My name is Zain Asher, and I'm an anchor at CNN International.

我是染恩．艾希兒 CNN國際新聞台的主播

I'm super proud to say that I have my dream job.

我要很驕傲地說 這是我夢寐以求的工作

I wake up every day, and I'm so excited to go to work.

我每天早上醒來 都對工作充滿期待

But my life wasn't always this way

但我的人生並不一直是如此

and I do want to share a little bit about my background

在這裡我想和你們 分享我的背景

and help, hopefully, motivate and inspire some of you.

希望能夠鼓勵各位

So, I'm an anchor at CNN International now,

我目前任職於CNN國際新聞台

but about four, four and half years ago,

但在大約四年半前時

I was working as a receptionist.

我是一個櫃台小姐

And the reason why I share that is because I want to let you know

我之所以提及這件事 是想讓各位知道

that success is never really in a straight line.

成功是一條曲折的路

There's always going to be bumps along the way.

而這條路上總會充滿阻礙

For the longest time in my life,

在我生命中很長一段時間

I always believed that hard work was a key to success.

我都一直相信努力會帶來成功

I thought, "You know what? If you work hard,

我想：如果我很努力

of course you're going to be successful."

那我一定會成功

But now I realize that there's so much more to the story.

但現在我明白事情沒那麼簡單

There are plenty of people who work hard,

有很多人窮極一生努力

who don't necessarily make it in their chosen careers.

卻無法在他們的領域中成功

There are plenty of people who are extraodinarily talented,

有許多天賦異稟的人

who know the right people, who are well educated,

他們認識一些貴人 也受過良好教育

who don't necessarily make it.

但卻沒辦法成功

So, if it's not always hard work, what then determines

如果成功的關鍵不是努力

whether you're going to be successful?

那什麼才是成功的關鍵？

As I intend to answer this,

在我回答這個問題之前

I'll share with you a little bit about my life and my background.

我想先和各位 分享我的人生經歷

I was born and raised here in London.

我在倫敦長大

My family and I, we're originally from Nigeria.

我的家庭來自奈及利亞

The worst and probably most difficult day in my life

我生命中最艱辛的一天

was September 3rd, 1988.

是在1988年9月3日

I was about five years old.

當時我只有五歲

And my mother and I were in the kitchen, in our house in London.

母親和我在倫敦家裡的廚房

We'd just gotten back from a wedding in Nigeria.

我們剛從一場奈及利亞的婚宴回來

And my brother and my father were still in Nigeria

父親和哥哥當時還在奈及利亞

a few days after the wedding, for a road trip,

他們父子倆想多留幾天旅行

a father-and-son road trip.

他們本該在1988年9月3日回家

And they were supposed to come home on September 3rd, 1988.

我們那天要去接機

We were supposed to pick them up from the airport.

等了又等

And we were waiting and waiting.

我們以為他們錯過了班機

I guess we assumed they'd missed their flight.

我們一直等，卻沒有任何消息

We continued to wait. We didn't hear anything.

幾個小時過去了

And then, later on that day,

母親接到一通電話

my mother got a phone call from a family friend in Nigeria,

奈及利亞的友人打來,他說：

and the voice on the other end of the line just basically said, you know,

「你先生和兒子發生車禍了」

"Your husband and your son have been involved in a car crash.

「其中一位不幸身亡 但我們不清楚是哪位」

One of them is dead and we don't know which one."

車禍在奈及利亞發生

So, the car crash happened in Nigeria,

當時有五個人在車上

and there were about five people in the car.

除了在後座的一個人之外 其餘的人都死了

Everyone in the car died instantly apart from one person in the back seat,

父親和哥哥當時就坐在後座

where my father and my brother were sitting.

而父親不幸身亡

It turned out to be my father who died.

母親當時懷孕

My mother was pregnant at the time.

她那時相當崩潰

Of course she was devastated because my parents

因為我父母真的是彼此的真愛

were really the loves of each other's lives.

之後我成了單親家庭的小孩

So, I was raised in a single-parent family.

有段時間我到奈及利亞 和奶奶一起住

For a while, my mother sent me to live in Nigeria by myself, with my grandmother.

