Why you should define your fears instead of your goals | Tim Ferriss | TED

Prevoditelj: Dunja Knežević Recezent: Tilen Pigac - EFZG

So, this happy pic of me was taken in 1999.

Ova fotka na kojoj sam sretan snimljena je 1999.

I was a senior in college,

Bio sam apsolvent

and it was right after a dance practice.

i bilo je to upravo nakon plesa.

I was really, really happy.

Bio sam jako, jako sretan.

And I remember exactly where I was about a week and a half later.

Sjećam se i gdje sam točno bio otprilike tjedan i pol nakon toga.

I was sitting in the back of my used minivan

Sjedio sam na stražnjem sjedalu svog monovolumena,

in a campus parking lot,

na parkiralištu kampusa,

when I decided

kada sam odlučio

I was going to commit suicide.

da ću počiniti samoubojstvo.

I went from deciding to full-blown planning very quickly.

Vrlo brzo prešao sam s odluke na detaljno planiranje.

And I came this close to the edge of the precipice.

I bio sam toliko blizu rubu ponora.

It's the closest I've ever come.

Nikad nisam bio bliže.

And the only reason I took my finger off the trigger

Maknuo sam prst s okidača

was thanks to a few lucky coincidences.

samo zahvaljujući sretnom slučaju.

And after the fact,

I poslije svega,

that's what scared me the most: the element of chance.

to me najviše strašilo: taj čimbenik slučajnosti.

So I became very methodical about testing different ways

Zato sam počeo sistematično ispitivati

that I could manage my ups and downs,

kako se nositi s usponima i padovima,

which has proven to be a good investment. (Laughs)

što se pokazalo dobrom investicijom. (Smijeh)

Many normal people might have, say, six to 10 major depressive episodes

Normalni ljudi imaju možda šest do deset depresivnih epizoda

in their lives.

u životu.

I have bipolar depression. It runs in my family.

Ja imam bipolarnu depresiju. Genetski uvjetovanu.

I've had 50-plus at this point,

Dosad sam ih imao preko 50

and I've learned a lot.

i mnogo sam naučio iz toga.

I've had a lot of at-bats,

Imao sam puno prilika za udarac,

many rounds in the ring with darkness,

puno rundi u ringu s tamom,

taking good notes.

vodio sam bilješke.

So I thought rather than get up and give any type of recipe for success

Zato umjesto da dam recept za uspjeh

or highlight reel,

ili naglasim vrhunce,

I would share my recipe for avoiding self-destruction,

podijelit ću svoj recept za izbjegavanje samouništenja

and certainly self-paralysis.

te zasigurno i samoparalize.

And the tool I've found which has proven to be the most reliable safety net

Smatram da je najpouzdanija sigurnosna mreža

for emotional free fall

za emocionalni slobodni pad

is actually the same tool

isti onaj alat

that has helped me to make my best business decisions.

koji mi je pomogao u donošenju poslovnih odluka.

But that is secondary.

No to je manje važno.

And it is ... stoicism.

Riječ je o ... Stoicizmu.

That sounds boring.

Zvuči dosadno.

(Laughter)

(Smijeh)

You might think of Spock,

Možda ćete pomisliti na Spocka

or it might conjure and image like this --

ili ćete si to ovako predočiti --

(Laughter)

(Smijeh)

a cow standing in the rain.

krava stoji na kiši.

It's not sad. It's not particularly happy.

Nije tužno. Nije ni osobito sretno.

It's just an impassive creature taking whatever life sends its way.

To je samo smireno biće koje prihvaća što mu život pošalje.

You might not think of the ultimate competitor, say, Bill Belichick,

Možda ne biste pomislili na predanoga natjecatelja, nekoga kao Bill Belichick,

head coach of the New England Patriots,

on je glavni trener ekipe New England Patriots,

who has the all-time NFL record for Super Bowl titles.

čiji rekord u nacionalnoj ligi američkog nogometa nije premašen.

