This was the question I asked myself one summer for probably the 39th time.

這是我在一個夏天問自己的問題，大概是第 39 次了。

It was a Sunday and I was about to get on a flight across the country.

那是一個星期天，我正準備搭乘飛機飛往全國各地。

I'd just spent the weekend drinking into oblivion with my friends.

週末，我剛和朋友們喝得忘乎所以。

The whole weekend felt like a blur I was so hungover.

整個週末都感覺很模糊，我宿醉得厲害。

And like with every other hangover, I began to ponder my life.

和其他宿醉一樣，我開始思考自己的人生。

I couldn't stop thinking about how much I didn't want this.

我一直在想，我是多麼不想這樣。

Living for the weekends, dreading Mondays, a life full of comfort yet devoid of any freedom.

為週末而活，害怕週一，生活充滿安逸，卻沒有任何自由。

I was nearly 30 years old, already many years into my so-called career, successful by society's standards, but something just didn't feel right.

我當時快 30 歲了，所謂的職業生涯已經走過了很多年，按照社會的標準，我已經很成功了，但就是感覺有些不對勁。

You see, as a kid, I always had dreams I'd be different.

你看，我小時候一直夢想著自己能與眾不同。

But as life went on, those dreams, they faded away.

但隨著生活的繼續，這些夢想也漸漸消失了。

And I found myself stuck behind a desk, all thanks to a series of decisions I thought were my best interest.

我發現自己被困在辦公桌後面，而這一切都要歸功於一系列我認為對我最有利的決定。

College, the fancy job, the big city.

上大學，找工作，去大城市。

These decisions, did I make them for me?

這些決定是我自己做的嗎？

Or did I make them for everyone but me?

還是說，我是為除了我之外的所有人做的？

And whenever I found myself alone in the airport hungover like this, these dreams would come back.

每當我發現自己獨自一人在機場宿醉未醒時，這些夢境就會再次出現。

It was at this moment I found myself wondering, what if I just went for it?

就在這一刻，我發現自己在想，如果我就這樣去做呢？

One year.

一年

That's all I need.

這就是我所需要的。

What would happen if I chased my dreams for 365 days?

如果我追逐夢想 365 天，會發生什麼？

And that's when it all started.

一切就是從那時開始的。

In that moment, I reached into my suitcase and pulled out the book I've been struggling to get through.

那一刻，我把手伸進行李箱，拿出了那本我一直在努力讀完的書。

A book called Think and Grow Rich.

一本名為《思考與致富》的書。

This book would eventually rewire my brain for success.

這本書最終會重新連接我的大腦，讓我走向成功。

But for now, I flip to my bookmark and read this.

但現在，我翻到我的書籤，讀到了這篇文章。

Whatever the mind can conceive and believe, it can achieve.

思想所能想象和相信的，它都能實現。

A simple quote, but I read it over and over and over.

一句簡單的話，卻讓我讀了一遍又一遍。

If you want to change, you must believe in that change.

如果你想改變，就必須相信改變。

You must visualize that change.

你必須將這一變化可視化。

But what change did I want?

但我想要什麼改變呢？

I wanted to be free of my student loan and credit card debt.

我想擺脫學生貸款和信用卡債務。

I wanted to work on things I was passionate about.

我想從事我熱衷的工作。

I wanted to be free.

我想要自由。

But dreams, they're not enough.

但是，光有夢想是不夠的。

You must create a detailed plan of action to achieve your goal.

您必須為實現目標制定詳細的行動計劃。

So what would be my plan of action?

那麼，我的行動計劃是什麼呢？

I will stop spending money on bullshit.

我不會再花錢買廢話了。

I'll dedicate nights and weekends to building my future.

我會利用晚上和週末的時間來創造我的未來。

I will start building a business.

我將開始創業。

I wrote all this down on a tiny little note card.

我把這些都寫在一張小小的便條卡上。

This was my manifesto.

