邁克爾·菲爾普斯：一條有故事的“飛魚”

他綽號“飛魚”，人人都說他生就一副游泳的好身板，認為他的成功完全是上天賜予。但你是否知道，一年365天，每天訓練池里必定都有他努力的身影——“一想起訓練，我就會掀開暖被，沖進刺骨的池水。”你是否知道，在閃光燈下的他，始終保有一顆平和心——“或許我更喜歡平靜的生活，我想不出還有哪種生活方式比現在的更好。”付出終有回報。今年8月，他在第29屆奧運會上一舉奪得了8枚金牌。他就是邁克爾·菲爾普斯。

Michael Phelps—the name is now in the air. We all know what he's doing; we're all mesmerized1) by what he's doing， and of course， we're all cheering him. In case someone from a different planet reads this—Phelps is the American swimmer who's won FOURTEEN Olympic Gold medals! Also， he now holds the record for the most gold medals won at a single Olympics; a total of eight， surpassing2) Mark Spitz， the legendary American swimmer best known for winning a then-record seven gold medals at the 1972 Olympic Games， in the 2008 Beijing Olympic. He's been called not only the greatest swimmer， but also the greatest Olympian of all time， and Mark Spitz himself has called him the greatest athlete of all time.

Also， he holds all sorts of \"youngest ever\" records. He first competed in the Olympic Games when he was 15. In 2000， at 15 years and 9 months， Phelps became the youngest man ever to set a swimming world record， by breaking the world record in a 200 m butterfly3). And now if I try to list all the records he's set till date and all the history that he's created—well， I'll have to write about five articles.

邁克爾·菲爾普斯這個名字現在盡人皆知。我們都知道他的壯舉，都為他的成就所折服；當然，我們也都在為他喝彩。不過以防有外星球的人讀到這篇文章，我還是要解釋一下：菲爾普斯，美國游泳運動員，已獲14枚奧運金牌！在2008年北京奧運會上，菲爾普斯共獲得8枚金牌，打破了美國最著名的傳奇游泳運動員馬克·施皮茨在1972年奧運會上創下的一人獨得7枚金牌的紀錄，成為單屆奧運會獲得金牌最多的紀錄保持者。他不僅僅被稱為最偉大的游泳選手，還被稱為奧運史上最偉大的運動員，施皮茨本人甚至稱他為歷史上最偉大的運動員。

同時，菲爾普斯還保持著一系列“最年輕的”紀錄。他首次參加奧運會時年僅15歲。2000年，年僅15歲零9個月的菲爾普斯就打破了男子200米蝶泳的紀錄，成為創下游泳世界紀錄的最年輕的男選手。現在，如果我要一一列出迄今為止他所創下的紀錄和他所創造的歷史——那，我將不得不寫上5篇文章。

●志向高遠

●志向高遠

在北京奧運會上獲得第7枚金牌之后，菲爾普斯說，挑戰施皮茨的紀錄一直都是他的目標。“在我的夢想中，我一直都在期盼實現它，”他說道，“我想，在狀態最佳的時候，我可以做到。”

在一次采訪中，當問及他小時候開始游泳時，是否曾想到過會贏得這樣的國際聲譽和奧運會上的巨大成功，菲爾普斯說，他一直都在想著贏得奧運會金牌，想著去創造世界紀錄。

擁有夢想，你才能實現夢想。自我束縛的觀念(“我不行”，“我不配”，“我沒那天分”)對我們所做的事情的影響遠比我們想的還要深遠。如果你確實想取得成功，那就必須相信自己，相信自己有實現夢想的能力。常言道，沒有高不可及的夢想。你擁有一個夢想，就意味著你擁有實現夢想的能力。

●一心一意

我們都知道這一點，不是嗎？當然，我們也都知道菲爾普斯具備特別適合游泳的身體條件。很多人還會說他的能力本是天賜。可如果你問他，他為什么會如此出色，他會告訴你：“我熱愛比賽，我熱愛訓練。”

正是這種態度決定了一切，不僅僅是對奧運會水平的運動生涯而言，而且對任何一種生活，對任何一個人也都是這樣。你我無需是運動明星也能明白這個道理：任何領域里的成功都最終取決于你的態度——諸如你的堅定，你堅守目標的能力和愿望，以及你的毅力。這是我們應該也能夠從這位“巴爾的摩子彈”身上學到的生活哲理。

●Dreaming Big

After winning his seventh Gold in the Beijing Olympics， Phelps said that trying Mark Spitz's record had been his goal. \"In my dreams I always wanted it，\" he stated， \"I thought in the perfect circumstances I could do it.\"

In an interview， when asked whether he'd expected such international fame and great Olympic success when he'd started swimming as a kid， Phelps said he'd always wanted to win Olympic golds and set world records.