我回來時，母親認為

When I came back, she decided that, you know,

如果要成功 就必須和人建立關係

in life, if you want to be successful, you have to be able to relate to people

各式各樣的人

from all walks of life.

她費盡心思 把我送到各種學校

She'd deliberately send me to various types of schools.

我在奈及利亞唸過書

I went to school in Nigeria,

待過倫敦南部 貧民區的公立學校

I went to a state school in a poor neighborhood in South London,

也上過私立學校 和寄宿學校

I went to a private school, and then I went to a boarding school.

這些都是計畫好的

This was on purpose, deliberately,

因為母親認為，如果要成功

because my mother felt that, if you want to make it in life,

就必須和各種人建立關係

you need to be able to relate to everybody.

十六歲時，我有位嚴格的奈及利亞母親

So, when I was sixteen - I have a strict Nigerian mother -

在這一年她下定決心 要把我送到牛津大學

but when I was sixteen, she decided that she wanted me to go to Oxford.

她想了又想：要如何保證

And she sat down and she thought, "OK. How can I guarantee

我的小孩可以進牛津？ 該怎麼做？

that my child's going to get into Oxford? What can I do to make that happen?"

幾天後她告訴我她的想法

She thought about it for a few days, and she came up to me with a proposal,

她說要規定我...

and she said that she was going to ban me

十八個月都不准看電視

from watching any television for eighteen months.

(笑)

(Laughter)

我當時只能看BBC和CNN國際台

So, I was only allowed to watch BBC and CNN International.

如果要看其他台 必須獲得特殊許可

If I wanted to watch anything else, I had to ask special permission for that.

之後連電話、有線頻道、 音樂都被禁止了

And then, no television expanded into no phones, no cable, no music.

我除了讀書外無事可做

I literally had nothing else to do but study.

母親對我說

And my mother said to me, "If you're living in my house,

你住在這個屋簷下 唯一能看電視的方法

the only way you're ever going to be able to watch television again

就是考進牛津大學

is if you get into Oxford."

(笑)

(Laughter)

現在想想真的很好笑

So, I really laugh now, and it is funny,

但她的計畫也真的成功了

but, you know, her plan worked.

我努力唸書，所有科目都拿A 也順利進入牛津大學

I worked very hard, I got straight A's, and I went to Oxford.

總的來說，我的童年很艱辛

So, overall, I didn't necessarily have the easiest childhood.

我在單親家庭長大 家裡沒什麼錢

I was raised in a single-parent family; we didn't have much money;

我經常轉學

I changed schools constantly,

因此很難交到朋友

and therefore, I found it difficult to make friends.

雖然很辛苦 但我喜歡童年的每個時刻

I didn't have the easiest childhood, but I loved every minute of it

因為這些經驗讓我能面對人生

because it prepared me for real life.

就像我剛才說的 在從牛津畢業後

As I mentioned, especially after having gone to Oxford -

我到紐約哥倫比亞大學唸研究所

and I went to grad school as well in New York, Columbia -

直到那時我仍然相信

I really believed up until that point

努力是成功的關鍵

that hard work was the key to being successful.

但現在我才明白還有其他因素

Now I realize there's a lot more to the story.

在這裡我想和大家分享

I'm going to share with you what I think is more to the story.

第一件事是：相信你的努力

The first thing I believe is, trust your struggle.

這是我常聽到的一句話 「相信你的努力」

This is something I'd heard a lot, "Trust your struggle."

這意味著 無論生命中有多少困難

And that means no matter what the hardships

要相人生終究會好轉

you're going through in life,

四年半前

have faith that it will all end up being for the greater good.

我還是一個櫃台小姐

I mentioned that four, four and half years ago,

當時我在加州一家製片公司工作

I was working as a receptionist,

身為一個櫃台小姐

and I was in a production company in California.

我拼了命地 想在公司裡往上爬

And I was a receptionist, and I really wanted to sort of move up

但無論我如何努力 就是無法升職

within the company.

無論我加班多少次

And no matter how hard I worked, I couldn't get promoted.

