美夢成真未必總是如你想象中的那麼美好(上)

Whether it's to score the winning touchdown of the Super Bowl or summit Mount Everest, most of us dream of one day doing something totally amazing. But there's a big difference between having a dream and living it. In some cases, realizing your life goals might be less an idle daydream and more a screaming nightmare.

不管是夢想在"超級碗"比賽中觸地得分還是夢想登上了埃非勒斯峯的頂峯，我們大多數人都夢想着做一些不可思議的事情。但是現實和夢想之間總是有很大的差距，在某些情況下，與其說實現你的人生目標，不如說是在癡心妄想或者說是一個噩夢的開始。

ing The Lottery Will Suck The Joy From Your Life

10.彩票中獎會奪走你生活中的樂趣

The lottery has such a low chance of winning that it's often called a tax on stupid people, yet millions of us still play, hoping for that golden ticket. But we've got some bad news for you. Getting that golden ticket could ruin your ability to get any pleasure from life.

彩票中獎率極低，它通常是爲了呼籲一些愚蠢的人別忘了去交稅。儘管如此，仍然還是有數以百萬計的人懷着中大獎的美好寄託買着彩票。但你需要知道的是，彩票中獎可能會奪走你從生活中尋找樂趣的能力。

In a famous 1970s study, psychologists interviewed Illinois state lottery winners and non-winners and found that the winners were not significantly happier than the ordinary Joes. The winners found it hard to get pleasure from everyday things in life. According to the study, the winners "took significantly less pleasure" in things like chatting with a friend, getting a compliment, or reading a magazine. According to NBC, this may be because a big lottery win pushes up our baseline level of happiness. We need continuously bigger thrills to feel any pleasure at all. At the same time, when winning doesn't make us as happy as we expect it to, we feel depressed. However, it's not all doom and gloom. A separate Harvard study found that those who win an annual payout are much happier than those who win a single lump sum.

在19世紀70年代一個有名的研究裏，心理學家對伊利諾斯洲的彩票中獎者和非中獎者進行了研究。值得注意的是，研究發現，彩票中獎者中獎後的生活並沒有比原來更快樂。同時中獎者表示他們很難在日常生活中發現有趣的事情。研究結果顯示，中獎者在一些事情上會比別人獲得更少的樂趣，比如與朋友交談，接受讚美，或是閱讀雜誌等方面。根據NBC的報道，這可能是因爲大樂透的中獎提高了幸福基準水平，這使得我們只有通過源源不斷的更大刺激才能感到高興。同時當彩票中獎不如預料般的歡喜雀躍時，我們就會感到失落。然而，彩票帶給我們的並不是只是無望和憂愁。哈佛大學一項單獨的研究發現，每年能夠中點小獎的人比一次性中大獎的人更快樂。

ming An Olympic Silver Medalist Will Make You Weirdly Unhappy

9.成爲奧林匹克銀牌得主會讓你不開心

Winning an Olympic medal is the closest you can get to proving you are objectively better at something than everyone else on Earth. While most of us might dream of winning gold, we'd probably be equally ecstatic with silver or bronze, in that order. But actual winners would disagree. Far from proof of awesomeness, an Olympic silver medal is frequently seen as a sign of abject failure.

獲得奧林匹克獎牌是最能客觀的證明你在某一方面要強於其他人的方法。我們大多數人都夢想着獲得金牌，又覺得當獲得銀牌和銅牌時我們會感到同樣的喜悅。但事實上，獲獎的運動員並不這樣認爲。很多可靠證據顯示，獲得奧運會銀牌通常會被看作是失敗的標誌。

In 1992, researchers studied the reactions of winning athletes at the Barcelona Olympics. They then assigned each athlete a "happiness score" ranging from 1 (agony) to 10 (ecstasy). While the gold medal winners generally scored quite highly, the silver medal winners ranked appallingly. When the winners were announced, they scored an average of 4.8, compared to the bronze medalists' 7.1. This is thanks to our human trait of thinking counterfactually. Rather than accepting coming in second, the silver medalists tended to obsess over the tiny mistakes that kept them from winning gold. The bronze medalists, on the other hand, marveled over the tiny victories that kept them from being fourth. This boosted their self-esteem and made them measurably happier than the athlete who beat them.

1992年，研究人員研究了巴塞羅那奧運會上運動員的獲獎反應。他們分配給運動員一個分數從1到10（1代表非常痛苦，10代表非常幸福）的"幸福感評分"的任務。金牌得主的分數都很高，而銀牌得主的分數卻讓人很是吃驚。當宣佈獲勝者時，與銅牌得主的幸福感7.1分相比，銀牌得主平均僅爲4.8分。這是由於人們喜歡從反事實角度思考問題的本性造成的。銀牌得主往往糾結於導致他們與金牌擦肩而過的小失誤，而不願意接受位居第二的事實。而另一方面，銅牌得主則是欣慰自己的一些小勝利讓他們贏過第四名，這增強了他們的自尊心，使他們比銀牌得主更開心。

ng Abroad Can Ruin Your Family

8.移民可能會毀掉一個家庭

Unlike winning the lottery or becoming an Olympic athlete, moving abroad is a realistic dream. Millions of people each year migrate and call it the best decision of their lives. Just as many call it an utter nightmare.

