你有没有看到身边人的生活 然后说 我希望那个人是我
Do you ever look at the lives of people around you and say, “Man, I wish that was me.”
你肯定做过
You know you do.
每个人都会 但是我打赌你从没有拿你自己跟我比较过
Everybody does, but I bet you never compared yourself to me.
没听说过我？
Haven’t heard of me?
我有一档电视节目在午夜播出
I do have my own TV show — in the middle of the night.
刚开始 我想成为像杰瑞·宋飞那样的大腕
When I started I wanted to be as big as Jerry Seinfeld.
但我没做到
I’m not.
然而现在 我很幸福
And yet, I’m a pretty happy guy.
原因就是
Here’s why.
我没有再拿自己跟别人做比较
I stopped comparing myself to other people.
说真的 那根本就没用
Seriously, that’s the whole trick.
我的意思是
Here’s what I mean.
如果我的快乐是成为最大的商业媒体人
If my happiness were based on being the biggest media in the business
那我会对每个在网飞公司比我得到更多特殊照顾的人生气
l’ll be mad at whoever was getting more Netflix specials than me.
我一无所有
I have zero
如果我的快乐是得到最高的节目评分 那我就会讨厌肥伦
If it were based on having the best TV ratings, I’d be mad at Jimmy Fallon.
我每次都输给他
He beats me every night.
如果我的快乐是变得富有 那我会不喜欢许多已经富有的人
And if it were based on being rich, I’d be mad at a lot of people.
即使我像福布斯富豪榜400名的前10名那样 非常富有
And even if I were rich, really rich like No.10 on the Forbes 400 rich
然而 排在我前面的前9名又会让我感到不快了
l’ll be mad at there were nine other people richer than me.
这会永无止境
It never ends.
拿自己跟别人相比完全得不到真正的成功标准
Comparing yourself to others creates a totally unrealistic measure for what constitutes success.
我知道这是因为 做娱乐事业全是不切实际的期望
And I know because the entertainment business is all about unrealistic expectations.
在我的职业生涯中，我也遇到过一些很满意我节目的观众，他们会说
All through my career I’d meet with satisfied customers after my shows and they’d say.
嘿 你做的很好 也许有一天你会像杰瑞·宋飞那样成功
“Hey, you’re good – maybe someday you’ll be successful like Jerry Seinfeld.”
他是成功的标准吗？
He’s the measure of success?
最成功的一个吗？
The top guy?
当有人告诉你他们是医生时 不要对他们说
When someone tells you they’re a doctor, you don’t say
好吧 也许未来你能治愈一种疾病 拯救数百万计的生命 就像小儿麻痹科医生乔纳斯·索尔克一样”
Well, maybe someday you’ll cure a disease and save millions of lives, just like Jonas Salk did for polio.”
也不要对一位律师说 哇 所以你的终极目标是成为最高法院的律师吗？
Or a lawyer: “Oh, wow, so what’s your ultimate goal, the Supreme Court?”
你知道这些话听起来有多疯狂吗？
Do you see how crazy that sounds?
职业上的成功在于谋生
Professional success is about making a living
追求卓越以及找寻生命的意义
pursuing excellence and finding meaning and what you do.
我最初做单口喜剧时 我还是一个无名小卒
When I first started doing standup, I was a nobody.
在节目盈利之前
It took more than a decade of playing in front of tuned out crowds
我在现场观众面前表演了十多年
before it started paying the bills.
十年来 我免费给那些笑点高的观众讲笑话 这是段漫长的时期
Ten years is a long time to tell jokes for no money to people who aren’t laughing.
那段时期 我花了很多时间去研究那些我喜欢的喜剧演员们
In those days, I spent a lot of time thinking about the comedians I admired.
他们都是喜剧业中的佼佼者
The guys at the top.
我想要那些出售的大房子 但我支付不起
I wanted those big, sold out houses I wasn’t paying.
我没有巨额的薪水
The big paydays I wasn’t making.
我没有电视专栏节目可以主持
The TV specials I wasn’t doing.
不仅是他们的成功 他们的才华我也没有
And not just their success, their talent.
我观察过乔治·卡林 罗宾·威廉姆斯和路易斯C.K.这样的喜剧明星
I’d looked at comics like George Carlin, Robin Williams and Louis C.K.
他们能把自己灰暗艰难的个人奋斗变成才华横溢的喜剧表演
They were all able to turn their dark, personal struggles into brilliant comedy.
我羡慕他们的才华 但我不想要那伴随才华的灰暗艰难的个人奋斗
I envy their talent, but I wouldn’t want the dark personal struggles that went along with it.
如果你与他人比较 但又不接受他的一切
If you don’t factor in everything, about whoever you’re comparing yourself to, you’re playing
你就是在进行一个混合搭配的游戏 而这在现实中根本就不存在
a sort of mix-and-match game that doesn’t exist in the real world.
生活的其中一个真相就是——每个人都是一个独立的包裹
Here’s one of life’s little truths – everyone is a package deal.
你不能将人们的生活孤立开来 只看到其中一方面 这会带有欺骗性
You can’t view one element of someone else’s life in isolation. That’s cheating.
你不能说 我只想要路易斯C.K.的金钱和名誉 杰·雷诺收藏的车
You can’t say, “I want Louis C.K.’s money and fame, Jay Leno’s car collection
以及汤姆·希尔鲁的妻子和孩子
and Tom Shillue’s wife and kids.”
没有人能做到这点
That person doesn’t exist!
如果他做到了 他一定很了不起
If he did, he’d be pretty cool.
我肯定也会想和这样的人见面
I’d definitely want to hang with him.
每个人在生活中都有自己的痛苦
Everyone has pain in their lives.
想一下任何一个你了解的人
Think of anybody who you know really well.
你知道他们处理过的糟糕的事——和难缠的人斗智斗勇
You know the awful stuff they’ve had to deal with – the demons they battle.
要了解多少已逝的摇滚明星 电影明星 喜剧演员的人生 才能让我们意识到
How many dead rock stars, movie stars and, yes, comedians does it take to convince us
每个人的人生的不易？
all that everyone’s life is hard?
面对事实吧 你根本不想过其他人的生活
Face it, you really don’t want somebody else’s life.
你只想要自己的人生——只是你希望它更美好
You want your own life — only better.
但现实是残酷的
But that’s the thing.
你能让自己过得更好——不要去和他人比较
You can make your life better by not doing something – comparing yourself to other people.
之前我籍籍无名时 我希望我的门票是卖出最多的 希望可以我的节目在黄金时间播放
Back when I was a nobody I wanted to sell out the biggest venues and have a prime time
有上百万的观众在观看
TV show with millions of viewers.
现在我的门票只是卖出一小部分 我的节目时间在午夜 只有几十万的观众观看
Now I sell out small venues and I’m on in the middle of the night with half a million viewers.
但我仍然很感激我的观众
And I appreciate every one of them.
我想我将现在的我和过去的我比较 我做的很好
I guess when I compare myself now to myself then, I’m doing okay.
你也应该尝试一下
You should try it.
我是普拉格大学的汤姆·希尔鲁
I’m Tom Shillue for Prager University.