Benjamin Franklin began and ended each day with a question: "What good shall I do this day?" in the morning, and "What good have I done this day?" in the evening.
班杰明•富兰克林每日早晚都会问自己一个问题，早上：“今天我该做什么好事？”晚上：“今天我做了什么好事？”
In fact, many great thinkers embraced the idea of constantly questioning things. As Albert Einstein reportedly said, "Learn from yesterday, live for today, hope for tomorrow. The important thing is not to stop questioning."
实际上，许多伟大的思想家都坚持对事情抱有质疑的态度。正如爱因斯坦在报道上说道：“学习昨天，活在今天，期待明天。重要的是绝不停止质疑。”
Of course, getting into the habit of self-reflection is easier said than done, as we often prefer to avoid asking ourselves the tough questions. As philosopher and psychologist John Dewey explained in his 1910 book, "How We Think," reflective thinking involves overcoming our predisposition to accept things at face value and the willingness to endure mental unrest.
当然，养成自我反思的习惯说起来比做的轻松，就像我们常常喜欢逃避提问自己一些尖锐的问题一样。哲学家兼心理学家约翰•杜威教授在1910年出版的书籍《思维术》中也这么解释：反思性思考关乎克服个人倾向去接受表面的东西，以及对精神动乱的忍耐的自愿性。
But enduring this discomfort is well worth the effort, as it can result in the confidence boost necessary to perform better in our work and daily lives.
不过，去忍耐不安的感觉也非常值得一试，因为它能激发自信心，对于工作上和生活上表现得更好具有必要性。
To help kickstart your habit of self-reflection, here are nine daily questions you can start asking today:
为了帮助你激发自我反思的动力，下面有9个可以从今天开始每天给自己提问的问题：
1. 'If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today?'
1.“如果今天是我的生命最后一天，我今天会不会想做我准备做的事情？”
In 2005, about a year after he received his pancreatic cancer diagnosis, Apple's then-CEO Steve Jobs told Stanford's graduating class that, for 33 years, he would look in the mirror every morning and ask himself, "If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today?"
在2005年，也就是在得知确诊胰腺癌后的一年，苹果的前总裁——乔布斯在斯坦福大学的毕业典礼上发表了演说。他表示，在过去的33年里，他每天都会照着镜子提问自己：“如果今天是我的人生的最后一天，我会不会去做我准备去做的事情？”
If the answer was "No" for too many days in a row, he says he know he needed to change something.
如果连续多天的答案都是“不”，那么他已经知道自己需要改变些什么了。
"Remembering that I'll be dead soon is the most important tool I've ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life. Because almost everything — all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure — these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important," Jobs explained. "Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart."
“记得‘我很快就会死了’是我使用过最有效的、帮助我做出人生重要决定的最重要工具。因为几乎所有的事情——所有的外部期待，所有的荣誉，所有的对于尴尬或失败的恐惧，这些东西在死亡面前都微不足道，剩下的才是最重要的。”乔布斯解释道。“记得‘你快要死了’，这就是我免于思考东西会失去的陷阱的最佳方法。其实你早已赤裸裸的了。那么也没有必要做违心的事情。”
2. 'How do I see myself?
2.“我对自己的评价如何？”
"This questions gets at your likely unspoken beliefs about who you are," writes Wanleo.com founder and CEO Deena Varshavskaya on Quora.“
这个问题很有可能关乎你无法言喻的个人品质信仰，”选自 Wanleo.com的创始人兼总裁——Deena Varshavskaya在Quora上的回复。
She says that changing how you see yourself in various situations can also change your actions and, ultimately, who you are.
她表示，改变自己在不同情况下的评价方式还能改变你的行为，并且最终，改变你自己。
3. 'What is my biggest strength?'
3. “我的最大优势是什么？”
VaynerMedia CEO and cofounder Gary Vaynerchuk writes on Quora that asking this question is the key to loving your job.
VaynerMedia的总裁兼联合创始人Gary Vaynerchuk在Quora上写道，这个问题就是判断你是否热爱工作的关键。
As he explains, so many people have jobs they hate because they haven't found their true passion yet. "They are good at a few things, so that's what they do here and there, but they aren't sure what that one big thing they want to do forever could be," he says.
他还解释道，那么多人讨厌自己的工作是因为他们还没找到自己真正感到激情的部分。“他们很擅长一些事情，这就是为什么他们在此处和别处工作的缘故，但他们还不确定决定自己坚持一辈子的那个信念是什么。”他说道。
"Stop doing stuff you hate. Nail down your strengths so you can discover your passion," he advises.“
不要再做自己讨厌的事情了。找到自己的长处这样才能找到工作激情。”他建议道。
4. 'What pain do I want in my life?'
4. “我希望生活给我带来什么样的痛苦？”
Happiness requires struggle, as well as an understanding of what we are willing to struggle for, writes self-development blogger Mark Manson.