And stoicism has spread like wildfire in the top of the NFL ranks

A stoicizam se poput požara proširio među najboljima u američkom nogometu

as a means of mental toughness training in the last few years.

kao način vježbanja mentalne čvrstoće.

You might not think of the Founding Fathers --

Možda ne biste pomislili ni na Očeve osnivače --

Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, George Washington

Thomasa Jeffersona, Johna Adamsa, Georgea Washingtona,

to name but three students of stoicism.

tri sljedbenika stoicizma.

George Washington actually had a play about a Stoic --

George Washington je čak naručio izvedbu predstave o stoiku --

this was "Cato, a Tragedy" --

zvala se "Cato, tragedija" --

performed for his troops at Valley Forge to keep them motivated.

kako bi motivirao svoje čete kod Valley Forge.

So why would people of action focus so much on an ancient philosophy?

Zašto bi se ljudi željni djelovanja toliko usredotočili na drevnu filozofiju?

This seems very academic.

Ovo zvuči vrlo učeno.

I would encourage you to think about stoicism a little bit differently,

Volio bih da na drukčiji način promišljate o stoicizmu,

as an operating system for thriving in high-stress environments,

kao sustavu koji omogućuje napredak u visokostresnom okruženju,

for making better decisions.

kod donošenja boljih odluka.

And it all started here,

Sve je počelo ovdje,

kind of,

na neki način,

on a porch.

na trijemu.

So around 300 BC in Athens,

Oko 300. g. pr. Kr. u Ateni,

someone named Zeno of Citium taught many lectures

netko imena Zenon Kitijski držao je brojna predavanja

walking around a painted porch, a "stoa."

hodajući oko oličenog trijema, naziva "stoa."

That later became "stoicism."

Iz toga je proizašao "stoicizam."

And in the Greco-Roman world,

U grčko-rimskom svijetu

people used stoicism as a comprehensive system

ljudi su koristili stoicizam kao sveobuhvatni sustav

for doing many, many things.

za mnoge stvari.

But for our purposes, chief among them was training yourself

No nama je najvažnije obučavanje sebe

to separate what you can control from what you cannot control,

kako bi odvojili ono na što možemo utjecati od onoga na što ne možemo

and then doing exercises to focus exclusively

i zatim vježbanje kako bi se usredotočili isključivo

on the former.

na ovo prvo.

This decreases emotional reactivity,

To smanjuje emotivnu reaktivnost,

which can be a superpower.

što može postati supermoć.

Conversely, let's say you're a quarterback.

Primjerice, zamislite da igrate na poziciji vođe napada.

You miss a pass. You get furious with yourself.

Propustite dodavanje. Razbjesnite se na sebe.

That could cost you a game.

Zbog toga možete izgubiti.

If you're a CEO, and you fly off the handle at a very valued employee

Ako ste direktor tvrtke i izgubite živce s cijenjenim zaposlenikom,

because of a minor infraction,

zbog manje pogreške,

that could cost you the employee.

mogli biste izgubiti zaposlenika.

If you're a college student who, say, is in a downward spiral,

Ako studirate, sve vam je krenulo nizbrdo

and you feel helpless and hopeless,

i osjećate se bespomoćno i beznadno,

unabated, that could cost you your life.

to bi vas moglo stajati života.

So the stakes are very, very high.

Ulozi su vrlo, vrlo visoki.

And there are many tools in the toolkit to get you there.

Mnogo je alata koji vam mogu pomoći da to postignete.

I'm going to focus on one that completely changed my life in 2004.

Usredotočit ću se na jedan koji mi je potpuno promijenio život u 2004.

It found me then because of two things:

Tada me pronašao iz dva razloga:

a very close friend, young guy, my age, died of pancreatic cancer unexpectedly,

blizak prijatelj, mladić moje dobi, iznenada je preminuo od raka gušterače,

and then my girlfriend, who I thought I was going to marry, walked out.

a moja djevojka, koju sam htio oženiti, ostavila me.

She'd had enough, and she didn't give me a Dear John letter,

Bilo joj je dosta. Nije mi napisala pismo,

but she did give me this,

nego mi je dala ovo.

a Dear John plaque.

