If not for you, for me, but with a larger lens on the immediate-gratification, conspicuously consumptive society in which we live. Some might say I bowed to the false idolatry of money, and perhaps I did. I was conditioned to believe that success was measured by a bottom line, and validation could be found in a bank account.
如果这样做不是为了你，也是为了我自己，只不过是用倍数更高的放大镜来观察我们生活的这个及时行乐、过度消费的社会。有人可能会说，我屈服于对金钱的错误崇拜，可能我的确如此。我习惯于认为，成功是用业绩来衡量的，而银行账户就是证明。

Everything you'll read in this series is true, as seen through my eyes. I share it without vice or virtue, and with all due humility. Lou Mannheim said in the movie 'Wall Street': 'Man looks in the abyss, there's nothing staring back at him. At that moment, man finds his character. And that is what keeps him out of the abyss.'

你在这篇连载中读到的每件事都是真实的，均为我亲眼所见。我是以不带道德评判，适当谦逊的态度来分享它的。洛乌•曼海姆(Lou Mannheim)曾在电影《华尔街》中说过：人类看向深渊，而那里却无人回望。就在那一刻，人类发现了自己的本性。正是这让他远离深渊。

I've stared into a few black holes during my career and emerged each time with newfound passion and incremental resolve. The ability to turn obstacles into opportunities is one of life's best-kept secrets, and the greatest wisdom is bred as a function of pain.

我曾凝望过自己职业生涯中的几个黑洞，每次都会焕发新的热情，产生更大的决心。将障碍转化为机会的能力是生命中隐藏最深的秘密之一，而最伟大的智慧是在痛苦中孕育而生的。

As with any journey, the path we take is more important than the destination. My particular route included climbing the corporate ladder and chasing the trappings of success. Once I got to where I thought I wanted to be, I realized net worth and self-worth were entirely different dynamics.

就像任何旅程一样，我们所选择的道路比目的地更重要。我个人的成长道路包括凭借职场晋升出人头地，追逐成功中的陷阱。一旦到达心中的目的地，我就意识到财富价值和自我价值是完全不同的原动力。

That was distinctly different from what I was programmed to believe as a child, and it facilitated a professional and spiritual rebirthing. In life, as with the markets, the big picture is made of many smaller pictures.
这和我儿时被灌输的信仰截然不同，而它促成了我职业和精神上的重生。在生活中，就像在金融市场中一样，宏大的图景是由许多小图块拼成的。

To fully appreciate where I was, we must first understand how I got there.

要想充分理解我身处何方，必须首先了解我是如何走到今天的。