关于如何自我提升的建议无处不在。美国在售图书中有2.5%左右的书涉及到这类话题，加上演讲、培训、电视节目、网络产品、教练、瑜伽等等，诸如此类, 自我提升是一个每年100亿美元的产业。当然这只是在美国。

然而, 研究表明, 很多备受好评的建议可能会误导人, 甚至本身就是错误的。尽管研究和实践表明它们充其量只是半真半假, 但关于绩效表现的一些误解依然存在。这或许可以解释为什么最有可能购买自我提升书籍的人在过去18个月内又购买了一本。第一本充满误解的书没有用, 所以他们又买了一本, 也许不久后又买了一本。

《管理杂志》最近的一篇报告指出，在近25000篇关于绩效的学术文章中, 只有一小部分包含了心理学家所称的“人与人之间的差异”，它描述了一个动态范围，诸如个人最好、平均和最差表现之间的差异。建议往往错误地假定：通过使用相同的标准，人与人之间的绩效表现可以相互比较。这太荒谬了。

我们对数以百计的追求业绩者的观察在很大程度上证实了这份报告, 并且已经总结出一系列的误解, 这些误解事实上阻碍了人们试图做出改进。这些断言根植于一系列不同的领域, 包括心理学、体育、艺术和领导力。我们希望通过瓦解这些误解, 解释现实，并提供一些合理的建议, 帮助人们实现更有效的自我发展。

误解一:优异的表现意味着持续表现优异。

现实:顶级表演者的表现变化无常。著名吉他手曾说过, 他在整个职业生涯中都受到了怯场的折磨。他解释说, 这种感觉不是"我够好吗?" ，而是"我今晚会不会足够好?" 能否表现出色，深深地困扰着他。

建议:预测变化性。根本就没有线性、始终如一的改进之路这回事。起伏是常有的。如果总体趋势向上, 那么一切正常。意识到并对此有充分的认识，你就会变得更有耐心, 更不容易灰心丧气。

误解二:参照别人会让我们变得更好。

现实:改进包括重复行动和环境，从而导致我们最好的表现。随着时间的推移，这些行动和环境就会根深蒂固。它不是模仿来的。但研究表明，事实上，我们总是将自己与他人进行比较，并且会带来消极的后果。在某些情况下，我们以那些更有能力或更有成就的人为基准，当我们无法与他们相匹配时，这种做法可能会适得其反。在其他情况下, 我们常常潜意识地努力维护我们的自尊心，我们比照的对象是那些不太成功的人——这是一种"向下的比较", 对个人发展来说，显然是一场恶梦。

建议：一个更好的方法是通过回顾错误和总结经验来寻求真正的改进机会。专注于变得比昨天更好，实现自己的潜能和抱负，而不是别人的。这将给你一个更强烈的感觉，你想去哪里，更重要的是，为什么。

误解三:成功人士只运用"刻意练习"这一种成功策略。

现实:虽然大联盟棒球投手迪基在2012年赢得了赛扬(Cy Young)奖, 部分原因在于他精通指节球——这是一个难以领会的棒球投法, 如果投的好，击球手几乎毫无胜算——他也练习并完善了更加传统的技术。特别是在职业巅峰时, 他认为指节球只是多种投法当中的一个选项。他不仅仅依靠那个特殊的武器, 而是通过多变的投法、速度和旋转来甩开对方的击球手。

建议:对于你或者其他任何人来说, 进步的方法并非只有一种。单一的大策略很少奏效, 因为无法用来应对随时冒出的紧急情况。适应性和计划具有同等重要性。只要经过缜密思考, 即便与众不同，也要勇于实践。这也会增强你在自主选择的道路上的主人翁意识。

误解四:进步源于坚定不移地专注于最具挑战性的目标。

现实:有证据表明, 设定目标和追求目标实际上可能会阻碍进步。在一项研究中, 芝加哥大学的教授要求参与者用简单的方法来提高自己: 去健身房或者用牙线剔牙。研究人员发现, 虽然目标设定增加了受试者对某事的思考量, 但实际上却减少了他们花在做这件事情上的时间。

建议:在目标规划和实践之间创造一些间隔。首先, 想想你的最终目标, 比如"我想提高我的高尔夫挥杆水平", 或者"我想把我今年的销售额增加20% 。" 然而, 一旦你开始执行, 请关注活动本身的回报和乐趣, 而不要强调结果。例如, 提醒自己你有多喜欢打高尔夫球或者与顾客交谈带来的乐趣, 而不去想那个具有挑战性的目标(并给自己施压)。

最后, 进步来源于对我们所面临的独特挑战和所拥有能力的自知, 而并非源于遵循流行文化的模式。它是对低谷和高峰的理解, 是我们对自己的比较, 是适应形势, 是注重细节而又保持格局。这不仅仅是针对自我提升的建议, 它还是一种领导他人的方式。毕竟, 在你领导另一个人之前, 你必须能够领导自己。

英文原文

Advice on how to improve one’s self is everywhere. It accounts for about 2.5% of all book sales in the United States. Add in speeches, training programs, TV programs, online-products, coaches, yoga, and the like, self-help is a $10 billion industry per year, and that’s just in the U.S.

