盤點歷史上幾位成功人士的怪癖

One goes deep underwater and starves his brain of oxygen. Another works with a blindfold on, unable to see what he is doing. Another forced himself to sleep only three hours a night.

一個人跳入深水中，憋氣讓大腦缺氧；一個人蒙上眼睛，看不到自己在做什麼；另一個人則強迫自己每晚只睡三個小時。

These are the bizarre techniques, which some geniuses use to get ideas and be productive.

這些都是一些怪癖，某些天才人士會這樣做來獲得靈感、讓自己更具有創造性。

Of course, it is not essential (and certainly not recommended) to go to such extreme lengths to have a successful career.

當然，要獲得成功的事業並不需要（當然也不建議）採取這麼極端的做法。

However, for all those who struggle to be creative and want to know the secrets of famous scientists, writers and artists, here is a short guide to achieving dreams, the hard way.

但是，對於那些努力變得想要有創造性、想要知道那些著名科學家、作家和藝術家祕密的人來說，以下是一個指引你實現夢想的道路（困難版本）。

The Japanese inventor Yoshiro Nakamatsu, holder of 3,300 patents, father of the karaoke machine and the digital watch, forces himself to dive without oxygen, allowing the pressure from the water to starve his brain of blood. Then, he says, "zero-point-five seconds before death, I visualize an invention."

日本發明家中鬆義郎擁有3300項專利，還發明瞭卡拉OK和電子手錶，他會強迫自己潛入水中憋氣，使得水中的壓力令其大腦供血不足。然後他就會說：“死前0.5秒，我想出了一個新發明。”

If this technique seems too insanely dangerous (and it does), a much safer option is to shut out all sensory stimuli from the surrounding environment. The author Jonathan Franzen, winner of the US National Book Award, puts on earplugs, earmuffs and a blindfold to improve concentration.

如果這個方法太危險（的確是），另外一個安全一點的作法是封閉自己所有的外界感官刺激。美國國家圖書獎得主喬納森·弗蘭岑會戴上耳塞、耳罩和眼罩來提高集中力。

How does Franzen know what he is writing? He uses the little bumps on his keyboard's home keys to guide his fingers.

弗蘭岑怎麼知道他在寫些什麼？他利用鍵盤home鍵上的小突起來指引自己的手指。

Continuing the theme of self-denial, Thomas Edison, the inventor of the phonograph and the alkaline battery, robbed himself not of oxygen or light, but of sleep.

留聲機和鹼性電池的發明者托馬斯·愛迪生也會自我否定，不過他不會讓自己缺氧或者蒙上自己的眼睛，但是他會讓自己不睡覺。

He is said to have worked for 72 hours straight when inspired by a project before putting his head down to rest.

據說他曾經在一個項目鼓舞下連續工作了72個小時，然後頭一低就睡着了。

This, however, may have worked for Edison, but is not medically recommended for mere mortals, who are likely to suffer hallucinations and emotional breakdowns due to sleep deprivation.

但是這可能只對愛迪生有用，不推薦普通人這樣做，因爲睡眠不足可能會導致出現幻覺和情緒崩潰。

Beethoven, the famous composer, had a somewhat more agreeable method for getting his creative juices flowing. He would pour large pitchers of water over his hands while humming and singing to himself.

要讓創造的思緒涌流，著名作曲家貝多芬有一個更令人愉快的方法。他會一邊哼唱着歌曲，一邊把大壺的水澆在自己手上。

Using this strategy, Beethoven wrote nine symphonies, 16 string quartets and 32 piano sonatas, so there must have been something to it. Apparently, however, his neighbors complained about all the noise.

通過使用這一方法，貝多芬創作了9部交響曲、16首絃樂四重奏和32首鋼琴奏鳴曲，因此這種方法肯定有其用處。但是很顯然，他的鄰居們會抱怨這些噪音。

Charles Dickens, the nineteenth-century author, swore by the benefits of walking. He is said to have routinely walked up to 30 kilometers per day to get inspiration for his novels.

19世紀作家查爾斯·狄更斯對步行的好處非常肯定。據說他每天都要步行30多公里來尋找小說靈感。

Another odd technique, which is said to be common among highly successful individuals, is talking to themselves. The current world number one tennis player, Andy Murray, directs shouted obscenities at himself between points as a motivational aid.

還有另外一種奇怪的方法--據說是成功人士的共同點，他們會自言自語。目前排名世界第一的網球選手安迪·穆雷會在比賽的時候通過痛罵自己來激勵自己。

Of course, if you do this you are risking being thought mentally ill. On the other hand, since everybody is constantly mumbling nonsense into his or her phones in public these days, you could probably get away with it.

當然如果你這樣做的話，會有被認爲是精神病的風險。另一方面，因爲最近許多人都在公共場合對着自己的手機喃喃自語，所以如果你也自言自語的話可能沒什麼大問題。

One thing most successful people do is get up very early. Rising at 4 am, they say, gives them time to get all the day's mundane tasks out of the way before getting down to the real business.

大多數成功人士都會做的一件事就是早起。他們說，早上4點就起牀可以讓他們把一整天的雜事都處理完畢，從而全身心撲在真正的事業上。

Therefore, there are many things one can do, some of them very weird, others less so, in a drive to achieve greatness. The question is, how far would you go to be successful?

因此，人們要想驅使自己成功有許多事情可以做，其中一些非常怪異，但其他則不然。但是問題是，你多久纔會成功？