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For decades, sociologists have been trying to understand why certain people rise to the top of their fields. A number of theories have emerged, so if you're struggling on the path of success, perhaps these will give you some new insight.
几十年以来，社会学家一直在尝试着弄明白，为什么有些人可以成为他们所在领域的佼佼者，一系列的理论学说也由此产生。因此，如果你正在通往成功的道路上挣扎，那么以下所述也许可以刷新你对“成功”的看法。
10. Being an Underdog Can be Advantageous
10. 弱者也能占上风
You're probably familiar with Malcolm Gladwell, who writes and researches on the topic of success. In his book David and Goliath, he examines the concept of the underdog and argues that they actually have a greater advantage than the so-called “Goliaths.” When the Goliaths win, it's often because the underdog is playing by Goliath's rules. However, if “David” looks at the situation from a completely different angle and approaches it with their own unique take, then the underdog has a better chance at winning. According to Gladwell, the underdog can substitute effort for ability under the right conditions.
大家应该很熟悉马尔科姆·格拉德威尓（Malcolm Gladwell),他致力于研究成功学，并以此为主题写作。在其《大卫与歌利亚》（David and Goliath）一书中，他重新审视了弱者理论，并且提出了争锋相对的反驳意见。他认为，弱者实际上要比那些所谓的“歌利亚”（译注：“大卫”和“歌利亚”分别指代的是弱者和强者）更有优势。强者之所以取得胜利，通常是因为弱者被他们的规则玩弄了。如果“大卫”们从一个全新的角度来看待现实情况，并用自己独特的方式扭转劣势，那么接下来，他们就会有更大的把握获得成功。正如格拉德威尓所言，在适当的情境下，弱者可以用努力来弥补自身能力的不足。
Using the titular biblical example, Goliath was expecting hand-to-hand combat. David approached it differently and used a sling to fire a stone at Goliath's head. David essentially brought a gun to a fistfight. This wasn't against the rules, and David won because he didn't go along with Goliath's expectations. For an additional example, see that famous sword “fight” scene in Indiana Jones.
以一个圣经故事——歌利亚和大卫的战争——为例。歌利亚原本以为此战会是一场肉搏战（译注：此处指歌利亚所代表的非利士人同大卫所代表的以色列人的战争）。而大卫的做法却完全出乎了歌利亚的意料——他用投石弹弓打中了歌利亚的头。其实大卫本来也是带着一把枪准备搏斗的，但大卫投石的做法并不违规，也正是因为不按常理出牌，他才赢得了胜利。还有一个例子就是《夺宝奇兵》中那场著名的剑战。
History is full of underdogs beating the favored opponent simply because they were innovative. The Spartans held off the Persians at the Battle of Thermopylae, and T. E. Lawrence led the Bedouins across the desert to fight the Turks. Innovation and thinking outside the box can be more advantageous than being skillful. So if the odds are against you, perhaps you just need to stop playing by everyone else's rules and embrace your strengths.
历史上弱者出奇制胜打败强者的例子随处可见。斯巴达人在温泉关战役（the Battle of Thermopylae）中战胜了波斯人以及托马斯·爱德华·劳伦斯（T.E.Lawrence，译注：英国军官，因在1916年至1918年的阿拉伯起义中作为英国联络官的角色而出名，被阿拉伯人看作民间英雄）带领贝多因人（Bedouins，译注：一个居无定所的阿拉伯游牧民族）翻越沙漠抗击土耳其人……别出心裁的想法往往比出众的能力更具优势。所以如果遇到劲敌，你所要做的大概就是跳出常规的牢笼并使出杀手锏来打败对方。
9. Society Has Built-in Obstacles
9.社会总是存障碍
There are certain obstacles in our lives that are hard to overcome. It can be as simple as when and where you're born — in Malcolm Gladwell's popular book, Outliers, he gives the example of hockey players that are drafted to the NHL.
在我们的生活中，有很多难以克服的障碍，即使是生于何时何地这样简单的问题都有可能成为一个人发展的拦路石——对此，马尔科姆·格拉德威尓（Malcolm Gladwell，译注：《纽约客》特约撰稿人）在他的著作《异类》（Outliers）中，给出了北美国家冰上曲棍球联盟（NHL, National Hockey League）征招曲棍球员的例子。
As children, all hockey players who are born in the same year play in the same division. However, if you compare an eight year old who was born on January 1 to a player who was born December 31, there are drastic differences. The player born in January has had almost a whole extra year to grow and develop, meaning they could be faster, stronger and simply better than a player born in December. Then when it comes time to pick players for more competitive teams, the older and more developed children will have an advantage. They're more likely to be chosen to go on for more training and play against other elite players. That cycle will continue, and the players born in December will always be playing catch up. Between 1980 and 2007, 36% of players drafted into the NHL were born in the first quarter of the year, while only 14.5% of the players that were drafted were born in the last quarter of the year.
所有同年出生的曲棍球运动员在孩提时期就开始为同一支队伍效力。但是，如果把两个同为八岁，但分别出生在1月1日和12月31日的队员进行比较的话，你就会发现巨大的不同。1月出生的队员几乎多出一年的时间来成长和发展，这也就意味着他们动作会更敏捷，身体会更强壮，因而轻而易举就能把12月出生的队员给比下去。到了为更具竞争力的队伍挑选队员时，发展得更好的年长队员就占据了优势。他们似乎更容易被选出来接受更多的训练，并和其他精英球员对赛。这种循环会持续下去，12月出生的球员会被不断赶超。从1980到2007年间，36%被招进NHL球员都是在第一季度出生的，而出生在最后一个季度的入选球员仅仅只占到14.5%的比例。
This shows that there are always going to be challenges in life, but it also presents an interesting