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| 2010/07/26 16:01:53瀏覽1234｜回應2｜推薦2 | |
“設定目標”(Goals, by Brian Tracy), 這是ㄧ本用極為順暢, 易懂的英文寫的絕佳勵志好書, 讀來如行雲流水, 很少能讀到如此清新簡潔的文字, 值得大力推薦。 該書 “引言” (Introduction) 中, “The Day My Life Changed” 談到他人生的轉變, 非常引人入勝, 誰也沒想到大名鼎鼎的Brian Tracy 居然年輕時曾靠苦力賺錢, 其後一念之轉, 從此走向截然不同之路, 真的像 Robert Frost 的詩 “Two roads diverged in a wood and I took the one less traveled and that has made all the difference.” 我們先看他寫的第一段 “ This is a wonderful time to be alive. There have never been more opportunities for creative and determined people to achieve more of their goals than there are today. Regardless of short-term ups and downs in the economy and in your life, we are entering into an age of peace and prosperity superior to any previous era in human history.” 這真是鼓舞人心的好句子, 只要活著, 便有希望與機會, 有決心, 發揮創造力, 朝目標奮進, 人生儘管有短期的起伏, 我們卻面臨人類歷史前所未有的榮景。接者他提到1900 年美國有5千位富翁, 到了2000年, 數目增加到五百萬, 而且絕大部份都是在他們那ㄧ代白手起家(self-made in one generation), Your goal should be one of them. This book will show you how. 是不是讓你很想繼續讀下去？ 他年輕時, When I was eighteen, I left high school without graduating. My first job was a dishwasher in the back of a small hotel, from there, I moved on to washing cars and then washing floor with a janitorial service. 他就是在做工友(janitor)的工作！For the next few years, I drifted and worked at various laboring jobs, earning my living by the sweat of my brow. (靠勞力維生) I worked in sawmills and factories. I worked on farms and ranches. I worked in the tall timbers with a chain saw and dug wells when the logging season ended. 很難想像吧？他在鋸木場及工廠, 農場及牧場工作, 當季節變更, 工作亦需跟著轉換, 非常辛苦。 直到有一天, 他開竅了, Then one day, I took out a piece of paper and wrote down an outrageous goal for myself. It was to earn $1,000 per month in door-to-door and office to office selling. 他當時還只把那張寫上目標的紙折好收起來。(I folded up the piece of paper, put it away, and never found it again.) 因為有觀念上的轉變, But thirty days later, my entire life had changed. The new owner took me aside, and offered me $1,000 per month to head up the sales force and teach the other salespeople what I was doing that enabled me to sell so much more than anyone else. I accepted his offer and from that day, my life was never the same. 這就是Brian Tracy 所選的另一條路, 也是他人生的轉捩點(turning point), 當然, 這中間仍有波折, 但終究他發展出自己的一套東西, After several years of hit-and-miss goal setting and goal achieving, I finally decided to collect everything I had learned into a single system. By assembling these ideas and strategies in one place, I developed a goal-setting methodology and process, with a beginning, middle, and end, and began to follow it everyday. 當他下了相當大功夫之後, “synthesizing the best ideas I could find into a complete process that worked with incredible effectiveness.” 他終於為自己創造了藍天, “ In 1981, I began teaching my system in workshops and seminars that have now reached more than two million people in thirty-five countries.” 所以, Brian Tracy 告訴廣大讀者, 你可以騎馬之時, 不需要走路, 只要遵循他的方法, 不需要再 “ reinvent the wheel” 但別忘了, “ A journey of a thousand leagues begins with a single step.” (Brian Tracy 注明這句話還是孔子說的! 原來是老子道德經中第64章中所言: 千里之行，始於足下。) ㄧ個人想達成他的目標, 人脈( relationships)是挺重要的。“Everything in life and business is relationships.” 不管成敗, 或多或少都會與它掛鉤, “Everything you accomplish or fail to accomplish will be bound up with other people in some way.” 所以我們一生的交友, 形成的人脈網與成敗實乃息息相關, “ Your ability to form the right relationships with the right people at every stage of your life and career will be the critical determinant of your success and achievement and will have an inordinate impact on how quickly you achieve your goals.” 這地方提到的 “door” 也與其後所提的 “ 走廊原理” (corridor principle) 有關連呢, 他先提 “ One person, at the right time, in the right place, can open a door for you that can change your life and save you years of hard work.” 繼而進一步討論該觀念, 首先是又由科學家Buckminster Fuller 提出, 他用 “ Theory of Precession”表達具有彈性(flexibility), Robert Ronstadt 則用“ 走廊原理” (corridor principle) 稱呼之, Napoleon Hill 則解釋為 “ 天無絕人之路” (Within every setback or obstacle there lies the seed of an equal or greater opportunity or benefit.” 重點當然在你的機靈與彈性。 關於創造力(creativity), 他說就像肌肉一樣, 用進廢退, 所以要經常使用才能保持好狀態。“ Few things are impossible to diligence and skill; great works are performed not by strength, but by perseverance. (Samuel Johnson) 所以要成功, 堅持（persistence）扮演頗重要的角色, 無怪乎有人說 Constancy is the secret of success. 這也可能是語言學習中最要緊的一項。而 “ The mastery of fear and the development of courage are essential prerequisites for a happy, successful life.” 以及 “ The future belongs to the risk takers.” 都是值得咀嚼的名言。
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