爲什麼20多歲是你職業生涯的關鍵一段

MPW Insider is one of several online communities where the biggest names in business answer timely career and leadership questions. Today’s answer for: What is one piece of advice all millennials should take before entering the workforce? is written by Clara Shih, founder and CEO of Hearsay Social.

MPW內部網絡是一個邀請最有影響力的商界女性及時解答職業與領導力問題的在線社區。本週，我們的問題是：千禧一代在進入職場之前應該聽從什麼建議？以下是Hearsay Social創始人兼CEO史宗瑋的回答。

Millennials, you could not be entering the workforce at a more exciting time. Seize the day, learn and do the most you possibly can today, and your future self

80後和90後們，要知道，你們這個年紀是進入職場最好的時段。抓緊這段時間，盡最大可能地去學習和做事，未來你肯定會感激自己今天的付出的。

Looking back at my first job, even when I was asked to do something seemingly menial, unglamorous, or very difficult, I always went all in. In my most trying moments with managers I liked the least, I did not give up, complain, or slack off. I stayed late, pulled all-nighters when necessary, learned to ask for help only when I couldn’t figure it out myself, and basically did whatever it took to make my manager and team look good.

回顧我的第一份工作，即便我被要求去做一些看似很卑微、單調或者非常困難的事情時，我也會全力以赴。有的上司是我最不喜歡的類型，但即便如此，我依舊沒有放棄、抱怨或懈怠。我會加班到很晚，如果有必要還會通宵達旦地工作，我學會了只有在自己確實無法解決的時候纔去尋求幫助；只要是對我的上司和團隊有利的事，我都會主動承擔。

Once I got good at what was asked of me, I challenged myself to go further. I continually asked myself, “What else can I do? How else can I make this better?” This mindset led me early in my career to think bigger and proactively suggest new ideas to the team–certainly not all of them good or accepted, but almost always appreciated. Ultimately, going “all in” won me the respect of my manager and colleagues. I got to be a part of strategic conversations that allowed me to understand the bigger picture and play ever-bigger roles.

一旦能夠遊刃有餘地完成上司安排的工作，我就會挑戰自己的能力極限。我會不斷問自己：“我還能做什麼？我還能做些什麼讓這件事變得更好？”這種心態讓我在職業初期便擁有了更開闊的思路，主動向團隊提出一些新的想法——雖然並非所有想法都是好的或者被採納，但總能獲得團隊的欣賞。最後，“全力以赴”的工作勁頭，讓我獲得上司和同事的尊重。我有幸加入戰略對話，這讓我有機會了解全局，承擔更大的職責。

This idea might seem counterintuitive if you are stuck in short-term thinking, but if you really want work/life balance over a career, going all in as much as possible early may be the smartest thing you can do. You will obtain valuable experience and contacts that will pay dividends throughout your career.

如果你侷限於短期思考，你或許認爲這種想法有違常規，但如果你希望在職業發展過程中實現工作與生活的平衡，儘早“全力以赴”或許是最明智的選擇。你可以獲得寶貴的經驗和人脈，這些收穫將給你的職業發展帶來好處。

Research from PwC and others suggest that millennials — more than previous generations — value work/life balance. On one end of the spectrum, many millennials new to the workforce will find peers have figured out ways to cruise through their jobs, doing the bare minimum and still collecting their paychecks. They may think (and you may be tempted to agree) they have outsmarted the system. But actually they are the ones losing out on crucial foundational years.

普華永道等公司的研究顯示，80後和90後比他們的前輩更加重視工作與生活的平衡。一方面，許多初入職場的千禧一代會發現有些同齡人在工作中總是非常悠閒，即使混日子，依舊能領到工資。他們或許認爲（你可能也會同意）自己比這個體系更聰明。但這樣做其實會讓他們錯失爲職業生涯奠定基礎的關鍵時間段。

Though decisions regarding work/life balance are important and vary widely from person to person, it may not be wise in the long run to optimize for doing the bare minimum at work. In her insightful TED talk, “Why 30 is not the new 20,” psychologist Meg Jaygives an important wake-up call to twenty-somethings. The notion that your 20s are a “throwaway decade” has become a dangerous fallacy that too many millennials may come to regret later in their careers.

雖然關於工作與生活平衡的決定很重要，而且人與人之間存在巨大差異，但從長遠來看，儘量做最少工作的心態或許並不明智。心理學家梅格o傑伊在其非常有啓發性的TED演講《20歲光陰不再來》中，給所有二十多歲的年輕人敲響了警鐘。所謂20歲到30歲是“可以揮霍的十年”這種觀念，已經成爲一種極其危險的謬論。太多虛度這段光陰的80後和90後將來肯定會後悔不迭的。

Great work, professional relationships, and learning experiences compound over time, much the way money does — investing $100 today creates much more value than investing $100 a decade from now. The same rings true for your time, energy, and focus. Starting early lets you earn the right to manage a team and have people to delegate to when you have to leave work early to pick up your kid from school.

就如今天投資100元產生的價值要遠遠高於10年後投資100元一樣，隨着時間的推移，出色的工作、職業關係和學習經驗會產生“利滾利”效應。你投入的時間、精力和專注同樣如此。早些起步能讓你獲得管理團隊的權力，讓你在不得不提前離開公司去接孩子放學時，可以將任務交給下屬。