hold someone up耽误

把成就和为人摆在一起对照，一句话点破什么才值得追。

not about what you achieve, about what you become

劝人别只盯着成绩时能用；对刚失败的人说，比空讲道理更暖。

what matters is who you become ／ life is about who you turn into

literary

重音落在 achieve 和 become，中间逗号稍停。

Life is not about which school you get into, it's about who you become there. 人生不在于考上哪所学校，而在于你在那里成为什么样的人。

用 journey 和 event 两个词对撞，把漫长和一时分得很清。

It's a ..., not a ...

开导急着要结果的人时能用；正式演讲里说这句也站得住。

a marathon, not a sprint

literary

journey 稍拉长，not an event 收得干脆。

Learning a language is a journey, not an event you can cram for. 学一门语言是一段长路，不是临时抱佛脚能应付的事。

正面驳掉「靠成绩换资格」的念头，gonna 又压低了说教味。

doing X is not what makes you ...

劝朋友别把感情当考核时能用；对长辈这样说像顶嘴，别用。

winning a game won't make you worthy of her ／ no achievement earns her

中性

Accomplishing 弱读，重音落在 worthy 和 her。

Getting the promotion is not what makes you good at your job. 升了职并不等于你就把这份工作做好了。

把迟迟不肯成家的原因说成一句自我要求，藏着自尊也藏着不安全感。

I felt like I needed to ... first.

解释自己为什么一直拖着某件事时能用；当作推脱的借口反复说会显得不真诚，别用。

I felt I had to prove myself before anything else. ／ I needed to prove myself before I could move on.

口语

I guess I 连读，just 轻带，needed to 连读，first 收住。

I guess I just felt like I needed to finish school first. 我只是觉得得先把学上完才行。