每日原则：塑造者是能从构想一路走到实现的人

我在《原则》第一部分里就我称作“塑造者”的人写了很多。我所说的“塑造者”是指这样的人：能提出独特和有价值的愿景，并以美妙的方式实现愿景（通常是在他人的质疑之下）。塑造者既能看到全局，也能看到细节。在我看来，“塑造者”=“理想家”+“务实思考者”+“坚毅者”。 

我发现塑造者通常有一些共同特征：极富好奇心；有把事情弄清楚的强烈冲动；近乎叛逆地独立思考；需要不同常规的宏大梦想，务实并坚毅地排除万难、实现目标；了解自己和其他人的长处，从而能协调团队来实现目标。也许更重要的是，他们能同时持有相互冲突的想法，并从不同角度来看待这些想法。他们通常喜欢和其他非常聪明的人一起探索事物，能在全局和细节之间自如地来回跳跃，并相信二者同样重要。

真正擅长这些思维方式从而能成为现实中的塑造者的人凤毛麟角。不过，他们如果不和天生具有其他特征的人合作也无法成功。后者的思维方式和行动也是不可或缺的。

在任何生命历程中，了解人的特性都是必要的第一步。你做什么并不重要，只要你做的符合自己的本性和人生理想。我和世界上一些最有钱、最有权势、最受尊崇的人打过交道，也和世界上一些最不起眼的角落里最穷、最弱势的人打过交道，我可以明确地说，除了最基本的层面，人的幸福程度与传统意义上成功的标志并无相关性。一个能从木工中获得内心最大满足的木匠，能轻松拥有和美国总统一样，甚至比美国总统更好的生活。

我希望你从《原则》中获得的最重要的认识是，每个人都有长处和短处，每个人在生活中都扮演着重要角色。大自然塑造万事万物皆有目的。你最需要的勇气不是用来驱使你胜过别人，而是不管其他人想让你如何，你始终坚持做最真实的自我。

I wrote a lot about the people I call “shapers” in the first part of this book. I use the word to mean someone who comes up with unique and valuable visions and builds them out beautifully, typically over the doubts of others. Shapers get both the big picture and the details right. To me, it seems that Shaper = Visionary + Practical Thinker + Determined. 

I’ve found that shapers tend to share attributes such as intense curiosity and a compulsive need to make sense of things, independent thinking that verges on rebelliousness, a need to dream big and unconventionally, a practicality and determination to push through all obstacles to achieve their goals, and a knowledge of their own and others’ weaknesses and strengths so they can orchestrate teams to achieve them. Perhaps even more importantly, they can hold conflicting thoughts simultaneously and look at them from different angles. They typically love to knock things around with other really smart people and can easily navigate back and forth between the big picture and the granular details, counting both as equally important.

People wired with enough of these ways of thinking that they can operate in the world as shapers are very rare. But they could never succeed without working with others who are more naturally suited for other things and whose ways of thinking and acting are also essential. 

Knowing how one is wired is a necessary first step on any life journey. It doesn’t matter what you do with your life, as long as you are doing what is consistent with your nature and your aspirations. Having spent time with some of the richest, most powerful, most admired people in the world, as well as some of the poorest, most disadvantaged people in the most obscure corners of the globe, I can assure you that, beyond a basic level, there is no correlation between happiness levels and conventional markers of success. A carpenter who derives his deepest satisfaction from working with wood can easily have a life as good or better than the president of the United States. If you’ve learned anything from Principles 

I hope it’s that everyone has strengths and weaknesses, and everyone has an important role to play in life. Nature made everything and everyone for a purpose. The courage that’s needed the most isn’t the kind that drives you to prevail over others, but the kind that allows you to be true to your truest self, no matter what other people want you to be.