不同於彩票中獎或者成爲奧林匹克運動員，移居國外並不是一個不切實際的夢想。每年都有數百萬人選擇移民並認爲這是他們一生中最正確的決定。然而也有許多人認爲移民簡直是一個徹頭徹尾的噩夢。

Moving to a foreign culture can strain marriages. Such a move typically involves one partner becoming the breadwinner while the other stays home, stressing out the worker and making the homemaker feel useless. When young children are involved, things get even worse. A 1990 study found that 40 percent of all foreign assignments are cut short, usually because the family fails to adjust. Even when parents and young kids thrive abroad, older kids can have a hard time. A study into American teenagers living overseas found the adolescents had less self-confidence, greater insecurity about the future, and fewer interpersonal relationships than those who stayed in the US. It's not just Americans, either. A 2014 study found that northern Europeans who moved to sunny Spain were on average less happy than those who stayed put. Moving abroad might be a dream come true for some, but it's no guaranteed path to happiness.

移居到另一種文化環境中可能會導致婚姻關係的緊張。因爲它牽涉到各方面的變動，使得伴侶中的一方因成爲家庭的經濟支柱而備受壓力，另一方則因閒在家中而感覺自己一無所用。當涉及到孩子時，情況就更爲糟糕了。1990年的一項研究發現，考慮到家庭無法馬上適應新環境，公司將40％的外派任務時間都縮短了。即使父母和年幼的孩子能適應海外的生活，但對於年齡大一點的孩子來說，海外生活步履維艱。一項針對生活在海外的美國青少年的研究發現，相較於生活在美國本土的青少年，他們更缺乏自信，對未來更沒有安全感，更缺少人際交往的能力。這種情況不僅僅侷限於美國人身上。 2014年的一項研究發現，移居到陽光明媚的西班牙的北歐人，他們的平均幸福指數卻低於留在原地的人。移居國外對於一些人來說或許已經夢想成真了，但這並不是一條保證通往幸福的路徑。

ng Billions From Your Company Can Lead To Depression

7.賺得億萬也可導致抑鬱

In the late 1990s, a striking number of dotcom billionaires reacted to their financial success by becoming incredibly depressed. Although there are many theories on why this might be, chief among them is the idea that humans need a sense of progress in their lives. Remove that forward momentum, and people start to feel useless and unhappy. And there's no better way to destroy someone's forward momentum than by having them achieve all their business goals and become rich before they finish their third decade. The technical name for this is wealth fatigue syndrome, and it translates to living your life in a permanent state of boredom and isolation. A huge number of people who become wealthy through business sink into inertia. They also find themselves socially isolated from everyone but their super-rich compatriots, separating themselves from former friends and family members.

20世紀90年代後期，很多互聯網億萬富翁對於他們財務上的成功卻表現得十分沮喪。雖然有很多理論是關於出現這種狀況的原因，但其中最主流的觀念還是人們需要生活中的進步感。如果沒有前進的動力，人們就會覺得自己一無所用因而情緒低落。讓一個人在三十歲前實現其所有的職業目標、發家致富，無疑是摧毀他前進動力的最佳方式。專業上稱這種狀態爲財富疲勞綜合症，它會使你活在永恆的厭倦感和孤立感之中。很大一部分人經商致富後都會陷入惰性。這些人還發現，除了超級富豪同胞外，他們幾乎隔絕了所有人，疏遠了家人和以前的朋友。

Instead, it's better to have your business do moderately well and then move yourself to your next goal rather than become an overnight billionaire.

相反，最好是讓生意保持穩中求進，逐一實現自己的目標，而不是一夜暴富。

ming CEO Can Leave You Horribly Stressed

6.成爲CEO將給你帶來可怕的壓力

Have you ever had one of those days where the policies of your company seemed so ridiculous that you knew you could do better? Have you ever wondered what would happen if you suddenly were promoted to CEO? If you were, you'd probably be more stressed than you could possibly handle.

你是否經歷過那種你認爲公司的政策方針很荒謬而覺得自己本可以做得更好的日子？你有沒有想過，如果你突然被提拔爲公司的CEO會發生什麼？如果這些在你身上都發生過，那或許你現在所承受的壓力已經超出你的承受範圍了。

Many top CEOs lead lives of desperation. Although psychopathy is the most infamous trait a well-paid boss can have, others include white-hot anger, paralyzing fear, and depression. A study of data collected between 1957 and 2004 found that women in positions of authority were more likely to exhibit depressive symptoms than those in subordinate roles. CEOs of both sexes frequently feel incredibly isolated and under pressure, with the added bonus that corporate culture makes talking about these feelings a big no-no. The result, especially in the finance industries, can be burnout, overwhelming health problems, or even suicide. You might feel bored working in your cubicle, but get moved up to the top spot, and you could be facing a complete emotional collapse.

許多頂尖CEO們都生活在絕望之中。儘管心理變態是一個高薪老闆最臭名昭著的特點，但除此之外，他們還有脾氣火爆、讓人畏懼、易患抑鬱等特點。1957年至2004年間收集的數據發現，處於權威地位的女性相比較那些下屬角色而言，更容易表現出抑鬱症狀。因爲有額外的獎勵，企業文化使得談論自我感受成爲一種禁忌，所以無論是男性還是女性CEO都經常感到身處孤立和壓力之下。這樣導致的結果往往是倦怠、嚴重的健康問題甚至是自殺——尤其在經融界。在自己的小隔間裏工作，可能你僅僅是感到無聊，可一旦位居高管時，你將面臨的可能是徹底的情緒崩潰。

審校：喵喵 編輯：叫我王二白 來源：前十網