You can achieve only what you dream of. Self-limiting beliefs (\"I can't\"， \"I'm not worthy\"， \"I'm not talented\") have a far more profound effect on what we do than we think. Believing in yourself and your ability to achieve your dream is an absolute must if you're to really get there. And as they say， no dream is too big. You have a dream means you have the capability of realizing it.

●Single-minded Focus

But we all know that， don't we? Of course， we also know that Phelps has a body particularly suited to swimming. Also， many will say his talent is God-gifted. But ask him what makes him soooo special， and he'll tell you， \"I love the competition， and I love to train.\"

That's what makes the biggest difference， not only to an Olympic level sports career， but to any life， for anyone. You and I don't need to be sports stars to realize that success in any field ultimately5) comes down to6) your attitude—a few things like your grit7)， your ability (and desire) to focus， your perseverance. Here's a life-lesson all of us can and should learn from the Baltimore Bullet8).

\"Dream as big as you can dream and anything is possible. I am sort of in a dream world. Sometimes I have to pinch4) myself to make sure it is real.\"

—Michael Phelps

“志當存高遠，一切皆可能。我恍如置身一個夢想的世界之中。有的時候，我不得不掐掐自己，來確信這是現實。”

——邁克爾·菲爾普斯

●Perseverance

This brings us to the second thing about him that amazes me—his ability to be at it， hour after hour， day after day， year after year. I read a newspaper article which described his daily routine as \"Eat-sleep-train. Repeat.\" Given that， do you think he'd ever have achieved the kind of inhuman success he's now enjoying， if he hadn't put in such inhuman amount of hard work?

Attention those who hide behind the excuse of lack of talent when it comes to trying and creating your own success! Paste a poster of Phelps on your bedroom wall and write on it: \"Eat-sleep-train!\"， so that the next time you feel like resorting to the old I'm-not-talented-enough-to-be-successful routine， he keeps you right on track.

●The Regular Guy

Last but not the least， his ability to keep his head cool in the middle of all that media attention is exemplary9). Imagine how much more difficult it must be for him to maintain focus， than it is for us， given that he's the constant centre of attention of the entire world， especially now. Mark Spitz has said， \"I've always marveled10) at the fact that in the last four years， he has had to live with a lot more expectations and anxiety than I had to deal with.\"

No matter what goes on in the outside world， his almost other-worldly focus has never shifted from its mainstay11). Neither has all the adulation12) and fanfare13) gone to his head. I've heard him mention in numerous interviews， \"There are a lot of things I have to work on，\" which again is an important lesson on how to keep your head cool and your mind focus even if you're overwhelmed14) with your own success.

Keep cheering him， and meanwhile keep his lessons in mind!

●堅持不懈

這又讓我們想起菲爾普斯令我驚嘆的另一點：堅持不懈的努力，一小時又一小時，日復一日，年復一年。我在報紙上讀到一篇文章，文章描述他的日常作息是“吃飯——睡覺——訓練。周而復始。”如果沒有這樣的不懈努力，如果菲爾普斯沒有付出超出常人的艱苦訓練，你認為他能取得他現在所擁有的這種超乎凡人的成功嗎？

那些一說到要努力創造自己的成功便躲藏在“缺乏天賦”的借口之后的人，要注意啦！把菲爾普斯的海報掛在你臥室的墻上，寫上“吃飯——睡覺——訓練！”這樣，下次你再想用“我沒有能力贏得成功”的套話做借口時，菲爾普斯就能激勵你繼續前行。

●心態平穩

最后，也是很重要的一點，菲爾普斯身處媒體關注的中心而能保持清醒的頭腦，堪為典范。設想一下，一直是全世界關注的焦點，特別是現在，菲爾普斯要想做到心態平穩該會比我們困難很多。馬克·施皮茨就曾說過：“在過去四年中，菲爾普斯所承受的期望與焦慮比我要多得多，我對此一直感到非常驚奇。”

無論外面的世界如何變化，他那幾乎超脫凡人的對事業的專注從來都沒有改變過。所有的贊譽與吹捧他從不放在心上。我曾在無數次的采訪中，聽到他說：“我還有很多事情要做。”這是菲爾普斯給我們的又一大教益——即使在取得輝煌成就之時，也要保持清醒的頭腦，做到心態平穩。

繼續為菲爾普斯喝彩吧，并把他給我們的教益牢記在心！