希望老闆發現並提拔我

No matter how many times I stayed late or came in on the weekends

卻從來沒有機會

hoping that my boss would notice me and promote me,

事實上

it never happened.

他們開始找外面的人 來擔任我想要的那個職位

And in fact, for the position I wanted,

我相信有同樣經歷的人 都能體會我的感受

they began looking for external candidates.

因為我是櫃台小姐 所以必須倒水

I'm sure anyone who's been through that knows how that can be.

給那位要來應徵 我理想職位的人

And because I was the receptionist, it was my job to serve water

相信我，那很難受

to the people who were coming in to interview for the job that I wanted.

我開始對自己失去信心

(Laughter) I know. It wasn't easy.

我靜下來想，然後問自己:

So, I didn't really necessarily feel good about myself because of that.

「你這一生究竟要什麼？

I did some soul-searching and I asked myself,

顯然不是當櫃台小姐 那你究竟想做什麼？」

"What do you really want to do in life?

我一直都對新聞業充滿熱忱

Clearly this is probably not meant for you. What do you want to do?"

於是我打電話 到紐約一家電視公司

I'd always been passionate about broadcast journalism.

一個在地新聞台

So, I called a television station in New York,

我問他們：要什麼樣的條件 才能在你們這邊工作？

a local news station,

不幸地，我沒有任何經驗

and I asked them, "What do I need to do to get a job with you guys?"

他們要當過兩三年記者的人

So, unfortunately, I didn't have any experience.

我唯一的工作經驗

They needed about two or three years previous experience as a reporter,

就是接電話和發傳真

and the only experience I really had

我只會做這兩樣事

was answering phones and sending faxes.

他們再三地拒絕我

That's all I really knew how to do.

此外，我還有英國口音

And so, they said no repeatedly to me.

在美國，如果你想進在地新聞台

And, on top of that, I had a British accent,

外國口音會成為你的絆腳石

and in America, if you want to get into the local news business,

國家新聞台較不在意

it's very difficult if you have a foreign accent.

但在地新聞台非常在意

It's a lot easier in national news,

他們拒絕了我

but certainly in local news it's a lot harder.

但我沒有因此放棄

So, they said no,

我打電話到公司請假

and I decided I wasn't going to take no for an answer.

付給室友幾百塊錢

So, I basically called in sick to work,

請他們在洛杉磯替我錄影

and I paid my roommate, my housemate, a few hundred dollars, whatever,

我想像自己是名記者

and they helped film me around Los Angeles,

並研究記者一切工作內容

sort of acting like a reporter. I studied reporters inside out.

我錄製各種影片

I studied everything that they did, inside out,

我研究一些記者 學習他們在影片中擔任旁白

and I put together various packages,

我將這些影像寄給電視台 希望他們能給我機會

which were sort of voiced-over pieces that I learned

不幸的是，許多電視台

basically from studying various reporters.

每天收到上千名申請人的影片

And I sent them to this news station, hoping that they would give me a chance.

幾個月後他們才看到我的影片

Unfortunately, a lot of these news stations

那時正好經濟蕭條 我失業了

receive thousands of applications, thousands of tapes.

我當時不但沒錢，還沒工作

So, it took them several months to get back to me.

於是我乾脆搬去紐約

And during that time, the recession kicked in and I lost my job.

期待那家電視台 最後能接受我

So, there I was, no money, no job.

在不斷寄email糾纏他們後

So, I decided anyway that I was going to move to New York

他們終於聯絡我

and just hope that this one station would get back to me.

和我約面試

So eventually, after emailing and pestering constantly,

他們對我印象深刻

they eventually got back to me.

因為我雖然沒經驗

They brought me in for an interview,

但我自己錄了影片

and they were so impressed that, even though I had no experience,

證明我的能力

that I had put together this tape by myself, showing what I could do,

於是他們當場雇用我

that they hired me on the spot.

(掌聲) 謝謝

(Applause) So, thank you.

這就是為何我說 「相信你的努力」

So, that's why I say, "Trust your struggle."

第二件事 說來或許有些奇怪

The second thing I believe - and this sort of comes out of left field -

我並不認為競爭是好事

is I honestly do not believe in competition.

