The Process of Distillation: Getting to the Essence of Things
How do you distill your life down to its essence? You can begin by confronting your fears.
I understand now, it is through a personal distillation process that I have encountered my own fears,
and mastered them.
Each time I encountered fear, each time I had another moment of "ahhah’, I was getting closer to identifying my true self. The first illumination came in a moment of realization that I really did measure up. It was about conquering the fear of inadequacy.
Remember when you entered Stanford as a 17 or 18-year-old kid, or an eager grad student? You were at the top of the heap.You felt pretty confident in your abilities, right? And then you arrived at your dorm, or attended your first department meeting and after two or three conversations with your peers, you probably felt discomfortable and totally inadequate.
If you’re anything like me, your internal monologue went something like, "Oh my God: the admissions office messed up. They must have mistaken me for some other Carly. These people are in a completely different league! They’re wondering what I’m doing here! What will I tell them?"
Let me warn you, my fellow students. You’ ll probably have this feeling of inadequacy many times during your life.When I showed up at AT&T once again, everyone seemed smarter. They seemed more confident, better prepared, better equipped to do their jobs than I was.
But, slowly, you win some battles. You prove yourself with your work. You fail, and you survive. You learn. Maybe you even lead. And that fear diminishes a little bit.
You’ve knocked a couple hundred pages off your personal Great Work. You’ve begun the distillation process. You’re beginning to define your life.
提炼的过程：获取精华
如何才能提炼你生活的精华呢?你可以通过面对恐惧来迈出第一步。我现在明白了：正是通过个人提炼的过程我才能面对恐惧并且克服它们。
每一次遇到危险，碰到惊险时刻，我正向真实的自我靠近。在我意识到我已符合真实自我的标准的那一刹那，我顿然醒悟：真实自我便是克服所谓莫名的恐惧。
还记得你们刚入斯坦福大学时，还不过是十七八岁的孩子或是一位勤勉的研究生吗?当时你们是最优秀的。你们对自己的能力充满信心，是吗?然后你到了寝室或者你第一次参加全系大会或与同学进行两三次谈话，你可能会觉得不适，甚至觉得完全没有信心。
如果你像我那样，你会这样自言自语：“上帝啊，入学办公室乱成一团。他们一定把我当作另一个卡利了。这些人属于一个完全不同的集团。他们在想我在这儿干什么!我将对他们作何解释?”
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