這就是我的宣言。

Exactly what I want and exactly how I'll get there.

這正是我想要的，也是我要達到的目標。

When I got home, I nailed this little note card right above my bed.

回家後，我把這張小卡片釘在床頭。

And I read it over and over.

我讀了一遍又一遍。

Every night and every evening until it was etched in my memory.

每一個夜晚，每一個夜晚，直到它刻在我的記憶裡。

What should I even work on?

我到底應該做什麼？

What am I actually passionate about?

我究竟熱衷於什麼？

And how can I actually make money from it?

我如何才能真正從中賺錢？

These questions, they paralyzed me.

這些問題讓我癱瘓。

They prevented me from ever actually getting started.

它們讓我無法真正開始工作。

And that's when I realized I was obsessed with control.

就在那時，我意識到自己沉迷於控制。

I was obsessed with the idea of having it all figured out.

我沉迷於把一切都想清楚的想法。

And this made me scared of committing to anything.

這讓我害怕做出任何承諾。

But really, I was scared of failure.

但實際上，我害怕失敗。

But this manifesto, this little piece of paper right here, it did one thing.

但這份宣言，這張小紙片，卻做了一件事。

It forced me to get started.

它迫使我開始行動。

And getting started, even in the tiniest way, taught me something that would change everything.

而開始，哪怕是最微不足道的開始，讓我學會了一些將改變一切的東西。

Failure is success.

失敗就是成功。

When I finally gave myself permission to fail, it unlocked the answer.

當我最終允許自己失敗的時候，我終於找到了答案。

I knew I wanted to build a business, but what do I work on?

我知道我想創業，但我該做什麼呢？

Getting started was the first part, but I quickly found myself trying to build things I had no business doing.

起步是第一部分，但我很快就發現自己在嘗試做一些與自己無關的事情。

My first business idea lasted about three weeks, until I realized I was building something because someone told me it could make money online.

我的第一個創業想法持續了大約三個星期，直到我意識到，我之所以要創建一個東西，是因為有人告訴我它可以在網上賺錢。

I had no passion for the idea and no skills that would help me build it.

我對這個想法毫無熱情，也沒有任何技能可以幫助我建立這個想法。

And that's when I went back to the drawing board and looked for an idea that only I could build.

就在那時，我回到了繪圖板前，尋找一個只有我能打造的創意。

Something that aligned perfectly with my skills, my passions, and of course, something that could actually make money.

與我的技能和激情完美契合的東西，當然還有能真正賺錢的東西。

Within days, I came up with the idea for StarterStore, a platform where you could see how regular people like you and me built businesses that changed their lives.

沒過幾天，我就萌生了創辦 StarterStore 的想法，在這個平臺上，你可以看到像你我這樣的普通人是如何創業改變生活的。

Exactly how they found their ideas, exactly how they launched, and exactly how they got customers.

他們究竟是如何發現自己的創意，如何推出自己的產品，又是如何贏得客戶的。

This was the product that I needed, and this was the product that only I could build.

這是我需要的產品，也是隻有我能打造的產品。

So why not create it for the world?

那麼，為什麼不為世界創造它呢？

I purchased the domain name, I put together a plan, I started building, and everything started to click.

我購買了域名，制定了計劃，開始建設，一切都變得順理成章。

I realized that this idea, it had been living in my head all along.

我意識到，這個想法一直活在我的腦海中。

But my obsession with control, my fear of failure, prevented me from ever getting started on it.

但是，我對控制的痴迷，對失敗的恐懼，讓我從未開始過。

But once I let go of that, I was free.

但一旦我放下這些，我就自由了。

I believe that everybody has a business idea just like this.

我相信，每個人都有這樣的創業想法。

Something that aligns perfectly with your skills, your passions, and of course, something that can actually make money.

與你的技能、激情完全吻合的東西，當然，還要能真正賺錢的東西。

To prove it to you, I'm running a free workshop to show you exactly how you can do this too.