Plaketu.

(Laughter)

(Smijeh)

I'm not making this up. I've kept it.

Ne izmišljam to. Zadržao sam je.

"Business hours are over at five o'clock."

"Radno vrijeme završava nakon 17 h."

She gave this to me to put on my desk for personal health,

Dala mi je to kao podsjetnik na moje zdravlje

because at the time, I was working on my first real business.

jer sam tada radio na svom prvom pravom poslu.

I had no idea what I was doing. I was working 14-plus hour days,

Nisam imao pojma što radim. Radio sam preko 14 sati dnevno,

seven days a week.

sedam dana u tjednu.

I was using stimulants to get going.

Uzimao sam stimulanse kako bih funkcionirao,

I was using depressants to wind down and go to sleep.

uzimao sam antidepresive da se odmorim i zaspem.

It was a disaster.

Bila je to katastrofa.

I felt completely trapped.

Osjećao sam se kao u zamci.

I bought a book on simplicity to try to find answers.

Kupio sam knjigu o jednostavnosti kako bih pokušao pronaći odgovore.

And I did find a quote that made a big difference in my life,

I pronašao sam citat koji mi je jako promijenio život,

which was, "We suffer more often in imagination than in reality,"

"Češće patimo u mašti nego u stvarnosti,"

by Seneca the Younger,

Seneke Mlađeg,

who was a famous Stoic writer.

poznatog predstavnika stoicizma.

That took me to his letters,

To me je odvelo njegovim pismima,

which took me to the exercise,

koja su me odvela vježbi,

"premeditatio malorum,"

"premeditatio malorum,"

which means the pre-meditation of evils.

što znači premeditacija zala.

In simple terms,

Jednostavno rečeno,

this is visualizing the worst-case scenarios, in detail, that you fear,

riječ je o vizualizaciji najgoreg mogućeg scenarija, onoga čega se bojite,

preventing you from taking action,

a što vas sprječava u djelovanju,

so that you can take action to overcome that paralysis.

kako biste mogli nadvladati tu paralizu.

My problem was monkey mind -- super loud, very incessant.

Moj je problem bio majmunski um -- vrlo glasan, ustrajan.

Just thinking my way through problems doesn't work.

Samo razmišljanjem ne mogu riješiti probleme.

I needed to capture my thoughts on paper.

Morao sam zabilježiti misli na papiru.

So I created a written exercise

Tako sam osmislio pisanu vježbu,

that I called "fear-setting," like goal-setting,

"postavljanje strahova," poput postavljanja ciljeva,

for myself.

za sebe.

It consists of three pages.

Sadrži tri stranice.

Super simple.

Jednostavna je.

The first page is right here.

Ovo je prva stranica.

"What if I ...?"

"Što ako ...?"

This is whatever you fear,

To je bilo što čega se bojite,

whatever is causing you anxiety,

što vam izaziva osjećaj tjeskobe,

whatever you're putting off.

što odgađate.

It could be asking someone out,

Možda poziv na spoj,

ending a relationship,

prekid veze,

asking for a promotion, quitting a job, starting a company.

traženje promaknuća, otkaz, osnivanje tvrtke.

It could be anything.

To može biti bilo što.

For me, it was taking my first vacation in four years

Za mene, bilo je to uzimanje prvog odmora u četiri godine

and stepping away from my business for a month to go to London,

i odstupanje od svog posla za jedan mjesec u Londonu,

where I could stay in a friend's room for free,

gdje sam mogao besplatno boraviti kod prijatelja

to either remove myself as a bottleneck in the business

kako bih se ili udaljio jer sam postao smetnja na poslu

or shut it down.

ili ugasio poduzeće.

In the first column, "Define,"

U prvom stupcu, "Definiraj,"

you're writing down all of the worst things you can imagine happening

pišete najgore stvari koje mislite da bi se mogle dogoditi

if you take that step.

ako poduzmete taj korak.

You want 10 to 20.

Njih deset do dvadeset.

