I sometimes feel like I have spent the first half of my life struggling to get ahead and haven't really gotten anywhere to speak of. I'm always in a hurry…no time to talk, I've got “THINGS to do.”

有时候感觉我的前半生一直在挣扎着去获取成功，却并没任何真正的成功可言。我总是匆匆忙忙…没时间说话，我总是有事要做。

Sound familiar? Western society is terribly goal-oriented and it's almost impossible to avoid being indoctrinated into this accomplishment mindset. We're so anxious to move beyond where we are; to escape our current circumstances and to get to wherever it is that we think we are going. An old Taoist story illustrates my point nicely:

听着熟悉吗？西方社会总是以目标为导向，要避免被灌输这种成就心态几乎是不可能的。我们是如此渴望超越当前的自己，逃离当下到达我们所想要去的地方。古老的道教故事可以很好的说明我的观点。

“There was a man who disliked seeing his footprints and his shadow. He decided to escape from them, and began to run. But as he ran along, more footprints appeared, while his shadow easily kept up with him. Thinking he must be going too slowly, he ran faster and faster without stopping, until he finally collapsed from exhaustion and died.If he had stood still, there would have been no footprints. If he had rested in the shade, his shadow would have disappeared.”——Chuang-tse

“曾经有一个人不喜欢看到他自己的脚印和影子，他决定甩掉它们，所以开始奔跑，可是他跑得越快影子也跟得越快，他跑的步子越多脚印也越多。他想，可能是自己跑得不够快才甩不掉影子的，于是他越跑越快，一刻也不敢停，直到筋疲力竭、心力交瘁而死。如果他定定的站着，就不会有脚印，如果他在阴凉里休息，他的影子就会消失。”——庄子

Ancient wisdom can be eerily timely, can't it? Hurrying to escape where we are and to get where we are going, we often rush headlong into disaster. Our fast-paced lives wait for no man (or woman) and create a sense of desperation and time-pressure that can be draining. The anxiety we feel breeds muddled thinking which leads to poor choices. Poor choices lead to suffering and pain. It's a race to the finish that we're destined to lose.

古代智慧能出奇的及时，不是吗？急于摆脱现状到达我们要去的地方，结果我们总是一头栽进灾难里。我们的快步调生活不等待任何人，并产生一种绝望感和时间压力。这种焦虑使我们思想混乱进而导致糟糕的选择，而糟糕的选择又使人痛苦。这是我们注定要失败的一场比赛。

Taoist wisdom suggests that there is another way. Tao, in fact, means “the way” and it refers to living life in the way that nature intended. Many of us spend our time and energy doing battle with life when the key is to live in harmony with it.

道教思想给我们提供了另外一条道路。道，实际上是指“方式”，它是指道法自然，与自然融合的生活方式。我们许多人花大量时间和精力与生活做斗争，殊不知关键是要与它和谐相处。

So, how does this work?

那这个思想如何起作用呢？

How do we live in harmony with life?

我们又如何与生活和谐相处？

How can this help us to do less, and get more done?

这如何让我们事半功倍呢？

We can start by listening to the wisdom of voices from the past. While I am only recently acquainted with the principles of Taoism myself and have admittedly limited knowledge, what I have learned so far is just too good not to share.

我们可以从聆听先贤的智慧开始。尽管我自己也是最近才接触到道家哲学思想的，得承认所学知识有限，我目前所学不多但非常好所以迫切与大家分享。

Here are four Taoist secrets to doing less and getting more done that I have found. I hope they will help you as much as they are helping me.

这是我找到的4个事半功倍的道教秘籍，我希望它们能够像帮助我一样能帮助到你们。

1. Cultivate Inner Quiet.
平静内心世界。

Okay, this is no big surprise. The Dalai Lama, Deepak Chopra, Wayne Dyer, your Aunt Crystal…they've all been saying this for a long time (but I'd venture to guess that the Taoists were among the first). Taoism offers us the same wise advice skewed to the practical.

这没什么奇怪的。达赖喇嘛，乔布拉（Deepak Chopra），韦恩戴尔（Wayne Dyer），你姑姑水晶（your Aunt Crystal）等他们很久以前都说过这句话（但我敢说老子是第一个说的）。道家思想为我们提供了同样明智并偏重实际的建议。

Meditation, Tai Chi, Taoist Yoga…any of these methods can be used to help us calm our anxious minds and reduce stress, but Taoist philosophy suggests that it can do even more. Cultivating inner quiet helps us to clearly see, not only what is around us, but what is inside of us as well. It enables us to…

冥想，太极，道教瑜伽，任何一种方式都帮助我们平静焦虑的思想，减轻压力。但是道家哲学表明它能做到更多。内心的平静可以帮助我们看的更清楚，不光我们周围还有我们的内心。

2. Live in the Moment.
活在当下。

As members of Western society, we tend to focus our lives on goal attainment, on the great reward that awaits us when we get “there.”

