A person may have an idea about himself that will prevent him from doing good work.

He may have the idea that he is not capable of it. It is easy to get such an idea even though there is not justification for it. A child may think he is stupid because he does not understand how to make the most of his mental faculties, or he may accept another person’s mistaken estimate of his ability. Older people may be handicapped by the mistaken belief that they are incapable of learning anything new because of their age.

A person who believes that he is incapable will not make a real effort, because he feels that it would be useless. He won’t go at a job with the confidence necessary for success, and he won’t work his hardest, even though he may think he is doing so. He therefore is likely to fail, and failure will strengthen his belief in his incompetence.

Notes:

(1) prevent v.

 ~ sb/sth (from doing sth) to stop sb from doing sth; to stop sth from happening 阻止；阻碍；阻挠
a. [动词 + 名词短语]
The accident could have been prevented.
这次事故本来是可以防止的。

b. [动词 + 名词短语 + -ing短语](British English)
Nothing would prevent him/his speaking out against injustice.
什么也阻挡不了他为不平之事鸣冤叫屈。         

(2)  be capable of 能够

a. He may be capable of jealousy when you have made superior progress in your work. 
当你在工作中取得较大进步时,他也会嫉妒你.
b. A running track should be capable of absorbing the impact of a runner's foot landing on it.
跑道应该能够吸收奔跑者踩踏地面时产生的撞击力。
c. He'd be capable of coming to seek me, to tease Edgar. 
他可以来找我去逗逗埃德加

(3)  make the most of 充分利用

a. Hap-piness is the ability to make the most of what you have. 
幸福就是有能力充分享受你拥有的一切。
b. The dining - room has a southern aspect which allows us to make the most of the sun. 
这间餐厅方向朝南,使我们享有充分的阳光.
c. We've only got one day in London, so let's make the most of it and see everything. 
我们在伦敦只停留一天, 所以我们要尽量加以利用,多看点东西.

(4)  be handicapped by 受制于 

 a. I do not think it is fair that you should be handicapped by the fact. 
我认为,如果因为这个事实就非难你们,这样做是不公平的.

(5)  incapable

a. ~ of sth/of doing sth not able to do sth 没有能力（做某事）

The children seem to be totally incapable of working by themselves.
孩子们好像完全不能独自做事。

b. not able to control yourself or your affairs; not able to do anything well 不能克制自己的；不能自理的；什么事也做不好的

He was found lying in the road, drunk and incapable.
他被发现躺在路上，烂醉如泥。

参考译文：

人们对自己的认识有时会妨碍他们出色地工作。

他可能会认为自己无法胜任，尽管有时毫无根据，人们还是很容易产生这种想法。孩子会认为自己很愚蠢，因为他不知道如何充分利用自己的智慧，也或者是因为他接受了别人对他能力的错误估计。上了年纪的人也可能会受制于错误观念，认为由于年纪的关系，自己已经无法再学会任何新的东西。

一个相信自己无能的人不会作出真正的努力，因为他觉得努力毫无用处。他不能怀着成功所需的自信进行工作，也不会竭尽全力，即使他觉得自己已经尽力。所以，他很可能会失败，而失败则会使他更加确信自己的无能。