I won't go through all of them, but I'll give you two examples.

Neću ih sve analizirati, no dat ću vam dva primjera.

One was, I'll go to London, it'll be rainy, I'll get depressed,

Jedan je bio, otići ću u London, bit će kišno, to će me deprimirati,

the whole thing will be a huge waste of time.

sve će to biti ogroman gubitak vremena.

Number two, I'll miss a letter from the IRS,

Drugi, propustit ću pismo Porezne uprave,

and I'll get audited

doći će mi u nadzor,

or raided or shut down or some such.

zaplijeniti imovinu, zatvoriti mi tvrtku i slično.

And then you go to the "Prevent" column.

Zatim popunjavate stupac "Spriječi."

In that column, you write down the answer to:

U tom stupcu odgovarate na pitanja:

What could I do to prevent each of these bullets from happening,

Kako mogu spriječiti da se sve to dogodi

or, at the very least, decrease the likelihood even a little bit?

ili barem smanjiti vjerojatnost da će se to dogoditi?

So for getting depressed in London,

Za slučaj da se osjećam depresivno u Londonu,

I could take a portable blue light with me

mogu ponijeti prenosivu plavu svjetiljku

and use it for 15 minutes in the morning.

i koristiti je 15 minuta ujutro.

I knew that helped stave off depressive episodes.

Znao sam da mi to pomaže kod depresivnih epizoda.

For the IRS bit, I could change the mailing address on file with the IRS

Što se Porezne tiče, mogao sam promijeniti adresu isporuke

so the paperwork would go to my accountant

kako bi pošiljke uputili mom računovođi,

instead of to my UPS address.

a ne na moju adresu.

Easy-peasy.

Vrlo jednostavno.

Then we go to "Repair."

Zatim prelazimo na "Popravi."

So if the worst-case scenarios happen,

Ako se najgori mogući scenarij ostvari,

what could you do to repair the damage even a little bit,

što možete učiniti kako biste barem malo popravili štetu

or who could you ask for help?

ili tko bi mogao pomoći?

So in the first case, London,

U prvom slučaju, London,

well, I could fork over some money, fly to Spain, get some sun --

mogao bih prikupiti nešto novca, otići u Španjolsku, malo se osunčati --

undo the damage, if I got into a funk.

poništiti štetu, ako postanem depresivan.

In the case of missing a letter from the IRS,

U slučaju propuštanja pisma od Porezne,

I could call a friend who is a lawyer

mogao bih nazvati prijatelja odvjetnika

or ask, say, a professor of law

ili pitati profesora koji predaje pravo

what they would recommend,

što bi oni preporučili,

who I should talk to, how had people handled this in the past.

kome se obratiti, kako su drugi rješavali slične probleme.

So one question to keep in mind as you're doing this first page is:

Pitanje koje treba imati na umu dok radite na prvoj stranici, jest:

Has anyone else in the history of time

Je li itko ikada,

less intelligent or less driven

manje inteligentan ili manje motiviran,

figured this out?

riješio ovakav problem?

Chances are, the answer is "Yes."

Vjerojatno je odgovor: "Da."

(Laughter)

(Smijeh)

The second page is simple:

Druga stranica je jednostavna:

What might be the benefits of an attempt or a partial success?

Koje bi mogle biti prednosti pokušaja ili djelomičnog uspjeha?

You can see we're playing up the fears

Vidite da preuveličavamo strahove

and really taking a conservative look at the upside.

i s oprezom gledamo na pozitivna očekivanja.

So if you attempted whatever you're considering,

Ako pokušate to što razmatrate,

might you build confidence, develop skills,

može li to poboljšati vaše vještine,

emotionally, financially, otherwise?

emocionalno, financijski ili drukčije?

What might be the benefits of, say, a base hit?

Koje su prednosti, recimo, osvajanja baze?

Spend 10 to 15 minutes on this.

Provedite 10 do 15 minuta na ovome.

Page three.

Stranica tri.

This might be the most important, so don't skip it:

Ovo je možda najvažnije, pa to nemojte preskočiti:

"The Cost of Inaction."