資本主義社會告訴我們 如果你想成功

The corporate world will tell you that, if you want to get ahead in life,

就必須有競爭力 有強烈慾望要成功

you need to be competitive, you need to have that drive to succeed

然後和別人一較高下

and compete with one another.

但我不是靠競爭成功

But I don't believe in competing for what I want.

我創造自己的理想

I believe in creating what I want.

林肯曾說

Abraham Lincoln once said that the best way to predict the future

預測未來的最好方式 就是去創造未來

is to create it.

為了能成功

In order for me to be successful,

我不認為我必須 從他人身上奪走什麼

I don't believe that I need to take anything away from anyone else.

當然，你能從同儕身上

Now, of course, you know, there are some advantages

獲得一些好處和靈感

to looking at your peers for inspiration, definitely.

但我認為競爭的精神

But I think that having a competitive spirit,

追求高人一等的感覺

having that need for one-upmanship

以及不斷地與他人比較

and comparing yourself to other people again and again

事實上會帶來恐懼與不安

can actually bring out fears and insecurities

並且終究使你退縮

that end up holding you back.

我在面試CNN主播職位時

So, when I was interviewing for another position in CNN,

我坐在一個女生旁邊 她是我的「競爭對手」

the anchor job,

但我並沒有希望她失敗

I was sort of sat next to a girl who I was competing for the same job with,

我和她坐在一起幾小時 我幫助她

and rather than sort of not wish her well,

給她一些建議

I sat with her for hours, and I helped her,

讓我們得到工作的機會一樣大

I showed her what she could improve upon,

我比她早面試，出來的時候

so she had just as good of a chance of getting the job as I did.

我告訴她面試官問的所有問題 以及該如何準備

I went in for the screen test first, I came out,

所以我不認為競爭是好事 應該創造理想

and I told her everything they asked me and how she should prepare.

而不是爭奪那些 已經被創造的事物

So, I don't believe in competition. I believe in creating what I want.

第三件事是 我們應該大方付出

I don't believe in competing for what's already been created.

在人生中 我深刻地體會到

The third thing I honestly believe is to give,

付出越多，收穫越多

because it has become abundantly clear to me in life

這是我從Kat Cole女士 身上學到的一課

that the more you give, the more you receive.

我在採訪中認識她

I learned this lesson from a woman named Kat Cole,

她是一家公司的CEO

who I interviewed for a story for CNN.

一開始她在Hooters餐廳當服務生

She's a corporate CEO,

不知道你們對Hooters印象如何

and she started her career as a waitress at Hooters.

我不清楚英國是否有Hooters

Now, I don't know -

那是美國一家連鎖餐廳

(Laughter) You guys laugh, but I'm not sure if people know what Hooters -

裡面的服務生都穿得很少

I don't know if you have Hooters in England,

那是她一開始工作的地方

but it's a restaurant chain in America,

我很好奇她怎麼 從那樣的處境中轉換跑道

where the waitresses are very scantily clad.

尤其她出生於貧窮家庭

That's how she started off.

她母親每周 只花十美金買食物

And I was curious about the transition

而她現在成為CEO

from going from that kind of environment - especially because she grew up poor,

我特別想知道 她對財務狀況改變的感受

and her mother saved ten dollars a week for food -

她說她其實不懂有錢的感覺

to now being a CEO.

即使她賺了很多錢

And especially financially I wanted to know what that was like for her.

因為直到今天 她仍將大部分收入給更需要的人

She said she didn't really know what that felt like to have money,

她認為付出越多，收穫越多

even though she was being well paid,

這給我很大的衝擊

because she still gives most of her money away, till this day,

因為我在CNN 訪問過很多CEO

because it was clear to her that the more you give in life, the more you receive.

也訪問過許多科技業創辦人

So, this had a pretty deep impact on me,

他們有些人年收入上百萬 甚至上億

because I've interviewed a lot of CEOs for CNN,

通常他們會說

and I've interviewed a lot of founders for tech start-ups,

「如果你想成功， 你必須有人脈、有品牌

some of whom have made millions, if not hundreds of millions of dollars.

了解競爭環境」

Usually, what they say is,

她也提供一些務實的建議