少年的成长故事

从胆怯到勇敢

从逃避到承担

从茫然到坚定

从言之无物到滔滔不绝

从青少年到企二代

出国留学的经历

让他开始思考

自律与自由

真正的含义

璞玉渐已成器

少年才华初显

这一次

他将用英文带来演讲

Self-discipline Brings Me Freedom

01

“自律”

Good afternoon, everyone. I am Deng Zhihua,17 years old.

I went to the United States as an international student two years ago, then came back to China after the pandemic.

There is so much to share about my life abroad, but today I choose to talk about one thing that means a lot to me: self-discipline.

在场的各位叔叔阿姨、老师同学们，大家下午好，我是邓智华，今年17岁。

在两年前，我去到美国留学，成为了一名国际留学生，因为疫情现在暂时回到了国内。

关于留学生活，我有很多想要和大家分享的。

但今天我选择了一个对我而言意义重大的话题：自律。

02

出国前的期待

I had spent two years in Xinhe before I went abroad, learning how to be a better student, better teenager，and better person from Mr. Sun Jian.

To be honest, I have always been struggling in my study during my high school life, with lots of homework and pressure, one exam after another.

在出国之前，我在心和学习了两年的时间，跟着孙键老师学习如何做好一个学生、如何成为一个优秀的青少年、成为更加优秀的自己。

说实话，在国内的时候我一直在我的中学学习生活中挣扎，无尽的作业和压力、一个接一个的考试让我几乎喘不过气来。

I felt like I never did enough to satisfy my parents and teachers.

I can't wait to get rid of that boring Chinese high school life at that time, expecting my beautiful new life in America.

不论我怎么做，好像都永远没办法让我的父母和老师满意。那时候，我简直迫不及待地想要逃离国内的学习生活，期待在美国开启新的人生。

03

失控的生活

The first couple of months of my life back in America were out of control.

Because that was the first time in my life I felt like I had freedom!!!

I can do whatever I want, like playing video games all day without my parents’ eyes on me or simply staying away from homework.

I was like a bird out of the cage.

在我刚到美国的几个月，我的生活几近失控了。

那是我人生中第一次感受到无人监管的自由，我可以随心所欲做任何想做的事情，哪怕是玩一整天的电子游戏或者不完成学校作业都再没有人监督我了。

那时的我，就像是一只挣脱了笼子束缚的小鸟。

But soon, everything had changed.

I couldn't catch up on the lessons, and there was a huge gap between me and other students in the class.

I realized that it's time for me to wake up and make a change! Being lazy and procrastinating will ruin my life.

但很快，一切都变了。

我渐渐跟不上学校课程的进度，我和其他同学之间成绩的差距也越来越大。

于是我意识到自己不能再这样放纵下去，是时候要清醒过来作出改变了！

再这样如此懒惰和拖延下去，我的人生会被毁掉的。

04

自律带给我的快乐

One day, I found this article that talks about self-discipline and I told myself, yeah, I need it!

I need to have self-discipline! I need to take the control of my life.

From that day, I started to work harder, spend time studying in the library, and working with my student peers on different assignments.

Things got better, and trust me, I fell in love with knowledge.

有一天，我看到了一篇关于自律的文章，认识到我所缺乏的正是自律。

我迫切地需要自律，需要学会掌控自己的人生。

从那天开始，我开始加倍努力学习，花大量的时间在图书馆自习，和同学们一起努力完成各项任务。

情况慢慢地有所好转，我甚至还爱上了徜徉在知识海洋里的快乐。

05

自律与自由

While Discipline and Freedom seem like they sit on opposite sides of thespectrum, they are actually very connected.

Personal freedom is about doing whatever they want, whenever they want.

But things might lead to something awful.

自律和自由看似是两个对立面，但其实它们是紧密相连的。

个人的自由看似是想做什么就做什么，想什么时候做就什么时候做，但这样可能会带来糟糕的后果，会让人上瘾，丧失健康和行动力，导致混乱、冲突或挫折。

They lead to addictions.

They lead to loss of health and mobility.

They lead to chaos conflict or frustration.

Undisciplined life can lead to disappointment and pain, the only way to get to a place of freedom is through discipline.

不自律的生活可能会令人失望或痛苦，想要获得真正的自由唯有自律。

06

自律方有自由

If you want more free time, you have to follow a more disciplined time management system.

You also have to have the discipline to say “No” to things that eat up your time with no payback—things like playing video games, random Douyin videos, click-bait on the internet, and those unnecessary dinners and parties.

如果你想要有更多的空余时间，那你必须要遵循严格的时间管理规划，还要有自制力去对那些浪费时间却又没有回报事情说“不”——

比如玩电子游戏、刷抖音、无关紧要却诱惑力极强的网络文章以及不必要的各类聚餐聚会。

Discipline equals freedom applies to every aspect of life: if you want more freedom, you need more discipline.

Don’t like running? Go run! Uncomfortable speaking to groups?

Volunteer to get speech! Hate to get up early in the morning? Get up early!

“自律方有自由”适用于生活的方方面面，如果你想要更多的自由，那就让自己变得更自律。

不喜欢跑步？那就强迫自己去跑！不敢公众演讲？那就逼着自己主动去演！讨厌早起？那就咬牙必须早起！

07

现在，正是做出改变的时候！

If you want to transform your life positively, that transformation will not happen by itself.

You need to make it happen.

You need to do the work. You need to put in the hours, the days, the weeks, the months, and the years.

You need to get on the path and stay on the path— hold on, and move on!

如果你希望自己的生活发生质的积极的改变，就要意识到这样的改变是不会凭空发生的，唯有靠你自己不懈的努力。

你需要付出行动，需要花费时间，也许是很多个小时、很多天、很多个星期、很多个月，甚至是很多年。

用毅力鼓励自己在这条正确的道路前行，坚持勇敢地不断前行。

Now, is the time to make a difference, to find the right balance.

Let's embrace self-discipline and enjoy the freedom in our lives!

现在，正是作出改变的时候！在自律与自由之间找到正确的平衡吧，让我们拥抱自律，享受人生的自由！

I am Howard, join me my friends, fight for your freedom!

我是邓智华Howard，加入我吧朋友们，一起为自由而奋斗！

（训练花絮）