Failure is probably the most exhausting experience a person ever has. There is nothing more tiring than not succeeding.
In the former case, we keep putting off a task because it was either too boring or too difficult. And the longer we delay it, the more tired we feel. Such start-up fatigue is very real, even if not actually physical, not something in our muscles and bones.
Years ago, I was asked to write 102 essays on the great ideas of some famous authors. Applying my own rule, I determined to write them alphabetically, never letting myself leave out a tough idea. And I always started the day's work with the difficult task of essay-writing. The experience proved that the rule works.
Though willing to get started, we cannot seem to do the job right. Its difficulties appear so great that, however hard we work, we fail again and again. In such a situation, I work as hard as I can--then let the unconscious (无意识的) take over.
When planning Encyclopaedia Britannica, I had to create a table of contents based on the topics of its articles. but none of them worked. My fatigue became almost unbearable.
One day, mentally exhausted, I wrote down all the reasons why this problem could not be solved. I tried to convince myself that the trouble was with the problem itself, not with me. Relieved, I sat back in an easy chair and fell asleep.
An hour later, I woke up suddenly with the solution clearly in mind. Though I worked as hard as before, I felt no fatigue. Success was now as exciting as failure had been depressing.
Human beings, I believe must try to succeed. Success, then, means never feeling tired.
A. Performance fatigue is more difficult to handle.
B. We do everything we can to get ourselves out of this gloomy situation.
C. We experience this tiredness in two ways: start-up fatigue and performance fatigue.
D. Nothing like this had ever been done before, and day after day I kept coming up with solutions.
E. The solution is obvious though-perhaps not easy to apply: always handle the most difficult job first.
F. What's more, making use of your unconsciousness wisely also proves effective in tackling difficult tasks.
G. In the weeks that followed, the solution which had come up in my unconscious mind proved correct at every step.
