinking for yourself, and making a firm choice to live your way. It’s being the hero of your life, not the victim.

简单的说，自我独立就是愿意无论任何时候都为自己人生负责，不管此时的道路由谁掌控着。自我独立能控制你的生活，发现真实的自己，并做出坚定的选择。你要成为自己人生的英雄，而不是生活的受害者。

Life constantly invites you to be who you are capable of being. Choosing to be self-reliant is accepting life’s invitation.

人生时不时就会邀请你成为你能成为的那种人。独立起来，接受人生的邀请吧。