幸福需要奋斗，也需要我们愿意为某件事情而奋斗的理解。选自自我发展的博主Mark Manson的建议。
"What determines your success isn't 'What do you want to enjoy?' The question is, "What pain do you want to sustain?' The quality of your life is not determined by the quality of your positive experiences but the quality of your negative experiences. And to get good at dealing with negative experiences is to get good at dealing with life," Manson explains.“
决定你成功的要素不是‘你希望享受的是什么？’而应该是：‘你想承受怎样的痛苦？’生活的质量并不取决于你的积极经历的质量，而是消极经历的质量。如果你能很好地处理这些消极的经历，那么应付生活就不是难事了。”Manson解释道。
5. 'What was different then from now?'
5. “现在与过去发生了什么改变？”
If you're struggling to start a new habit, "Better Than Before: Mastering the Habits of Our Everyday Lives" author Gretchen Rubin suggests thinking about a time in the past when you successfully changed your behavior.
如果你在挣扎着培养新的习惯，那么《活得更好：掌握日常生活的习惯》的作者Grechen Rubin建议就读者们，好好想想过去成功转变行为习惯的那个时刻。
Asking yourself, "What was different then from now?" can help you figure out what factors helped you successfully change your behavior in the past so that you can emulate them going forward.
问问自己“现在与过去发生了什么改变？”有助你发现在过去的日子里让你成功改变习惯的因素有哪些，这样在以后的日子里就可以效仿了。
6. 'How are you doing?'
6. “你还好吗？”
Quora user Michael Hopkins writes: "It's silly, but it all started when I watched an episode of 'The Tick' where the Tick travels on a quest inside his own mind to seek the answer to any one question. When he finally meets his inner being, and can ask any question he wants, he asks something like, 'How are you doing?'
Quora网站的用户Michael Hopkins写道：“虽然这句话很笨，但这个习惯都始于我看到了‘闪电超人’里的一幕：超人在自己的内心畅游以追寻答案。当他最终找到了真我，还能提出任何问题的时候，他提出了类似‘你还好吗？’的问题。”
"I took from that a very profoundly meaningful lesson: At the center of each of us, this is the most basic and truest and most important question. It leads to so many internal conversations that we would all be better off having with ourselves each day."
“我从那一幕中学习到了意义深远的一课：在我们每个人的内心深处，这就是最基本的，最真实的也是最重要的问题。它能引发如此多的内心对话以致我们能每天好好地对待自己。”
7. 'Why so serious?'
7. “何必如此较真呢？”
"I tend to fuss over little things and don't feel quite alright until I get them done in the manner I desire," writes Quora user Soham Banerjee. The question is a good reminder to us all not to take life so seriously all the time and can help put things in perspective.“
“我的心情很容易因小事情影响变得不那么好，直到我采取自己喜欢的方式处理它们。”Quora网站的用户Soham Banerjee答道。这个问题对于我们每个人来说都起到警示的作用：别总把生活过得太较真，才能让我们正确地看待事情。
8. 'What went well today?'
8. “今天遇到了什么好事？”
Harvard Business School professor Francesca Gino and her colleagues asked workers to spend 15 minutes at the end of their workdays writing about what went well that day, and they found that the journaling employees had 22.8% higher performance than those who didn't ponder on their workday.
哈佛商学院的教授Francesca Gina和她的同事们让一些职场人士在每天下班时花15分钟写下当天的状况，最后结果发现，每天进行工作记录的员工比那些没有思考过工作状况的员工的有着22.8%更优异的工作表现。
As former Tech Insider reporter Drake Baer points out, reflecting on the day's successes can help you incorporate those lessons into the next day. he writes.
正如Tech Insider前通讯员Drake Baer指出，反思当天的成就能让你把学到的经验运用到第二天。
9. 'Do I pick partners and friends who support me, challenge me, encourage me, and help me grow?'
9.“我找到的伙伴和朋友，他们是不是都能支持我，挑战我，鼓励我，帮助我成长？”
Quora user Nela Canovi says: "There is a saying that we are the average of the five people we spend the most time with. Think about the people in your life. Are the people close to you helping you grow as a human being? Or do you spend time with people who don't respect their own time (and therefore won't respect yours), who drain your energy, who are negative and only like to complain, and who exemplify a 'fixed mindset' instead of a 'growth mindset' so that at the end of the day you struggle to understand why you don't feel happy and energized around them?
Quora网站的用户Nela Canovi表示：“有一个这样的说法：我们就是与我们相处的5个人的平均值。所以想一想那些在你生命里出现的人们。那些与你关系密切的人们能否为你的成长为人贡献力量？还是你花时间与一些不尊重自己个人时间（随之也不尊重你的时间）的人相处，他们耗费你的精力，负能量满满、只会抱怨，只是一个‘顽固不化’而不是带有‘发展思维’的人，以致你总是苦苦挣扎，难以理解自己为什么在他们身边总是闷闷不乐，无法获得动力？”
"Be selective about who you keep in your inner circle of friends. Surround yourself with people based on your common interests, your values, the things you consider important to your personal growth, as well as how you value time, knowledge, and friendship."
“有选择性地与那些能真正交心的朋友保持联系。从共同的兴趣，你的价值观，你认为对个人成长重要的因素，以及你对时间，知识，友情的对待方式等方面出发，以此找到合适的朋友一起生活成长。”
（来源：胡江英语）
