两周前，在准备人格评估工作坊时，我想起了7年前在家里种植的罗勒。

While preparing for a personality assessment workshop 2 weeks ago, I was reminded of Basil plant I grew some 7 years ago.

我爱好烹饪，我在泰国生活过三年，很大程度上影响了我的烹饪风格。当然，这也和我曾经经营过一家美食餐馆有关。

You see, cooking is a hobby of mine and one of the key influences on my cooking style is my having lived in Thailand for 3 years.Of course, it also helps that I once owned and operated a cafe that served great food. ; )

泰国菜选用大量的罗勒叶，每当我想要烹饪时，都要从杂货店里买原料，于是我决定在家自己种。

Thai cooking uses a fair amount of Basil leaves and instead of buying them from the grocery store each time I want to cook, I decided to grow them in home. 

种植罗勒叶并不困难。买种子，在陶盆里放一些泥土，一个星期内就能看到幼苗从土里窜出来，过不多久就可以得到一整株罗勒了，香罗勒叶可以用来烹饪我的拿手好菜。

Growing them was easy. I bought the seeds, got some soil in a pot and within a week or so, I saw the shoots emerging from the soil and before long, I got a full grown Basil plant from which I harvest the fragrant leaves for some of my favourite dishes.

这株罗勒就放在我家内，挨着玻璃天窗，每日都能得到充足的阳光和水分。

The Basil plant was placed just inside my apartment next to a large ceiling-to-floor window with good exposure to sunlight and was given sufficient water each day.

但突然之间，我发现它的叶子开始枯萎了。尽管还没有完全死去，但罗勒的生命已变得十分脆弱。我以为这可能是因为它缺少土壤养分所至，于是便开始施肥。

However,  all of a sudden, I noticed that the leaves started to wilt. And the Basil plant became rather frail although it wasn’t totally gone. I thought it might be lacking soil nutrients and began to supply it with fertilizers. 

可是情况仍旧没有改善，这使我越发困惑起来。我的罗勒具备所有的生长条件，有从足阳光、水分、营养。究竟还有什么问题呢？

Still, the situation didn’t improve and I became increasing puzzled. My Basil plant had all the resources it needed (or so I thought). What else was the problem??

某天在宜家家具店购物时，我注意到有卖放盆栽的窗体钩子，我就买了几个，想把罗勒挂在窗户外头。

One day while shopping at IKEA, I noticed that some window hooks for potted plants were on sale and I bought a few with the intent of hanging the Basil plant outside of the window.

你猜结果怎样？

Guess what? 

把罗勒挂在窗外后，三天之内，它的树叶变成李子色，开成了茂密的一株。

Within 3 days of putting the Basil plant out, its leaves grew plum and it blossomed into quite a bush!

尽管罗勒之前暴露在阳光下，可是它接受的光线是通过窗户滤过的。在那样的环境下，它无法茂密的生长。放在窗外，罗勒受到的是直接的，不经过滤的阳光，这有很大差别。

对我来说，放置在室内室外无光紧要，但这却攸关罗勒的生死。

It appeared that although the Basil was exposed to sunlight previously, it was indoors and the light was filtered by the window. It couldn’t thrive under that environment. Being outside the window, the Basil plant received direct, unfiltered sunlight and this made all the difference. It seemed like a small difference to me but it was a matter of life and death for the Basil. 

我从这件小事中领悟的道理能用于我们每一个人。 

The lesson I drew from this little episode is that the same principle applies to each of us.

每一个人都有他们喜爱而最适合的生存环境，这种环境有助于我们生长和发展。

环境如果不适合，我们就缺乏能量和动力，我们会发现自己在枯萎中挣扎，能量逐渐耗尽。

在进入职场前，要清楚你是谁（激情，价值观，信仰，技能），具有怎样的性格，这对你来说非常重要。

We each have a preferred type of environment that is most conducive for us to grow and develop. Without such an environment that fits our personality, we can be given all the resources and motivation yet we will find ourselves struggling and wilting away, energy drained from us instead of being energized.

了解这些后，你就有可能找到最合适自己的职位和工作环境。当然，工作环境不能缺少周围的同事和团体的文化以及做事方式。 找到适合自己的环境，你在今后的职业生涯中会更出色。

With these, it is then possible to identify jobs and work environments that are most suitable for YOU which will enable you to thrive. It is with such a compatible match that you are more likely to be successful in your career.

你可以考虑一些主要的性格测试工具：比如Myer-Briggs Type Indicators (MBTI), Holland’s Codes, and DiSC. 可是，要谨记，每种测试工具有它个别的好与坏，测试出来的成绩也不可能完全。就因为这样，用至少三种不同的测试效果会更佳。

There are several prominent personality assessment tools available which you should consider – examples are Myer-Briggs Type Indicators (MBTI), Holland’s Codes, and DiSC.

如果你正在上学，你或许可以从大学职业发展中心免费获得这些工具（有些可是很贵的！）

If you are studying, your university career centre may have some of these tools which you can take for free (mind you, some of these can be expensive!).

如果你想要做又快又准确的在线评估的话，可以访问我的网站。http://bit.ly/dDxtbT

If you’d like to take a quick and accurate (and cheap too!) assessment online, here’s one. http://bit.ly/dDxtbT

重要的是，把自己处于最佳环境，使自己能够有从足的发展空间，成长无限。

The important thing is: Put yourself in an environment most suitable for your personality preference. That's where you will grow and flourish.