When Keith, a Silicon Valley entrepreneur, worked at a technology company that went public, he became rich overnight. He was sure he’d never need to work again.

　　当硅谷企业家基思在一间上市科技公司上班时，他一夜暴富。他确信自己再也不用工作了。

　　His pay-out from the initial public offering was well into the “tens of millions” of dollars, he says, a life-changing amount. It gave him the type of financial security that most of us can only dream of.

　　他说，他从首次公开募股中获得的回报是“数千万美元”，这个金额能够改变命运。它给予了他那种我们大多数人只能梦想的金融安全。

　　He stayed on at first, but soon stopped working. He spent a year travelling and spending money on “frivolous things” but found it difficult to enjoy his life, he says.

　　起初他仍然留在公司，但是不久就停止工作了。他花了一年的时间旅行，把钱花在“肤浅的东西”上，但是他说，他觉得自己很难享受生活。

　　Like most people, had long believed he worked simply to make money. He was wrong. And so even with savings that would last a lifetime, Keith started another job search.

　　和大多数人一样，基恩一直相信自己工作仅仅是为了挣钱。他错了。即便积蓄够他用一辈子了，基恩开始寻找另外一份工作。

　　“I just felt unhappy at the lack of structure and not knowing what my purpose in life was. My skills were deteriorating and I was finding it difficult to interact with other people intellectually,” says Keith. “There’s a higher reason why we all go to work.”

　　基恩说：“在缺乏组织，不知道生活目标的情况下，我觉得不开心。我的技能正在恶化，很难和其他充满才智的人接触。这是为什么我们都去工作的深层次原因。”

　　Now, he’s back at work — and significantly happier than he was not working.

　　如今，他重返职场——明显比不工作时要开心。

　　You’d think striking it suddenly rich would be the ultimate ticket to freedom. Without money worries, the world would be your oyster. Perhaps you’d champion a worthy cause, or indulge a sporting passion, but work? Surely not. However, remaining gainfully employed after sudden wealth is more common than you’d think. After all, there are numerous high-profile billionaires who haven’t called it quits despite possessing the luxury to retire, including some of the world’s top chief executives, such as Amazon’s Jeff Bezos and Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg.

　　你可能会吃惊的认为，骤然变富是通往自由的最后一张门票。没有了金钱的忧虑，世界便是你嘴边的珍馐。也许你会支持一项有价值的事业，沉浸于运动激情中，但是工作?显然不会。然而，在骤然变富后仍然保持就业比你想得要普遍。毕竟，大量高调的亿万富翁尽管拥有黄金降落伞仍没有叫停工作，这里面包括一些世界顶尖的首席运营官，比如亚马逊的杰夫和脸书的扎克伯格。

　　According to a meta-analysis by University of Florida business school professor Timothy Judge and other researchers, there’s less than a 2% overlap between the two factors. In the long run, we derive job satisfaction from non-monetary sources, which include positive peer relationships, the ability to work on meaningful projects and even leadership opportunities.

　　根据佛罗里达大学商学院教授贾吉和其他研究人员的分析，变得富有和不工作的重合不超过2%。从长远看来，我们的工作满意感并不来自于收入，满意感包括同伴关系，进行有意义项目工作的能力甚至于领导机会。

　　But, most of us take our jobs and the nonmaterial things they bring us for granted. We don’t realise that, though, until we’re faced with a situation of extreme wealth。

　　但是，我们大多数人都把我们的工作和它所带来的非物质性的东西当作理所当然。直到我们面临极端富裕情况时，我们才能意识到这个。

　　There’s another, more egotistical reason why some of us can’t stand not being in the game: status.

　　另一个更加自利的原因可以解释为什么我们中的一些人无法忍受离开职场：地位。

　　Going back to work — or never quitting — helps maintain an identity that’s derived from our professional achievements, especially if that identity has long been tied to our work.

　　重返职场或者不退出职场有助于保持来自我们职业成就的身份感，尤其当这种身份感一直和我们的工作相连时。

　　Then there are the surprising negative emotions that sudden wealth can yield. Quit your job and you might find yourself depressed within a few months.

　　骤然变富能够产生一些惊人的负面情绪。离开职场，你会发现自己会消沉几个月。

　　In those cases, that increase in leisure time didn’t bring happiness or contentment and you’ll need to quickly reassess your goals. Those who are very young when they reached financial independence are especially prone to the downsides of quitting.

　　增加娱乐时间不能带来幸福和满足，你需要很快地再次评估自己的目标。尤其是那些在非常年轻时就获得经济独立的人，更倾向于不放弃职场。

（编辑：何莹莹）