為了向你證明這一點，我正在舉辦一個免費研討會，向你展示你也能做到這一點的具體方法。

We'll hang out and talk about how to overcome that self-doubt, how to find your million-dollar business idea, and exactly how to execute on that idea on just two hours a day.

我們將一起討論如何克服自我懷疑，如何找到價值百萬美元的創業點子，以及如何在每天短短兩小時內實現這一想法。

Just head to the first link in the description to save your seat.

只需點擊描述中的第一個鏈接，即可保存您的座位。

Spots are limited, I'll see you in there.

名額有限，到時見。

Ever heard the phrase, people never change?

聽說過 "人永遠不會變 "這句話嗎？

Well, I believe this is mostly true, with one exception.

我認為這大部分是對的，但有一個例外。

People do change when they change their environment.

當環境發生變化時，人確實會發生變化。

It's the reason people change when they leave their hometown for the big city.

這就是人們離開家鄉來到大城市後發生變化的原因。

A new start.

新的開始

I needed a new start.

我需要一個新的開始。

I was trying to become this new person, trying to actually build something.

我試圖成為一個全新的人，試圖真正有所建樹。

But the problem was, I was stuck in my old apartment, in my old ways.

但問題是，我被困在我的老公寓裡，按部就班。

No execution, no focus, no consistency.

沒有執行力，沒有專注力，沒有連貫性。

And that's when I realized that was my problem.

這時我才意識到，這就是我的問題所在。

It was my environment.

這是我所處的環境。

That's what I needed to change.

這就是我需要改變的。

So I went looking for a new place, a new environment where I could have a new start.

於是，我去尋找一個新的地方，一個可以讓我重新開始的新環境。

And I know it sounds so simple, but that place was the Starbucks down the street.

我知道這聽起來很簡單，但那個地方就是街邊的星巴克。

This was the place where I transformed from someone who never did anything to someone who actually got shit done.

在這裡，我從一個什麼都不做的人變成了一個真正能把事情做好的人。

I started waking up every day at 6am, and every day I walked into that Starbucks, I became a new person.

我開始每天早上 6 點起床，每天走進那家星巴克，我都變成了一個全新的人。

This new environment, this new me.

這個新環境，這個新的我。

This is when things really started to change.

從那時起，情況才真正開始發生變化。

I basically stopped drinking and spending all my money on the weekends.

我基本上不再喝酒，也不再在週末花光所有的錢。

I stopped spending every Sunday watching 12 hours of football.

我不再每個星期天都看 12 個小時的橄欖球賽。

And I started building this new future.

我開始建設新的未來。

Things started to happen really fast.

事情開始變得非常快。

Two months in, I found my distribution channel.

兩個月後，我找到了分銷管道。

I went viral on Reddit.

我在 Reddit 上走紅了。

And all of a sudden, I had an audience and an actual validated business model.

突然之間，我有了聽眾，也有了經過驗證的商業模式。

Four months in, I made my first dollar and landed the first sponsor of my newsletter.

四個月後，我賺到了第一筆錢，並找到了我通訊的第一個贊助商。

Five months in, I started making internet founder friends and building a following on Twitter and meeting people from all across the world.

五個月後，我開始結交互聯網創始人朋友，在推特上建立了自己的粉絲群，結識了來自世界各地的朋友。

Eight months in, I landed my first really big sponsorship deal for $12,000.

八個月後，我以 12,000 美元的價格獲得了第一筆真正意義上的大讚助。

I had never seen this amount of money hit my bank account at one time.

我從未見過一次性有這麼多錢打入我的銀行賬戶。

This is when I knew that I really had something.

從那時起，我知道我真的有了一些東西。

People were willing to pay me money for something that I built from a Starbucks and a laptop.

人們願意為我用星巴克和筆記本電腦做出來的東西付錢。

And this blew my mind.

這讓我大吃一驚。

And 365 days later, I had built a business to $3,500 a month from a laptop and a Starbucks while I had a full-time job.