作为西方社会的一员，我们倾向于把生活重心放在达目标，以及达到目标时等待我们的丰厚回报上。

Taoism, like many other philosophies, teaches us that most of life is made up of the long spans of time between accomplishments or goals. Our lives consist mostly of time spent on the journey. Yet we waste most of this time struggling, striving and clawing our way towards our goals; sacrificing enjoying the journey for what amounts to a brief moment of joy when, and if, we reach our destination.

道家思想，像其他哲学思想一样，教导我们人生的大半部分由取得成就和达到目标之间的过程组成，我们的生命大部分时间花在途中。然而我们浪费大量的时间在拼命努力追求目标上；牺牲了沿途的快乐，如果可能的话，当我们实现目标时却只有片刻的愉悦。

Then we quickly get bored with our accomplishment and it's back to the hamster wheel we go. The Taoists seem to believe that a focus on the present moment and on “what is” will not only create inner peace and help you to enjoy your journey through life, but that it will help you to move forward in life toward your goals quite effortlessly as well. For those of us who are reluctant to let go of our goals, refusing to take our eyes off of the prize, this is added incentive. How does being focused on the now help us to accomplish things? It helps us to see more clearly and choose more wisely…

然后我们很快厌倦了我们的成就，又回到我们开始的起点。道家思想似乎相信着眼当下以及“事实本相”不仅能让内心平静还能助你享受生命旅途的愉悦，但这也会让你毫不费力地向着自己的目标前进。对于那些不愿意放开目标，拒绝把目光从奖励中移开的人来说，这又是一大诱惑。关注现在能怎样帮助我们完成任务呢？它能让我们看得更清楚，做出更明智的选择。

3. You Can't Save Time…You Can Only Spend It.
你不能节省时间…你只会浪费时间。

Okay, Taoists aren't the only ones saying this either but, again, they can best speak to its practical application. Being attentive to the current moment, you are able to see “what is.”
好吧，并不是只有道家思想说过这个，但再次强调，他们最能讲它的实际应用。能够着眼当下你就能看到“事实本相”。

Seeing “what is”, rather than “what we think should be there”, is immensely helpful. It allows us to recognize our inner nature (who we are and what we have to work with) and to clearly see the circumstances around us. That enables us to get more done with far less effort.

看到事物的本相而不是我们认为应该是什么样的是非常有帮助的。它能让我们看到自己的本性（我们是谁以及我们应该干什么）并看清我们周围的情况。这些能让我们用最少的努力做更多的事情。

Think of it this way; when we are racing around trying to do everything quickly, we miss the many clues that are around us everyday, clues that can help us on our journey. It's like being in a car that's racing down the highway at 90 mph. How likely is it that you are going to be able to read the road signs that are there to help get you to where you are going?

这样来说吧，当我们匆忙奔波于怎么快速完成任务时，我们就错过了身边的可以帮助我们的线索。就像坐在以90mph速度奔驰在高速的车里一样，你怎么可能看到那些可以帮助找到你到达目的地的路标呢？

It's the same principle. The world provides us with many signs that we are on either the right or the wrong track…a hurried mind blows past these signs, seeing nothing more than a blur. Taking time to read the signs helps you to…

同样，世界给我们提供了许多人生的路标而我们走的路有正确的也有错误的…匆忙的人往往忽略这些线索，眼前只剩模糊一片。花点时间关注一下那些可以帮助你的生路标吧…

4. Go with the Flow.
顺其自然。

Tai Chi and other Taoist martial arts require the ability to go with the flow, to yield rather than to resist. Advantage is gained by neutralizing the opponent's force or by using it against him rather than by struggling and meeting force with force.

太极和其他道教武功要求顺其自然，行云流水，去顺从而不是反抗。优势的取得通过抵消对手的力量或借力发力而不是硬碰硬地斗。

This is often illustrated by the flow of water. When water in a stream is confronted by a rock in it's path, it allows the rock to push it aside, thereby flowing effortlessly around it, rather than trying to plow its way through the rock. Put into practice, this enables us to we work with, not against the circumstances in our lives to get where we are going.

这经常以流水来说明，当流水途中遇到石头，流水会让石头把它分成几股细流，毫不费力地从石头旁边流过去，而不是穿过石头开出一条路来。运用在实际中就是要我们去合作而不是抵抗我们前进方向中所会遇到的各种情况。

Like all philosophical or spiritual systems, Taoism has much to say about life and I have only managed to touch the tip of the iceberg. While there are as many philosophies of life as there are people, I think that the beauty of Taoism is it's simplicity and its applicability to everyday life.