"Cijena nedjelovanja."

Humans are very good at considering what might go wrong

Ljudi jako dobro mogu predvidjeti što može poći po zlu

if we try something new, say, ask for a raise.

ako pokušaju nešto novo, kao recimo zatražiti povišicu.

What we don't often consider is the atrocious cost of the status quo --

Često ne uzimamo u obzir strašnu cijenu statusa quo --

not changing anything.

nepromijenjenog stanja.

So you should ask yourself,

Trebate se zapitati,

if I avoid this action or decision

ako izbjegnem ovu aktivnost ili odluku

and actions and decisions like it,

i slične aktivnosti i odluke,

what might my life look like in, say, six months, 12 months, three years?

kako bi moj život mogao izgledati za šest, dvanaest mjeseci ili tri godine?

Any further out, it starts to seem intangible.

Sve dalje od toga, bit će teško pojmljivo.

And really get detailed -- again, emotionally, financially,

I budite što iscrpniji -- emocionalno, financijski,

physically, whatever.

fizički, itd.

And when I did this, it painted a terrifying picture.

Kada sam to učinio, budućnost se doimala strašnom.

I was self-medicating,

To me izlječilo.

my business was going to implode at any moment at all times,

Moj je posao u svakom trenutku mogao propasti

if I didn't step away.

da nisam odstupio.

My relationships were fraying or failing.

Bio sam u lošim odnosima s drugima.

And I realized that inaction was no longer an option for me.

Shvatio sam da nedjelovanje za mene više nije mogućnost.

Those are the three pages. That's it. That's fear-setting.

To su tri stranice. To je to. To je postavljanje strahova.

And after this, I realized that on a scale of one to 10,

Nakon toga sam shvatio, na ljestvici od jedan do 10,

one being minimal impact, 10 being maximal impact,

pri čemu je jedan minimalni, a deset maksimalni učinak,

if I took the trip, I was risking

odlaskom na put riskirao sam

a one to three of temporary and reversible pain

privremenu i reverzibilnu bol jačine od jedan do tri

for an eight to 10 of positive, life-changing impact

za prekretnicu u životu, pozitivan učinak jačine osam do deset,

that could be a semi-permanent.

koji bi mogao biti polutrajan.

So I took the trip.

Stoga sam otišao na put.

None of the disasters came to pass.

Nijedan se strah nije ostvario.

There were some hiccups, sure.

Bilo je poteškoća, naravno.

I was able to extricate myself from the business.

Uspio sam se osloboditi posla.

I ended up extending that trip for a year and a half around the world,

Taj se put pretvorio u put oko svijeta i trajao je godinu i pol

and that became the basis for my first book,

te je postao temeljem moje prve knjige,

that leads me here today.

što me danas dovodi ovamo.

And I can trace all of my biggest wins

Neke od mojih najvećih pobjeda

and all of my biggest disasters averted

i izbjegnutih katastrofa

back to doing fear-setting

zahvaljujem postavljanju strahova,

at least once a quarter.

barem četiri puta godišnje.

It's not a panacea.

Nije to lijek za sve.

You'll find that some of your fears are very well-founded.

Otkrit ćete da su neki strahovi utemeljeni.

(Laughter)

(Smijeh)

But you shouldn't conclude that

No to trebate zaključiti

without first putting them under a microscope.

nakon što ih stavite pod povećalo.

And it doesn't make all the hard times, the hard choices, easy,

I ne postanu sva teška razdoblja, svi teški izbori laki,

but it can make a lot of them easier.

no može postati lakše.

I'd like to close with a profile of one of my favorite modern-day Stoics.

Volio bih završiti s profilom jednog od omiljenih modernih stoika.

This is Jerzy Gregorek.

Ovo je Jerzy Gregorek.

He is a four-time world champion in Olympic weightlifting,

On je četverostruki svjetski prvak u olimpijskom dizanju utega,

political refugee,

politička izbjeglica,

published poet,

pjesnik,

62 years old.

ima 62 godine.