365 天后，我用一臺筆記本電腦和一杯星巴克咖啡將生意做到了每月 3500 美元，而我當時還有一份全職工作。

I had made it.

我成功了

I walked into work, handed my resignation, and quit my full-time job.

我走進公司，遞上辭呈，辭去了全職工作。

I was going to go all in on Starter Story.

我本打算全心投入《創業故事》。

This journey, it didn't come without sacrifice.

這一路走來，並非沒有犧牲。

Yes, I built this business.

是的，我創建了這個企業。

But in the process, I had to change into a different person.

但在這個過程中，我不得不變成另外一個人。

I became so focused on actually making this thing work that I felt like I had to leave a part of my past behind.

我變得如此專注於真正讓這件事成功，以至於我覺得我必須拋棄我過去的一部分。

I became more and more detached from my old friends and even my family.

我變得越來越疏遠老朋友，甚至疏遠家人。

I had to move from the city that I love to the city that I love now.

我不得不從我熱愛的城市搬到我現在熱愛的城市。

I even had to miss a good friend's wedding.

我甚至不得不錯過一個好朋友的婚禮。

All for what?

為了什麼？

And that was probably the hardest part.

這可能是最困難的部分。

In my darkest moments, I laid awake wondering if this was all worth it.

在最黑暗的時刻，我躺在床上想，這一切是否值得。

Am I being selfish?

我是不是太自私了？

To sacrifice everything in the name of chasing my dreams?

以追逐夢想的名義犧牲一切？

I knew I had to go on this journey.

我知道我必須踏上這段旅程。

But what would happen when I came back and I'm a new person?

但是，當我回來時，我是一個全新的人，會發生什麼呢？

My old friends, my family, would they accept the new me?

我的老朋友、我的家人，他們會接受全新的我嗎？

As I look back on the journey, I can't stop thinking about that question.

回顧這段旅程，我一直在思考這個問題。

What if I was never alone in that airport on that fateful day?

如果在那個決定命運的日子裡，機場裡從來沒有我一個人呢？

What if I never had that book in my suitcase?

如果我的行李箱裡從來沒有那本書呢？

Yes, the journey was full of sacrifice.

是的，旅途充滿了犧牲。

If I didn't push through those 365 days of change to change my habits, to change my environment, to change my identity, what would have happened?

如果我沒有通過這 365 天的改變來改變我的習慣、改變我的環境、改變我的身份，會發生什麼呢？

And even though I had to change as a person, my friends, my family, they welcomed me back with open arms.

儘管我必須改變自己，但我的朋友、家人還是張開雙臂歡迎我回來。

They were so happy for me.

他們為我感到高興。

I didn't realize it, but they were actually along for the ride the whole time.

我沒有意識到，其實他們一直都在一旁。

And that makes me so happy.

這讓我非常高興。

In those 365 days, I built a business that changed my life.

在這 365 天裡，我創建了一個改變我生活的企業。

I achieved that freedom that I had set out to get.

我實現了我想要得到的自由。

No boss, no Mondays, nobody can tell me what to do.

沒有老闆，沒有周一，沒人能告訴我該怎麼做。

That doesn't mean that life is easier now because there's a whole new set of problems when you're in control.

這並不意味著現在的生活更輕鬆了，因為當你掌控一切時，會遇到一系列全新的問題。

But now I'm in the driver's seat.

但現在我坐在了駕駛座上。

And even more important, I get to wake up every day and work on something that I'm so passionate about.

更重要的是，我每天醒來都能從事自己熱衷的工作。

Starter story.

開頭的故事

So were those 365 days worth it?

那麼，這 365 天值得嗎？

Who knows?

誰知道呢？

But I know one thing for sure.

但有一點我可以肯定。

I'll never have to ask myself the question, what if I never went for it?

我再也不用問自己這樣一個問題：如果我沒有去做呢？

you

你