Dear 17-year-old self,

17岁的我，

When your Laker dream comes true tomorrow, you need to figure out a way to invest in the future of your family and friends. This sounds simple, and you may think it's a no-brainer, but take some time to think on it further.

当你的湖人梦明日就将成真，你需要找到投资你家庭和朋友未来的方法。这听起来很简单。你可能会觉得，这很简单，简直不用动脑。但你真的需要花点时间去好好思考。

I said INVEST.

我说的是投资。

I did not say GIVE.

我说的不是给予。

Let me explain.

让我解释给你听。

Purely¹ giving material things to your siblings² and friends may appear to be the right decision. You love them, and they were always there for you growing up, so it's only right that they should share in your success and all that comes with it. So you buy them a car, a big house, pay all of their bills. You want them to live a beautiful, comfortable life, right?

纯粹地给予兄弟姐妹和朋友物质上的东西，似乎是正确的决定。你爱他们，而他们在你成长的路上也一直相伴。因此，他们应该分享你的成功和随之而来的一切。这是毫无疑问的。所以，你给他们买车，买大房子，付他们所有的账单。你希望他们生活舒适、多姿多彩多彩，对吧？

But the day will come when you realize that as much as you believed you were doing the right thing, you were actually holding them back.

但终有一天，你会意识到，你越相信你做的是对的，你这样做实际上限制了他们的潜力。

You will come to understand that you were taking care of them because it made YOU feel good, it made YOU happy to see them smiling and without a care in the world — and that was extremely selfish of you. While you were feeling satisfied with yourself, you were slowly eating away at their own dreams and ambitions. You were adding material things to their lives, but subtracting the most precious gifts of all: independence and growth.

你会逐渐知道，你照顾他们只是为了让你自己感觉很好。你很开心看到他们笑着，过着无忧无虑的生活——这说明你极度自私。但当你对自己感到满意的同时，你渐渐地蚕食了他们自己的梦想和野心。你给他们的生活提供了更多物质上的享受，但消磨了一生中最珍贵的天赋：独立和成长。

Understand that you are about to be the leader of the family, and this involves making tough choices, even if your siblings and friends do not understand them at the time.

能理解，你正在成为家庭的顶梁柱。这涉及到做出艰难的决定，甚至连你的亲朋好友都可能会不理解。

Invest in their future, don't just give.

但要投资他们的未来，别只是给予。

Kobe

Use your success, wealth and influence to put them in the best position to realize their own dreams and find their true purpose. Put them through school, set them up with job interviews and help them become leaders in their own right. Hold them to the same level of hard work and dedication³ that it took for you to get to where you are now, and where you will eventually go.

用你的成功、财富和影响，让他们在最好的条件下实现梦想，以及找到他们生命中真正的目标。让他们去上学，让他们去面试工作，帮助他们掌控他们的人生。让他们保持同样的努力和奉献精神，那是你成功的原因，也帮助你创造日后的辉煌。

I'm writing you now so that you can begin this process immediately, and so that you don't have to deal with the hurt and struggle of weaning them off of the addiction⁴ that you facilitated⁵. That addiction only leads to anger, resentment⁶ and jealousy⁷ from everybody involved, including yourself.

我在写的是你，所以你可以马上开始做这件事。让他们摆脱对你的依赖。这样一来，你就不需要去应对他们的受伤和挣扎。依赖只会导致每一个被牵涉其中的人愤怒、怨恨和嫉妒，也包括你自己。

As time goes on, you will see them grow independently and have their own ambitions and their own lives, and your relationship with all of them will be much better as a result.

随着时间流逝，你会发现他们变得更独立，有雄心壮志和自己的生活。你和他们的关系最终会更好。

There's plenty more I could write to you, but at 17, I know you don't have the attention span⁸ to sit through 2,000 words.

我还有千言万语想对你说。但17岁，我知道你难以聚精会神的读2000字。

The next time I write to you, I may touch on the challenges of mixing blood with business. The most important advice I can give to you is to make sure your parents remain PARENTS and not managers.

下次我写给你的时候，我也许正面临亲情与生意交织的挑战。我能给你最重要的忠告，就是确保你的父母仍然只是父母，不是你人生的经营者。

Before you sign that first contract, figure out the right budget for your parents — one that will allow them to live beautifully while also growing your business and setting people up for long-term success. That way, your children's kids and their kids will be able to invest in their own futures⁹ when the time comes.

在你签下第一份合同前，想好留多少预算给你父母——能够让他们过得好，又能发展你的事业，并致辞人们获得长期的成功。这样一来，你的孩子的孩子和他们的孩子，就能在机遇到来时投资自己的未来。

Your life is about to change, and things are about to come at you very fast. But just let this sink in a bit when you lay down at night after another nine-hour training day.

你的生活将迎来改变，事情如潮水般汹涌而来。但在一天9小时的训练后，晚上要好好放松自己。别去想了。

Trust me, setting things up right from the beginning will avoid a ton of tears and heartache, some of which remains¹⁰ to this day.

相信我，从一开始就做正确的事情，可以免去很多眼泪和心痛。有些到今天仍旧影响着我。

Much love,

爱你的，

Kobe

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