Chapter 5 The Twenty-First Habit: Goal Obsession 2018-03-10

What Got You Here Won't Get You There by Marshall Goldsmith

PART 1 Expressions

1. But taken too far, it can become a blatant cause of failure.

blatant: [ˈbleɪtnt] sth bad that is blatant is very clear and easy to see, but the person responsible for it does not seem embarrassed or ashamed 明目张胆的；露骨的

Outsiders will continue to suffer the most blatant discrimination.

2. As a result, in our dogged pursuit of our goals we forget our manners.

dogged: dogged behavior shows that you are very determined to continue doing sth 固执的；顽强的

a dogged determination to succeed

3. By all accounts, Candace was the poster child for "having it all."

by/ from all accounts: according to what a lot of people say

It has, from all accounts, been a successful marriage.

4. She wouldn't be so desperate to purloin credit from her peers and staff.

purloin:  [pɜ:ˈlɔɪn] 偷窃, often used humorously

He must have purloined a key from somewhere.

Each side purloins the other's private letters.

5. After all this effort and display of professional prowess, you don't want to find yourself at a dead end, asking, "What have I done?"

prowess: [ˈpraʊəs] formal, great skill at doing sth

his physical prowess

The best and the brightest pupils competed to demonstrate their intellectual prowess.

dead end: 死胡同

come to/ reach a dead end: a situation where no more progress is possible  SYN deadlock, stalemate

The negotiations have reached a dead end.

dead-end job: a job with low wages and no chance of progress 无前途的工作

PART 2 Sentences

As a result, in our dogged pursuit of our goals we forget our manners. We're nice to people if they can help us hit our goal. We push them out of the way if they're not useful to us. Without meaning to, we can become self-absorbed schemers.