If we ever had coffee and I asked you what your skills are, you'd probably tell me one of two things:
如果我們一起喝過咖啡，我可能問你的技能，你會告訴我如下兩個答案中的一個：
1. I don't know what my skills are. 2. I don't have any.
1.我不知道我的技能是什么;2. 我沒有什么技能。
The first answer might be born from the simple fact that you haven’t thought about that question often. The second answer, is probably because you’re human. We humans have a difficult job seeing our own skills as skills. We don't consider them skills but rather just things we do.
第一個答案是基于一個簡單的事實，你還沒有考慮過這個問題。第二個答案可能是因為你是人類，我們人類很難將我們的技能看作是技能。
So during this fictional coffee, the first thing I would do is to try to help you figure out what skills you already have. I'd even pull out a stack of note cards, which would probably make you recoil a little. But the goal is to create a list of our current skills so that we know what we have to work with, what might be missing and what we want to improve.
所以在假想的咖啡場景內，我做的第一件事就是使你明白你究竟掌握哪些技能。我拿出了一疊卡片，這些卡片將幫助你梳理技能。我們的目標是建立一個技能表，以便能知道我們擁有哪些技能，還缺少哪些，哪些想要改進。
There are only two steps to this exercise:1. Write down ideas. 2. Look for patterns.
此項練習僅需兩步：1.寫下你的想法;2.尋找他們的分類模式。
Step 1: Write Down Ideas
第一步：寫下想法
I don't want your cards to be perfect. I just want you to write.
我不想寫的卡片多完美，只想你把它寫下來。
Step 1 is all about quantity. One skill per card, as many cards as you can come up with. This is not the time to edit. For now, we're going for volume. To get started, here are some questions you can answer about your skills:
步驟一與數量有關。一張卡片代表一個技能，你要盡可能多地寫出卡片。還沒到編輯他們的時候。現在，我們只需要數量。我們就從你能回答的、和技能有關的問題開始。
1. What are you good at?
1.你擅長什么?
Screw humility. This is no time to be humble. What's something you're good, dare I say, amazing at? Do you create great marketing proposals? Can no one balance a budget like you can? I'm not talking about just in your current job either. Go way back. If you were a fantastic paperboy, write down "On‑time delivery."
不要謙遜。沒時間謙遜。我敢說，你一定有令人驚奇的特長。你是否提出了很棒的市場推廣方案?是不是沒人能像你一樣平衡收支預算。我也不是單指你現在的工作。想想過去，如果你是一名出色的報童，那就寫下“投遞準時”。
2. What comes naturally?
2.順其自然
You think everyone can do what you do, but we can't. The elaborate dinner parties you throw so easily are indicative that you're amazing at event planning and connecting with others. Just because it's easy doesn’t mean it's not a skill. Are you renowned for your ability to pack ten days of clothes into a small carry‑on for business trips? Have you figured out a unique way to fit a fully functional wood shop in your garage but always thought of it as a silly hobby?
你認為你做的其他人也能做，但事實并非如此。你很輕松地組織了盛大的聚會晚餐，這顯示你是如此地擅長計劃和聯系他人。不能因為太簡單，就說它不是技能。你是不是能將出差10天的衣物打包到一個較小的商務旅行箱?你是不是找到了一種獨特的方法，布置的車庫木材間具備所有功能?而你卻一直認為它只是一個無意義的習慣。
Step 2: Look for patterns
第二步：尋找分類模式
Now that you've got a few skills labeled you'll start to notice something: Some of the ideas are related.
既然為你的技能都打上了標簽，那么就開始下一步：將相關想法歸類。
Group them in the way that works best for you. Maybe you want to group yours by "Skills I love doing," "Skills I get paid the most for," "Skills I want to improve" or "Skills I haven’t used in a long time."
將這些以對自己最有利的方式歸類。你可將他們歸為：你喜歡的技能、使你收入最多的技能、你想改善的技能或者你很久沒有使用的技能。
Don’t worry if you don't come right out of the gate with some patterns. If this is your first go‑round with an activity like this, you shouldn't be great at it yet. Try tweaking this exercise to make it work the best possible way for you.
如果沒有提出一些分類模式，你也不要擔心。如果這是第一次進行此類工作，我想你應該還不太擅長。試著適應這些練習，使它成為對你最有利的方式。
Put your cards in a spot where you will see them during your average day and give yourself more than one chance to collect ideas. Fear would love to add the inconvenience of searching for a card as a way to prevent an idea from seeing the light of day. Beat it back by keeping a stack in a few locations at home. And keep some in your pocket.
把卡片放到每天你都能看到的地方，以給自己更多機會來收集這些想法。恐懼會使你把卡片放到不方便的地方，從而不想多見到它們。避免恐懼的方法就是在家里多個地方放有卡片，并在口袋里也放一些。
It might feel a little strange, but anyone who judges you for writing down an idea and trying to be smarter about idea capture is a jerk. (You could always do this using an app on your phone but remember, there’s still something powerful about physically writing an idea down.)
雖然這感覺有點奇怪，但那些根據你寫下的一個想法進行評判的人，和那些嘗試其他更聰明的方法去捕捉想法的人，都很不受人歡迎。(你可以一直使用手機應用，但是記住，將想法寫下來效果更好。)
The goal of looking for patterns is greater clarity into what skills you possess. If you have ten skills written down, for instance, and nine of them fall into the category "Skills I don't use at my current job," we need to fix that. We need to find a new job that uses more of your skills, bring more of your skills to your current job or learn the skills your job actually requires.
尋找分類模式的目的是使你更清楚你所擁有的技能。舉例來說，如果你寫下了10項技能，9項被歸入“我現在工作不使用的技能”，那就需要調整。我們要么尋找一份新工作來更多地使用自己的技能，要么獲取更多工作需要的技能，抑或者學習現在工作需要的技能。
If you ended up with two note cards and a pattern of "I have no skills, I hate you Jon Acuff," it might be time to phone a friend. Grab coffee with someone and ask them flat out, "What do you think my skills are?"
如果你僅有兩個卡片，第二步分類也只是“我沒有技能，我恨你Jon Acuff”，那你可能需要給一個朋友打個電話。沏些咖啡邀請他們出去，并問他們“你認為我的技能有哪些?”
The point of the note card exercise is to generate two different things: Hope and awareness.
卡片練習的著力點是兩件不同的事情：擁有希望和培養察覺力。
The first one is simple: Launching a Do Over takes a tremendous amount of hope. At the start of a journey like this, it's very easy to get discouraged and think you currently don't possess many career skills.
第一個很簡單：重新來過需要抱有很大希望。在此類旅程的起點，最容易受打擊，以致于認為你現在還沒有任何職業技能。
The second goal, awareness, is to help you see new skills you might want to acquire. Whether you want to get better at your current job or find a new one, chances are you will need new skills.
第二個目標：培養覺察力是幫助你看到你可能想要獲得的新技能。無論你想在工作上突破或者是找一份新工作，需要新技能才能使你有機遇。
Seeing what skills you currently have on note cards often helps increase the awareness of what’s missing and gives you a jumpstart to identifying the new skills you might need for a new job or to break out of a career rut.
瀏覽下你現在擁有的技能，寫成卡片將會幫助你注意到還缺少哪些技能，并使你有很大動力去彌補，從而識別出新工作需要的技能或去打破目前的職業藩籬。