He can still kick my ass and probably most asses in this room.

Još me može srediti kao i većinu u ovoj sobi.

He's an impressive guy.

Izaziva divljenje.

I spent a lot of time on his stoa, his porch,

Proveo sam puno vremena na njegovom trijemu,

asking life and training advice.

tražeći savjete o životu i vježbanju.

He was part of the Solidarity in Poland,

Bio je član Solidarnosti u Poljskoj,

which was a nonviolent movement for social change

nenasilnog pokreta za društvene promjene

that was violently suppressed by the government.

koji je vlada nasilno ugušila.

He lost his career as a firefighter.

Izgubio je posao vatrogasca.

Then his mentor, a priest, was kidnapped, tortured, killed

Tada je njegov mentor - svećenik - otet, mučen, ubijen

and thrown into a river.

i bačen u rijeku.

He was then threatened.

Tada su mu prijetili.

He and his wife had to flee Poland, bounce from country to country

On i žena pobjegli su iz Poljske, seleći iz zemlje u zemlju

until they landed in the US with next to nothing,

dok nisu gotovo bez ičega završili u SAD-u,

sleeping on floors.

spavajući na podovima.

He now lives in Woodside, California, in a very nice place,

On sada živi u Woodsideu, Kaliforniji, na lijepom mjestu

and of the 10,000-plus people I've met in my life,

i od preko 10.000 ljudi koliko sam ih upoznao u životu,

I would put him in the top 10,

svrstao bih ga među prvih deset

in terms of success and happiness.

kada govorimo o uspjehu i sreći.

And there's a punchline coming, so pay attention.

Priča ima poruku, pa pažljivo slušajte.

I sent him a text a few weeks ago,

Poslao sam mu poruku nedavno

asking him: Had he ever read any Stoic philosophy?

pitajući ga je li ikada pročitao nešto o filozofiji stoika?

And he replied with two pages of text.

Odgovorio je na dvije stranice.

This is very unlike him. He is a terse dude.

To mu nije nalik. Vrlo je suzdržan.

(Laughter)

(Smijeh)

And not only was he familiar with stoicism,

Ne samo da mu je stoicizam bio poznat,

but he pointed out, for all of his most important decisions,

nego je napomenuo, kod svih najvažnijih odluka,

his inflection points,

u prijelomnim trenucima,

when he stood up for his principles and ethics,

kada se zauzeo za svoja uvjerenja

how he had used stoicism and something akin to fear-setting,

koristio je stoicizam i nešto slično postavljanju strahova,

which blew my mind.

što me oduševilo.

And he closed with two things.

I završio je s dvije napomene.

Number one: he couldn't imagine any life more beautiful

Prva: nema ljepšeg života

than that of a Stoic.

od života stoika.

And the last was his mantra, which he applies to everything,

A druga je bila njegova mantra koju primjenjuje na sve

and you can apply to everything:

i koju vi možete primijeniti na sve:

"Easy choices, hard life.

"Laki izbori, težak život.

Hard choices, easy life."

Teški izbori, lak život."

The hard choices --

Teški izbori --

what we most fear doing, asking, saying --

sve što se bojimo učiniti, pitati, reći --

these are very often exactly what we most need to do.

često je to ono što najviše trebamo učiniti.

And the biggest challenges and problems we face

A najveći problemi s kojima se suočavamo

will never be solved with comfortable conversations,

nikada neće biti riješeni ugodnim razgovorima,

whether it's in your own head or with other people.

bilo to u vlastitoj glavi ili s drugima.

So I encourage you to ask yourselves:

Potičem vas da se zapitate:

Where in your lives right now

Gdje je u vašim životima sada

might defining your fears be more important than defining your goals?

važnije odrediti strahove nego ciljeve?

Keeping in mind all the while, the words of Seneca:

Imajte na umu Senekine riječi:

"We suffer more often in imagination than in reality."

"Češće patimo u mašti nego u stvarnosti."

Thank you very much.

Hvala vam.

(Applause)

(Pljesak)