適合人生各個階段的原則

以下是我列舉的重點。這些原則都有強有力的聖經經文支持。

第一、 提早發現你的熱情所在。大部分的人都會在高中時發現自己的興趣所在。我告訴學生去找到他們最有興趣做的事。有時候被迫做的事，到最後反而成為他們最有興趣做的事。「凡你手所當做的事要盡力去做」(傳道書9章10節)

第二 不要讓任何人偷走你的夢想。如果你讀了很多年書，從來沒有人或是事情破碎你的夢想，那你真的很幸運。大部分的教育體系都是教導人要準時上課、做老師要求的功課，並且不要犯錯，但這是舊工業社會的要求。但是現在的世界早已經改變了，我們需要能創新的人才，有新鮮的點子、熱情和渴望把世界變成一個更好的地方。僅僅「不犯錯」並不是成功的關鍵。犯錯讓我們學習更進步，唯一的錯誤是知錯不改。「忍受試探的人是有福的，因為他經過試驗以後，必得生命的冠冕；這是主應許給那些愛他之人的。」(雅各書1章12節)

努力成為卓越。平凡早已不足夠了。專注在你喜愛的事物上，並且努力追求卓越。最快樂和最成功的人是平衡的人。成功的關鍵就是在某事上卓越。我提醒年輕人奧運冠軍Tony Hawk的故事，他是世界最棒的滑板選手。他也有許多不擅長或是沒有興趣做的事，但他是世界上技巧最好、最大膽的滑板表演者。我們也應該在我們的專業上努力去達到這樣的境界。

「無論做甚麼，或說話或行事，都要奉主耶穌的名，藉著他感謝父　神。」(歌羅西書3章17節)

成為一個終身學習的人。 如果今天我僅僅只知道在學校、在大學所學的，那我是一個無用的人。因為這個世界總是在變動，我們必須跟上世界的腳步，適應並且學習。如果今天你不學習，你就會退步。在這個時代，終身學習是不可或缺的。而學習的重要關鍵就是閱讀，更多的閱讀。「凡通達人都憑知識行事；愚昧人張揚自己的愚昧。」(箴言13章16節)

最後，做一個正直的人。 如果你說謊或是欺騙，你不過就是一個說謊的人或是欺騙的人。人們想跟他們可以信任的人做生意。他們不想一直去擔心跟他們做生意的人是不是誠實或是對他們坦承。一個令人悲傷的事實是，如果你失去他們的信任，大部分的時候，你永遠也無法再贏回這份信任。「正直人的純正必引導自己；奸詐人的乖僻必毀滅自己。」(箴言11章3節)

吉姆．馬提斯在堪薩斯州陸路公園市經營一家照相館。他的專長是商業和影劇界人像。他也經營一所攝影學校。他還寫了一本書「一般民眾的高度攝影表現」，那是一本有關數位攝影的書。他曾是一家咖啡店的經理，也曾是CBMC在堪薩斯州堪薩斯市和密蘇里州堪薩斯市的執行主任。

Here are the points I made. These principles all have strong biblical support, as noted below:

Discover your passions early. Most people know the things they love by the time they are in high school. I told the students to follow that understanding of what they most enjoy doing. That likely is what they were made to do. “Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might” (Ecclesiastes 9:10).

Do not let anyone steal your dreams. If you can get through many years of schooling without somebody attempting to squash your dreams, you are more fortunate than most. Many educational systems are designed to teach people to show up on time, do what they are told, and not to make mistakes; that is what society needed in the industrial age. Now the world is changing, however. We need creative people with fresh ideas, passion and desire to make the world a better place. "Not making mistakes" is not a key to success. It is only a mistake if you keep committing the same error over and over, without making any corrections. If we have learned from our mistakes, they were worth making. “Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial, because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him” (James 1:12).

Strive for excellence. Average is no longer good enough. Concentrate on what you love and strive to be the best at that. The happiest, most successful people are not well-balanced. The key to success is to be the best at something. I reminded the young people about Olympic champion Tony Hawk, the world’s greatest skateboarder. There are many things he is not good at, things he has no interest in doing. But for years he has been the most skilled, most daring skateboard performer anywhere in the world. We should strive to do the same in our own areas of passion and expertise. “And whatever you do in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus” (Colossians 3:17).

Be a lifelong learner. If today I knew only what I learned in school, including college, I would be a stupid, worthless person. The world always changes, and to be successful we must keep up with this change, adapting and learning as we go. If you have not learned something new today, you will be left behind. Lifelong learning is indispensible today. And one of the keys to this learning is simply to read – and read some more. “Every prudent man acts out of knowledge, but a fool exposes his folly” (Proverbs 13:16).

Finally, be a person of integrity. If you lie or cheat, you will never become anything more than a liar and a cheater. People want to do business only with people they trust. They do not want to worry about whether you are being honest or straight-forward with them. And the sad reality is once you lose their trust, in most cases you can never get it back. A reputation for integrity takes a lifetime to build, but a single lapse can destroy it permanently. “The integrity of the upright guides them, but the unfaithful are destroyed by their duplicity” (Proverbs 11:3).

Jim Mathis is the owner of a photography studio in Overland Park, Kansas, specializing in executive, commercial and theatrical portraits, and operates a school of photography. Jim is the author of High Performance Cameras for Ordinary People, a book on digital photography. He formerly was a coffee shop manager and executive director of CBMC in Kansas City, Kansas and Kansas City, Missouri.