20英里法則

04-22

Jim Collins（暢銷書《基業長青》和《從優秀到卓越》的作者）提出過一個法則，20英里法則。原文如下：

Imagine youre standing with your feet in the Pacific Ocean in San Diego, looking inland. Youre about to embark on a 3,000-mile walk, from San Diego to the tip of Maine. On the first day you march 20 miles, making it out of town.

On the second day you march 20 miles. And again, on the third day you march 20 miles, heading into the heat of the desert. Its hot, more than 100?F, and you want to rest in the cool of your tent. But you dont. You get up and you march 20 miles.

You keep the pace, 20 miles a day.

Then the weather cools, and youre in comfortable conditions with the wind at your back, and you could go much farther. But you hold back, modulating your effort. You stick with your 20 miles.

Then you reach the Colorado high mountains and get hit by snow, wind, and temperatures below zero -- and all you want to do is stay in your tent. But you get up. You get dressed. You march your 20 miles.

You keep up the effort -- 20 miles, 20 miles, 20 miles -- then you cross into the plains, and its glorious springtime, and you can go 40 or 50 miles in a day. But you dont. You sustain your pace, marching 20 miles.

And eventually, you get to Maine.

Now, imagine another person who starts out with you on the same day in San Diego. He gets all excited by the journey and logs 40 miles the first day.

Exhausted from his first gigantic day, he wakes up to 100? temperatures. He decides to hang out until the weather cools, thinking, "Ill make it up when conditions improve." He maintains this pattern -- big days with good conditions, whining and waiting in his tent on bad days -- as he moves across the western United States.

Just before the Colorado high mountains, he gets a spate of great weather and he goes all out, logging 40- to 50-mile days to make up lost ground. But then he hits a huge winter storm when utterly exhausted. It nearly kills him and he hunkers down in his tent, waiting for spring.

When spring finally comes, he emerges, weakened, and stumbles off toward Maine. By the time he enters Kansas City, you, with your relentless 20-mile march, have already reached the tip of Maine. You win, by a huge margin.

美國東海岸的聖地亞哥（San Diego）到美國東北部邊境緬因州（Maine），這基本上是美國大陸最長距離。在完成這個艱巨的任務時，第一個人，選擇了長遠的計劃方案（每天20英里），並持續去執行，當氣候條件好時，本可以行進30-40英里的，但他只行進了20英里，保存體力並感受著沿途風光，調整自己為惡劣天氣做準備，當氣候條件不好時，仍然堅持住20英里，最後以每天20英里的速度到達Maine。第二個人，當氣候條件好時，可能一天就行進了40英里，但當氣候條件不好時，他或多或少產生了一些僥倖心理，認為自己有每天行進40英里的能力，而且前一天確實行進了40英里，想著等到天氣好了，會趕上去的，然後就暫且休息一次，就這樣，伴隨這氣候條件的好壞下，他停停走走的最終也到達了Maine，但發現第一個人早已經在終點了。

這就好比要跑完一個42.195公里的全程馬拉松一樣，有經驗的選手會根據能力在每1公里都控制住自己的配速和心率，讓自己以一個合理的配速保持到終點，達到自己預計的成績。而不會當自己體力好時提升配速，體力不好時，降低配速，這樣會過渡消耗自己的身體，更可怕的是磨損了耐力和信心，遺漏了沿途的風光，也使整場比賽會變的糟糕。

Refrain from excess. 凡事不要過度。