又到年底，该是对自己一年的职业生涯做总结的时候了。你了解自己吗？了解自己的职业吗？了解自己的欲求吗？希望下面这篇文章能帮助你找到答案。

As the end of 2007 approaches, you may find it timely to think about where you are in your career and your life. To stimulate¹ this thought process, I invite you to consider the following seven questions and answer them as honestly as you can:

随着2007年末临近，也许你认为是考虑在职业生涯及在生命中所处于何处位置的时候了。为了来模拟这个思维过程，我来邀请你考虑一下以下七个问题，并尽可能地做到诚实回答：

1. Where are you are in your career? 你处于职业生涯的哪个位置?

First quarter 1/4处

Second quarter 2/4处

Third quarter 3/4处

Fourth quarter 4/4处

Retired² 退休

2. How do you assess yourself in your profession? 在职业中，你如何来评估自己

Just getting started 才开始

Intermediate 中等

High-performer 高表现者

Expert 专家

World class 世界级

3. What percent of your focus is on the following (for a total of 100%)? 对以下你的关注百分比是多少(一共是100%)

To excel and achieve personal success: ____ % 在个人成功方面出类拔萃，并取得个人成功

To make others around me successful: ____ % 让我周围的人成功

4. What three things have the greatest meaning in your life? 哪三件事情在你生命中有最大的意义?

5. Have you found your life's calling? 你找到了自己的"天职"吗?

Not looking 没有在寻找

Still searching 依然在寻找

I think so 我自认为找到了

Definitely 绝对是找到了

6. How great an impact do you believe your life's calling can ultimately have? 你认为你的“天职”会产生多大影响?

Meaningful at an individual level 在个人级别上有意义

Important at the local level 在某个范围内有意义

Significant for the community at large 对整个社会有意义

World-changing 能带来世界性的改变

7. How close are you to realizing this potential? 你离实现这个潜能有多么远?

Just starting to make a dent³ 才开始出一点成绩

About a quarter of the way there 完成了1/4了

About halfway⁴ there 完成了1/2了

Almost there 几乎实现了

Keep your answers in mind as you continue reading. 在继续阅读的时候，请记住你对以上问题给出的答案。

Beyond Success 超越成功

Over the past two decades I've had the opportunity to advise and recruit many extraordinary individuals. Often, these are people who have reached the pinnacle⁵ of success. Yet what's become clear to me is that reaching even the highest-profile, highest-paid, or highest-prestige positions isn't what's most important. 在过去的二十年里，我有机会聘请许多杰出的人物并给他们建议。这些人大多都取得了辉煌的成功。然而我认识到（在他们的职业生涯中），获得最高评价、最高收入或最高声望誉的职位都不是最重要的。

Sure, it's great to achieve all these things, and very few who do complain about it. But whether they've already reached the top, are just starting out, or are somewhere along the way, almost everyone yearns⁶ -- especially when they take the time to reflect -- for something more fundamentally gratifying in their lives. 当然，要实现所有这些是很好，而且不会有多少人会去抱怨这些东西。但是，不论是否他们已经到达了巅峰，还是刚刚起步，还是正在路上，几乎人人都在渴求生活中更基本的令人满意的事情，这种欲望在他们反思的时候尤为强烈。

So what is it that everyone is searching for? A legacy⁷. 那么，每个人都在寻求的东西是什么呢?答案是一份“遗产”。