My first corporate¹ internship³ was as a summer analyst⁴ at Wells Fargo right before my senior year in college.

我第一份企业实习是大四之前暑期在富国银行做分析师。

注：WELLS FARGO 美国富国银行

Confused about whether I was going to pursue the path of entrepreneurship or work for a company after graduation, I approached my internship with an open mind. I figured the experience might help me identify my strengths and, of course, test the waters before deciding my future career. Turns out, I was right. And the lessons I took away from my internship are some of the greatest assets I use as an entrepreneur today.

我当时很困惑到底毕业后是自主创业还是为给公司打工。因此，我抱着开放的心态接受了这份实习。我觉得这份经历可能会帮我发现我的长处，当然，在决定未来职业之前先试试水。结果表明，我是正确的。在实习过程中学到的东西是我今天作为一名企业家所利用到的最宝贵的资产。

For those who have ambitions to run a startup or, maybe you already are, my advice is: Don't underestimate the power of a good internship. Here are the greatest takeaways I learned from my summer job as a banker:

对于那些有着创业的雄心壮志的人来说（或者你已经这么做了），我的建议是：不要低估一份优秀的实习的作用。以下是我从暑期作为一个银行家的工作中学到的最有价值的经验。

Stick to deadlines. Tim Ferriss is a major advocate for the principal of Parkinson's Law -- which, simply put, posits⁵ that a task can become leagues more difficult the longer a deadline. By contrast, a tight deadline will prompt a tight turnaround with less stress over time.

坚守完工期限。蒂姆•菲利斯是帕金森定律的拥护者。简单来说，假设任务能够成为更为困难的集合，完工期限就会越长。相反的，紧迫的时间期限能促进转机，减少压力。

注：律帕金森定律（Parkinson'sLaw）是官僚主义或官僚主义现象的一种别称，被称为二十世纪西方文化三大发现之一。也可称之为“官场病”、“组织麻痹病”或者“大企业病”，源于英国著名历史学家诺斯古德•帕金森1958年出版的《帕金森定律》一书的标题。

During my internship, I was given strict deadlines for each project assigned to me. Whenever I took on a new project, I was always instructed to make sure I knew when each project was due by. Most of these deadlines were short, and to excel I always made sure I used my time as efficiently⁶ as possible -- knowing that a few hours of web surfing and I would be turning in my assignment late.As an entrepreneur, you never have enough time in the day, making it crucial to treasure each hour of your time. When you're manager gives you your first deadline, you'll begin to realize how valuable time really is.在我实习期间，分配给我的每个项目时间期限都很紧迫。不论何时我开始新项目，我总是确保自己弄清了每个项目的截止时间。大部分时间期限都很短，为了做得出色，我确保自己尽可能有效地利用时间——上网几小时就可能让我延迟提交任务。作为企业家，你每天时间都不够，这使得珍惜时间变得尤为重要。当经理告诉你第一个截止日期的时候，你就会明白时间有多么重要。

Don't rely on talent alone. Heading into my internship, I was extremely confident that my talent was going to be my greatest asset. In reality, this couldn't have been further from the truth. Each corporation has a set way of operating, key terms to know, and skills that you must master to really be a standout in your office. Only when I memorized the proper terms, studied the internship curriculum, and continued to learn did I start to stand out.

别仅仅依赖天分。在实习中，我原本很有信心自己的天分会成为最宝贵的财产。实际上，这并不是事实。每个公司都有自己运营的一套方法，有着需要了解的关键术语，还有在办公室中脱颖而出必须要掌握的技巧。当我记住了恰当的术语，研习了实习简历，继续学习之后，我才开始表现突出。

As an entrepreneur, I have applied⁷ this principle when I learn new skills that are needed to help grow our company. As an entrepreneur, talent is important. But the only way to improve, is to constantly focus on refining your skills.

作为企业家，我把这一原则运用在学习发展公司必需的技能上。作为企业家，天分很重要。但是进步的唯一方法是一直专注于打磨你的技能。

Lead by example. During my internship, I took pride in always being one of the first people in the office and one of the last people to leave. As an intern², you have to prove to your fellow employees that you're willing to go the extra mile to get the job done.

以身作则。我很自豪地说，实习期间，我总是第一个到办公室，最后一个离开的。作为实习生，你需要向你的同事证明你很花更大的努力来完成工作。

As you begin to grow your own company, employees will look to you as a leader and a role model for your company. The best leaders are the ones who fight down in the trenches⁸ with the people that follow them. Learn to prove how far you will go for your team, and you'll build a passionate⁹ group of people to support you.

当你开始创立自己的公司的时候，员工们把你看做是领导者、公司的榜样。出色的领导者和他们的追随者们在同一战壕里并肩作战。学会证明你为团队能做到什么地步，就能建立起由富有激情的支持者组成的团队。

Seek out opportunity. There were times during my internship where it appeared that there was nothing left for me to do. Wanting to take on new challenges, I went around the office and asked what I could help with. To my amazement¹⁰, I was able to take on new assignments and exciting tasks that would not have been offered to me unless I made the effort to request them.

寻找机会。实习中，有时候看起来我没什么可做的。想要接受新挑战，我在办公室里四处游荡，询问有什么我可以帮上忙的。让我出乎意料的事，我有机会承担新任务和令人兴奋的工作。要是没有主动提出要求的话，我就没有机会去做了。

The best entrepreneurs aren't flourishing because an opportunity fell in their laps. They achieved success by going out of their way to make something happen.

最好的企业家不是因为天赐良机才发达的。他们想尽办法，让一切成为可能，从而走向成功。

Know your customer. Always ask what your customer needs and how you can help. At Wells Fargo, we kept in touch with our customers, figured out what kinds of people they were and how we fit in.

了解你的顾客。经常问问你的顾客需要什么，你能为他们做些什么。在富国银行，我们和顾客保持联系，了解他们都是什么性格的，我们如何才能和他们打成一片。

This is a takeaway many entrepreneurs forget. Spending years creating a product that looks amazing but nobody wants isn't helpful. Instead, build something that makes your customers' lives easier, and always look for more ways to serve them.

这是很多企业家会遗忘的一点。花了很多年创造出看起来非常棒的产品，但是却没人想要。这没有用。相反的，要创造出能让顾客生活更轻松的东西，始终探寻为他们服务的更多途径。