The Art of Improvement｜5 个迹象表明你在虚度人生
英音听力｜BBC & 经济学人等
5 Signs You Are Wasting Life
Life is precious, and we only get one shot at it. Nevertheless, a lot of people spend their life merely passing the time rather than making the most of the short time they have left. Young people are especially guilty of this – we are in the springtime of our lives. If ever there was a time to plant a tree, it's now.
Yet, most of us don't do that. Young people spend their time partying, eating junk food, and taking vacations rather than reading, building new skill sets, building healthy habits, and investing in themselves. Are you merely passing the time instead of making the most of your one life? Here are some ways to tell.
1. You Don't Get Out of Bed Quickly Upon Waking
If you spend a half hour to an hour poking around on your phone before getting out of bed, you are not making the most of your life. People who have a driving purpose in their life don't spend time lounging around on their phone in bed. Waking up is no big deal, just the start of another random day.
To someone with a purpose, waking up every morning is a refreshing welcome to another day of hard yet meaningful work.
2. You Spend More Than an Hour or Two a Day on Aimless Activities
Some activities are inherently aimless, done only because they are pleasing in the moment. Some activities like this are: spending time on social media, watching TV or movies, and playing video games. In small doses – no more than an hour or two a day – these kinds of activities can be an important part of decompressing. Any more than that, though, and you're going beyond 'decompressing' into 'wasting your life.'
People with a purpose don't spend too long doing these sorts of things because they are aware that every hour sucked away by aimless activities is another hour they will never get back. It's not that they try not to spend so much time doing these things – the thought of wasting that much time makes them sick. People with a purpose wouldn't waste their time this way even if they could.
3. You Don't Feel Ready for Bed at the End of Each Day
People whose days are filled with purposeful activities feel tired at the end of the day. Whether it's mental work or physical work, purposeful activity uses up all your energy and leaves you ready to go to bed each day. When you aren't making the most of your life, on the other hand, you aren't tired at the end of the day. You are, quite literally, not making the most of your energy.
4. You Spend More of Your Time Planning Than Doing
If you spend more of your time daydreaming, planning, or thinking about the future than you do working to bring about that future, you are not making the most of your life. People who make something of themselves don't sit around daydreaming about what the future may be like. People who make something of themselves pick a goal for the future and then work hard to make that goal happen. Someone who spends all their time daydreaming is not someone who spends all their time doing.
Think about professional weightlifters. They spend a little bit of their time researching how to lift weights more effectively, and a lot of their time lifting weights.
5. You Worry About What Others Think of You
High achievers are too busy getting things done to worry what others think of them. High achievers may worry about what people who matter think of them, but they don't worry about what their friends, family, or pop culture thinks. They are too busy getting things done. If you routinely worry about what your friends, family, peers, or pop culture thinks of you, you may be letting your life slip by.
Instead of doing what others approve of, find a guiding purpose that you can be true to even when the world turns against you.
词汇表
shot [ʃɒt] 机会，可能性；尝试 ，努力
pass the time 消磨时光，打发时间
make the most of 充分利用；尽情享受
springtime [ˈsprɪŋtaɪm] 春天，春季；青春年华
skill sets [sets] 技能组合，综合技能
invest in oneself [ɪnˈvest] 自我投资
poke around [pəʊk] 闲逛，搜索，翻找
driving purpose 驱动目标，核心目标
lounge around [laʊndʒ] 闲荡，消磨时间，悠闲度日
random day [ˈrændəm] 随机的一天，普通的一天
refreshing [rɪˈfreʃɪŋ] 使人精神振作的，令人耳目一新的
inherently [ɪnˈhɪərəntli] 本质上，固有地，内在地
in small doses [ˈdəʊsɪz] 小剂量地，适量地，少量地
decompress [ˌdiːkəmˈpres] 减压，使放松
suck away [sʌk] 耗尽，消磨；吸走
sick [sɪk] 厌恶的，不快的，不适的
daydream [ˈdeɪdriːm] 白日梦；幻想
make something of themselves 有所作为，取得成功
sit around 闲坐，无所事事
weightlifter [ˈweɪtlɪftə(r)] 举重运动员
lift weights [lɪft weɪts] 举重
high achiever [əˈtʃiːvə(r)] 高成就者，高绩效者，成绩优异者
routinely [ruːˈtiːnli] 惯常地，常规地，例行公事地
slip by [slɪp] 溜走，悄然流逝
be true to 忠实于，坚守
turn against 反对，与…为敌，背叛
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