I once stopped behind several cars，waiting at the red light. The wind blew fiercely. Ahead of me stood a young woman alongside the street rubbing her bare hands together and dancing to keep _______. Beside her rested a sign that read，“I have a baby and no _______.”

Homeless and unemployed people are a _______ sight in many of our large cities，and most people drive by without _______ assistance. No doubt they have been _______ that giving them money develops a dependent _______，or that the cash may be used to buy alcohol _______ the food it was intended for. Like me，they may have been taught that one should give money to a local charity，as these organizations can _______ those in need far more effectively.

As I waited for the light to tum green，I felt _______ about that woman. She was ________ in need. And whether or not she actually had a baby really didn't ________. What should I do？

Should I give her money？As I ________，the window of the car in front of me was ________ down and a hand reached out holding a pair of warm gloves. The driver ________ her own gloves and gave them to the woman. I saw the young woman ________ the words“Thank you”and a broad smile lit up her face.

As I hesitated，somebody else ________. As I tried to decide the best way to help，somebody else just did what she could. I made myself a（n）________ that day to always do something. Whether it is big or small，just do something.

Something is almost always better than nothing！Too often we underestimate（低估）the ________ of a touch，a smile，a kind word，a listening ear，or the smallest act of ________，all of which have the ________ to turn a life around.

   There have been many times in my life when I have felt very confident about myself and the outcomes of events, even when there was no reason why I should be.

For example, when I was in my internship (实习期) in my ex-company, I was fully confident that I would perform well and secure the internship — even though it was my first internship, first time working in an actual corporate role and I knew absolutely nothing about what I was going to get.

Another time was while I was still studying in university as a first year student. The people around me constantly discussed the monthly starting pay for graduates, which was around two grand. At that time I simply brushed that aside and was confident I would get a starting pay of at least three grand. The funny thing was that this was simply an arbitrary (任意的) number I picked out of the air which I felt I was comfortable with. There was absolutely no basis or research I did which made me point out that figure.

A more recent example would be when I left my job to pursue my passion. While I had a broad vision of what I wanted to do, I had not developed my plan to the level of specificity, and I was not worried about it at all either. I wasn’t worried about money, about how it would work out, or about the challenges I would face. All I knew was I was going to reach my end goal and I would do everything it took to reach that goal.

In all of the cases, there was totally nothing present that proved my self-confidence. Yet, in the end, everything turned out as well as I wanted, if not better. In my internship, I was one of the few interns to secure a preplacement job offer with my ex-company. For my starting pay, I received a figure which was higher than what I targeted. And for my personal development work, it is currently moving along well toward my vision. Honestly, the self-confidence I had was probably one of the reasons why I achieved those outcomes eventually.

   Life is filled with ups and downs. When you feel like you're experiencing more downs than ups，sometimes it helps to get a little tough love. That's why we put together this list of five harsh（残酷的）truths that will help you grow.

1. Life isn't fair.

Life will hand you lemons, often when you least expect it. 【小题1】

2. The first step is always the hardest.

Changing bad habits is tough. Chinese philosopher Lao Tzu once said," 【小题2】 "So if you want to change something, start with small steps.

3. You may be better off without some of the people you currently care about.

Chances are that there's someone in your life you care about deeply who is holding you back. 【小题3】 However, there comes a time when you need to make the tough decision to say no to people who can't help you grow.

4. 【小题4】

If you don't take risks you will have a hard time accomplishing what you want in life. People who truly change the world are the biggest risk-takers. And they treat each failure as an opportunity to grow and get better.

5. You are the only thing to hold yourself back from greatness.

Often we get so caught up in hoping for the next great thing that we don't realize what's unfolding right in front of our faces. 【小题5】 Instead, focus on the positive things you have in your life. Choose to be happy right now.

   Our most commonly held code for success is broken. Conventional wisdom（普遍看法）holds that if we work hard we will be more successful，and if we are more successful，then we’ll be happy. If we can just find that great job，win that next promotion，lose those five pounds，happiness will follow. But recent discoveries in the field of positive psychology have shown that this code is actually backward：Happiness fuels success，not the other way around. When we are positive，our brains become more engaged，creative，motivated，energetic，and productive at work. These discoveries have been repeatedly proved by rigid research in psychology and neuroscience（神经科学），management studies，and the bottom lines of organizations around the globe.

In The Happiness Advantage，Shawn Achor，who spent over a decade living，researching，and lecturing at Harvard University，draws on his own research—including one of the largest studies of happiness and potential at Harvard and others at companies like UBS to fix this broken code. Using stories and case studies from his work with CEOs of Fortune 500 in 42 countries，Achor explains how we can reprogram our brains to become more positive in order to gain a competitive ability at work.

Based on seven practical，actionable principles that have been tried and tested everywhere from classrooms to boardrooms，stretching from Argentina to Zimbabwe，he shows us how we can capitalize on The Happiness Advantage to improve our performance and maximize our potential.

A must-read for everyone trying to stand out in a world of increasing workloads and stress，The Happiness Advantage isn’t only about how to become happier at work. It’s about how to get the benefits of a happier and more positive mode of thinking to achieve the extraordinary in our work and in our lives.