However, research shows that much of the advice extolled may be misleading or even wrong. Several myths about performance persist, despite research and practices that show they are half-truths at best. That might explain why the most likely purchasers of self-improvement books have bought another within the previous 18 months. The first myth-riddled book didn’t work, so they bought another, and maybe another soon after.

A recent report in the Journal of Management noted that of nearly 25,000 academic articles on performance, only a fraction include what psychologists call within person variance, which describes ranges, such as that between individuals’ top, average and worst performances. Advice too often mistakenly assumes performance can be compared across people, using the same gauge. That’s absurd.

Our observation of hundreds of performance seekers largely confirms the report and has led to delineating a series of myths that hold people back when trying to improve. These assertions are based on a diverse set of fields, including psychology, sports, arts, and leadership. We hope that by dispelling these myths, explaining the reality and offering some sound advice instead, we can help move people toward more effective personal development.

Myth 1: Performing at the top means consistent peak performance.

Reality:Top performers experience variability in their performance. Famed musician Gregg

Allman has said that he suffered from stage fright throughout his career. The feeling, he explained, was not “Am I any good?” Rather, it was “Am I gonna be good tonight?” Whether he was going to deliver his best, or less, haunted him.

Advice:Expect variability. There’s just no such thing as linear, unwavering, improvement paths. There will be ups and downs. If the path is generally up, all’s good. To the extent you know and appreciate that, you’ll be more patient and less likely to be discouraged.

Myth 2: We get better by benchmarking ourselves against others.

Reality:Improvement involves repeating the actions and circumstances that lead to our best performances so that over time they become ingrained. It doesn’t come from mimicry. But research shows that we do, indeed, compare ourselves to others all the time, with negative consequences. In some cases, we benchmark against those who are more capable or accomplished, which can be counterproductive when we fail to match them. In other cases, often in a subconscious effort to preserve our self-esteem, we rate ourselves against people who are less successful — a “downward comparison” that is obviously anathema to personal development.

Advice: A better approach is to pursue real opportunities for improvement by reviewing mistakes and taking stock of how experiences can lead to improvement. Focus on getting better than you were yesterday and living up to your own potential and aspirations, not somebody else’s. This will give you a keener sense of where you want to go, and, more importantly, why.

Myth 3: Successful people engage in “singular deliberate practice” of one winning strategy.

Reality: Although Major League baseball pitcher R.A. Dickey won the Cy Young award in 2012 in part because of his mastery of the knuckle ball — a pitch that’s difficult to learn but almost unhittable when executed well — he also practiced, and perfected, more traditional techniques. Especially when performing at his height, he thought of the knuckle ball as just one approach among many. He won by relying not just on that special weapon but on a variety pitches, speeds, and spins, to throw off the opposing batter.

Advice: There is no one way for you, or anybody else, to improve. Singular grand strategies seldom work because they don’t account for exigencies that emerge along the way.

Adaptability is as important as plan. Don’t hesitate to call an audible — as long as it’s a thoughtful one. That will also increase your sense of ownership in the path willfully chosen.

Myth 4: Improvement stems from unwavering focus on your most challenging goals.

Reality: Evidence suggests that setting goals and pursuing them may actually inhibit improvement. In one study, professors at the University of Chicago asked participants to improve themselves in simple ways: hitting the gym or flossing teeth. The researchers found that while goal-setting increased the amount of thinking those subjects put into something, it actually decreased the amount of time they spent doing it.

Advice: Create some separation between goal planning and doing. First, think about your end game, such as “I want to improve my golf swing,” or “I want to increase the number of sales I make this year by 20%.” Once you’ve begun to execute, however, focus on what’s rewarding and fun about the activity itself, but de-emphasize the outcome. For example, remind yourself how much you like to play golf or talking to customers, without thinking about (and pressuring yourself) with that challenging target.

In the end, improvement comes from knowing our own unique challenges and abilities, not from following pop-culture formulas. It’s about understanding valleys and peaks, comparing ourselves to ourselves, adapting along the way, and staying small while staying big. This is not just advice for your own improvement; it’s a way to lead others. After all, you have to be able to lead yourself before you lead another.

克里斯托弗·卡雅斯、詹姆斯·贝利|文

克里斯托弗·卡雅斯是乔治华盛顿大学的教授和管理系的系主任。詹姆斯·贝利是乔治华盛顿大学的领导力教授。

译言网网友 玉堂春晓 |译 周强 |校

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