President Obama’s message to Arizona State University grads matches new research on how to live a fulfilled and happy life. 奥巴马总统给亚利桑那州立大学毕业生的寄语与如何过一个有意义且幸福生活的新研究非常吻合。 Obama’s Message to Graduates “...you’re taught to chase after all the usual brass rings. you worry about whether you have a fancy enough title or a fancy enough car。 "We too often let the external, the material things, serve as indicators that we’re doing well, even though something inside us tells us that we’re not doing our best…” That was President Obama’s advice to the graduating class of Arizona State University on May 13。 And a new study in the June issue of the Journal of Research in Personality backs it up。 Based on a survey of 147 alumni from two universities, achieving ones’ goals leads to a great deal of satisfaction. But there’s a caveat: it depends on the nature of those goals. The survey was administered twice, once a year after graduation and then 12 months later。 Their research confirmed that achieving material and image-related goals has zero impact on happiness, and can actually lead to guilt, anger and physical symptoms like headaches and stomachaches. But graduates who focused on, and achieved, a level of personal growth, close relationships, community involvement and physical health rated themselves as happier, with fewer physical problems。 Such intrinsic goals are closely related to an autonomous self, noted the authors, while a constant comparison to anothers’ external image breeds feelings of inadequacy and envy。 This lines up with Obama’s plea to A.S.U. grads: “…that in fact the elevation of appearance over substance, of celebrity over character, of short-term gain over lasting achievement is precisely what your generation needs to help end." "I’m talking about an approach to life -- a quality of mind and quality of heart. a willingness to follow your passions, regardless of whether they lead to fortune and fame....a lack of regard for all the traditional markers of status and prestige -- and a commitment instead to doing what’s meaningful to you, what helps others, what makes a difference in this world。” 奥巴马寄语毕业生 “有人教你们去追逐所有那些世俗的东西；你们担心是否能拥有一个足够炫的头衔或者一辆足够豪华的车子。我们常常让那些外在的、物质的东西作为我们成功的标志，即使我们内心告诉我们，我们并没有尽力而为。” 这是奥巴马总统在5月13日给亚利桑那州立大学毕业班学生提出的忠告。 而即将发表在六月份的《个性研究杂志》(Journal of Research in Personality)上的一项新的研究支持了奥巴马的观点。 根据一项对来自2所大学147名校友的调查，达到个人目标能让人获得极大的满足。不过，还有一个告诫：这取决于目标的性质。该调查进行了两次，一次是在毕业生毕业后的一年里做的，一次是在这之后的12个月之后。 他们的研究确认，达到物质的以及与面子有关的目标对幸福的影响为零，反而这还可能到导致内疚、愤怒以及一些诸如头痛和胃痛的身体症状。但是，那些专注于并且获得了个人成长、拥有和谐的家庭关系、积极参与社区活动、身体健康的毕业生幸福程度更高，而且疾病更少。 该研究的作者说，这些内在的目标与自我是紧密联系在一起的，但是不断的和别人外在的光鲜外表攀比只会让自己感到卑微和嫉妒。 这和奥巴马对亚利桑那州立大学毕业生的呼吁是一致的： “关注外在而忽视内在的本质；关注名气而不是品德；关注短期利益而忽视持久的成就，事实上这些正好就是你们这一代需要帮助消除的。我所谈到的是如何面对生活的问题---拥有一颗美好的心灵；不管是否得到财富和名望，甘愿追随你的激情；不考虑所有那些地位和威望的世俗标志---而是投身到做对你有意义的事情，做能帮助别人的事情，做那些能改变这个世界的事情。”