by liz ryan, businessweek 
we know it’s possible, even if we haven’t read "the four-hour work week" yet. we know people in our neighborhoods or we’ve seen people on tv who have dream jobs, so we know they exist. it’s the post-millennium workplace fantasy: to do work we love and are passionate about, be paid well for doing it, and to work among smart and supportive team members under the leadership of a wise and ethical chief executive officer. sounds reasonable on paper. why is it so hard, in real life, to get all the dream job ducks to line up in a row?

我們知道有份理想的工作是可能的，即便我們沒讀過《the four-hour work week》這本書。在街坊里、在電視上，我們認識或見過那些擁有理想工作的人，所以，我們知道，"理想工作”是存在的。這就是“后千年”時代下的職場幻想：做自己喜歡的、抱有激情的工作，有豐厚的收入，同事們要聰明，會支持我們，領(lǐng)導(dǎo)要明智、有道德感。聽上去合情合理。可現(xiàn)實的生活中，找到理想的工作怎么就那么難？ 

for starters, it’s helpful to remember that our dream-job requirements often change over time. one job i held in my youth was a dream job at the time but would be impossible for me now because of the working hours. when i was twenty-something and single, i was perfectly happy to sit in a conference room with my workmates, eating pizza and talking shop at 11 p.m. couldn’t, wouldn’t consider that now.

對于剛開始工作的人來說，要記住我們對理想工作的要求往往會隨著時間發(fā)生變化。年輕時的工作在那時是理想工作，但是現(xiàn)在由于工作時長則一點都不理想。當(dāng)我二十來歲、單身的時候，我可以晚上11點和同事們坐在會議室一起吃著比薩，興致勃勃地討論公事�，F(xiàn)在不能、也不會有那個念頭了。 

you may have longed for a management role at one time and realize now that’s the last thing you’re interested in; or you may learn that you’re happiest working independently, where your teammates are available if you need them but aren’t in your face all day long.

也許，你曾渴望過一個管理位置而現(xiàn)在發(fā)覺對此毫無興趣；或者你曾感到獨自辦公時最快樂，你的同事們在你需要的時候出現(xiàn)，但是不要整天都在眼前晃。(to be continued)