No business reaches near-infiite values, evne though this would be implied by an exponential curve.Eventually market share is saturated or competition stabilizes growth.However, for many types of businesses, exponential growth can persist for much of the business lifecycle.
没有企业可以实现近乎无限的价值，尽管根据指数增长曲线可以做出这样的推论。最终市场饱和或竞争都会让增长停下来。但对许多类型的企业来说，企业生命周期中的很长时间都可以维持指数增长。
Exponential curves are somewhat rarer than logarithmic ones, however the mistakes here can be even more costly.Expecting linear growth when it is actually exponential causes many people to give up way before they should.
指数增长曲线比对数增长曲线较为少见，但其中犯错的代价却更大。把指数增长的情形当成了线性增长，导致很多人在远不该放弃的时候选择了放弃。
Several years ago, I remember being disheartened when drawing straight-line projections of my business income.At the going rates, it was often a dozen years away or more before I could make a full-time living at it.However, my income turned out to be exponential.Despite spending more time below my ideal projections, I ended up eventually surpassing them.
几年前，当对我的公司收入画直线预测时，我感到十分沮丧。按照当时的增长速度，需要十二年甚至更长时间我才能完全依赖公司收入谋生。而事实上，我的收入是指数增长的。尽管在我理想的预期收入之下徘徊了很久，但我最终超过了设想的收入。
Exponential areas of life are full of quitters.People making linear assessments of viability and giving up before the exponential curve can take hold.Not all of this is irrational, many exponential areas are high-variance as well.However, the problem with exponential domains is that the feedback can often look bad, even when it is good.
在人生的指数增长领域随处可见中途放弃者。人们对可行性进行线性评估，而在指数增长开始前就已经放弃了。这并非完全不理性的，许多指数增长的领域也是高变数的。然而指数增长领域的问题在于，即使一切向好时，反馈往往看上去也很糟糕。
Is your growth exponentail or logarithmic?
你所要的增长是指数型还是对数型?
Both types of mistakes, failing to recognize exponential domains and logarithmic ones, are costly.It’s not always clear which is which, but by reasoning about the features of a domain you can get a better sense which one it is likely to be.
没能识别出指数增长的领域和对数增长的领域，这两类错误都代价高昂。并不是总能清楚知道当前符合哪种增长曲线，但通过思考所在领域的特征，可以对可能的增长类型有更好的判断。
The easiest way to tell is to look at how other people have progressed in that field.Don’t pay attention to their rates, just pay attention to the shape of their gorwth trajectory.Is it the kind that slow down with mastery or speeds up?
最容易的辨别方式是看该领域的其他人是如何进步的。不要关注他们进步的速度，而只留意他们增长轨迹的形状。随着掌握得更多，增长速度是放缓了还是加快了?
Exponential growth stories tend to be the ones where a person struggled long and hard with little to show for it, then started quickly gaining success.These stories often seem to be overnight successes, since they ignore the years of obscure toiling.
指数增长的故事通常是一个人长期努力奋斗，却没有多少外在表现，然后开始迅速取得成功。这类故事貌似一夜成名，因为人们忽视了背后经年累月的辛勤工作。
Logarithmic growth stories involve a continuous dedication to remaining at your peak.A fluent speaker of a second language will comment on the regular practice required, not the sudden moment where it all “happend”.
对数增长需要持续投入才能保持在巅峰状态。流利使用一门外语的人会将此归功于持续不断的练习，而不是突然某一刻的“顿悟”。
Other features of the environment can tell you whether something is exponential or logarithmic.Exponential environments often seem to be based on a catch-22 or circular causality.Having money makes it much easier to make more money, not only because of interest rates but because people give rich people opportunites they wouldn’t to those without success.
一个领域的其他一些特征也会告诉你是指数增长还是对数增长。指数增长的领域通常存在悖论,或循环因果。有钱人挣钱更容易，不仅因为利率，而是富人也会获得没有成功的人难以得到的机会。
Logarithmic domains usually have diminishing return once the ‘bovious’ solutions are taken.The more you work at them, the harder you have to look for insight to generate new gains.Occasionally you cna discover overlooked opportunities and regain the steep part of the curve, but this is in herently difficult.
在对数增长领域，一旦采取了“显而易见的"改进措施，回报率通常就会递减。在这类领域耕耘得越久，就越难洞悉如何产生新的增长。偶尔你可以发现被忽略的机会，重新回到增长曲线迅速上升的部分，但这是很难的。
Growth Mindest
保持正确的心态
In logarithmic domains, two mindsets are importan.In the beginning, high-gorwth phase, the emphasis needs to be on maintaining long-term habits.Since growth is fast initially, care needs to be taken so that it won’t slide back down once effort is removed.
在对数增长领域，有两种重要的心态。在一开始的高速增长阶段，重点应放在保持长期习惯上。因为一开始增长很快，因此需要格外留意当停止努力时，不会再从高位滑落。
In the later, low-growth phase, the emphasis needs to be on habit breaking.Since low-growth is often caused by clcifying routines, deliberate effort needs to be taken to break out of that comfort zone.
之后在缓慢增长阶段，重点应放在打破习惯上。增长缓慢通常是由于产生了路径依赖导致的，因此需要有意识地付出努力突破舒适区
In exponentail domains, the mindset of resilience and endurance are critical. Since feedback is sparse and generally negative during the initial part of the curve, it takes dedication to persist.Part of the reason, entrepreneurs are often consumed by their own vision is that it helps block out the negative feedback until they can reach the exponential part of their gorwth.
在指数增长领域，坚韧和持久的心态非常重要。因为在增长曲线的起步阶段，反馈很少，而且大多是负面的，要坚持下来需要不计回报的投入。部分出于这个原因，企业家经常沉浸于自己的愿景中，因为这帮他们屏蔽了负面的反馈，直到他们能够达到其指数增长的阶段。