光有激情和創(chuàng)造力是不夠的——你還需要目標(biāo) Passion and Creativity Are Not Enough—You Need Goals, Too

　　Many of us fall into business because of passion, circumstance or perhaps an exciting idea, forgetting about the 1)endgame. However, goal-setting—making 2)tangible, definable goals—is critical in getting you to where you want to go.

　　我們大多數(shù)人從商的原因各有不同，或是因?yàn)榧で�，或是環(huán)境所致，抑或是出于某個(gè)激動(dòng)人心的想法，而將商業(yè)的最終決戰(zhàn)拋諸腦后。然而，設(shè)定目標(biāo)——定下切實(shí)且確定的目標(biāo)——對(duì)于你的預(yù)期發(fā)展至關(guān)重要。

　　I want to tell you a bit about my mother, Sheri, and her adventures in 3)entrepreneurship. She can create an elegant evening 4)brooch out of a brown paper grocery bag and 5)freehand pancakes in the shape of elephants. She would often do just that while wearing four-inch 6)stiletto heels and purple 7)contact lenses. Being talented and creative, once upon a time, that creativity led her towards entrepreneurship.

　　我想給你講講我母親謝莉和她成為一名企業(yè)家的經(jīng)歷。她可以用一個(gè)裝雜貨的棕色紙袋折疊出一枚優(yōu)雅的晚裝胸針，可以徒手將薄煎餅切成大象的形狀，也會(huì)時(shí)常穿著一對(duì)四英寸高的細(xì)跟高跟鞋，戴著紫色的隱形眼鏡。母親既有天分又有創(chuàng)造力，曾經(jīng)，這創(chuàng)造力引領(lǐng)她走上從商之路。

　　In the early 1980s, my mom was putting together some really unique holiday gift baskets that looked like loaded 8)reindeer. One of our neighbors came over and asked my mom if she would make a few gift baskets for her to give as gifts for the holidays. My mom agreed and news of the unique gift baskets my mom was making 9)spread like wildfire throughout the neighborhood and keeping my mom busy throughout the holiday season. She 10)enlisted a friend to help her. When the orders continued after the holiday season for baby gifts, get-well gifts, birthday gifts and more, it occurred to them that maybe this job could be turned into a business. Nearly 30 years ago, this concept didn’t exist, and my mom and her partner really were pioneers in the 11)niche. They started the business in our basement, which usually looked like a 12)tornado had hit 13)Party City. 14)Inventory, 15)cellophane, ribbons and balloons were everywhere. The business quickly took off—they were working full time, taking orders, assembling and wrapping the gifts, packing, finding new business, purchasing inventory, 16)invoicing, chasing down payments and creating marketing materials. Eventually, the operation 17)outgrew the basement and they bought a warehouse and continued to work hard.

　　20世紀(jì)80年代初，我母親制作了一些看起來像載滿禮物的馴鹿造型的節(jié)日 禮品籃，十分獨(dú) 特。其中一位鄰居來我們家，問母親是否也能為她制作一些禮品籃，用作節(jié)日饋贈(zèng)。母親同意了，于是她能制作獨(dú) 特禮品籃的消息不脛而走，很快就在睦鄰之間瘋傳開來，母親也因此在整個(gè)假期里忙得不可開交。她找了一位朋友來幫忙。假期結(jié)束了，但訂單卻源源不斷，要求制作嬰兒禮品籃、康復(fù)禮品籃、生日禮品籃甚至更多種類的禮品籃，母親及其朋友意識(shí)到，這也許能發(fā)展成一門生意。早在30年前，這一概念尚未存在，我的母親和她的搭檔算得上是這一特色行業(yè)的先驅(qū)。她們開始在我家的地下室做生意，弄得整個(gè)地下室看起來像遭受過龍卷風(fēng)襲擊的派對(duì)城一般。滿地都是禮品、玻璃紙、彩帶和氣球。生意很快就越做越大——她們開始全職工作，接收訂單、組合和包裝禮品、外包裝、尋找新的商機(jī)、購(gòu)買禮品、制單、催款和制作宣傳材料。最后，地下室已經(jīng)無法滿足這個(gè)項(xiàng)目進(jìn)行所需的場(chǎng)地，她們購(gòu)買了一個(gè)倉(cāng)庫，繼續(xù)努力工作。

　　By 1991, nearly a decade after they had started the business, their circumstances changed. My mom’s partner got in to financial trouble and they realized: this was a job, not a business, and one that wasn’t even 18)pulling in the minimum wage. This was not enough money to sustain either my mom or her partner when their circumstances changed.

　　到1991年，在她們從事這門生意10年之后，情況發(fā)生了改變。我母親的搭檔陷入了財(cái)務(wù)麻煩，她們也意識(shí)到，這是一份工作，而非一門生意，連最低工資也賺不到。情況發(fā)生改變之后，經(jīng)營(yíng)所得根本不足以維持我母親和她搭檔的生活。

　　My mom went into her business because she had a creative idea. Even though she got some proof of concept, there was no goal, no purpose and no real strategy. She got orders, she filled orders, she had increasing interest in her product, but ultimately, she never made enough for it to be worth her time or effort—a fact lost on her for a decade until her circumstances shifted.

　　我母親因?yàn)閾碛幸粋�(gè)有創(chuàng)意的想法而踏足商界。即使她得到了一些驗(yàn)證這個(gè)想法的證據(jù)，但是其中毫無目標(biāo)、沒有目的和真正的策略可言。她接 到訂單，完成訂單，對(duì)自己的產(chǎn)品愈加投入，但最終，這一切所賺的錢根本抵不上她所付出的時(shí)間和精力——她一直沒有意識(shí)到這個(gè)事實(shí)，直至情況發(fā)生了改變。

　　If you are led by your creativity or passion, make sure to ask yourself what you want out of your business. If you don’t set goals, how will you know what direction to go in? Do you want to build something? Do you want to help even more people? Do you want to create jobs and growth in the economy? Do you want recognition as a 19)savvy businessperson? Are you looking for a hobby? It is totally up to you and there is no right answer except to make the conscious decision. You can’t keep scores if you don’t know what game you are playing.

　　如果你受到創(chuàng)意或激情的驅(qū)動(dòng)，務(wù)必自問：想從生意中獲得什么。假如你不設(shè)定目標(biāo)，你如何知道自己該朝哪個(gè)方向發(fā)展?你想有所建樹嗎?你希望幫助更多人嗎?你想為這個(gè)社會(huì)創(chuàng)造更多的就業(yè)機(jī)會(huì)并促進(jìn)經(jīng)濟(jì)增長(zhǎng)嗎?你想獲得認(rèn)可，成為一個(gè)精明的商人嗎?你純粹只是找個(gè)愛好嗎?這完全由你決定，除了做出理智的決定沒有其他答案。如果你不清楚自己正在參與何種比賽，你就無從保持得分。

　　After my mom’s circumstances changed, she had to abandon her business to support herself (as did her partner). She swore she would revisit running a business and do it differently the next time. However, there wasn’t time for a “next time” for her. Just a few years after leaving the business behind, my mom was diagnosed with 20)Leukemia. She passed away just after her 51st birthday. She was creative, she was bright and she had an entrepreneurial spirit, but she never had someone tell her how important having a goal was to get where she wanted to go. She never had an opportunity to hear that message and she also never had an opportunity to be everything that she could be.

　　我母親的境況發(fā)生改變之后，她不得不放棄她的生意來維持生計(jì)(她的搭檔亦如此)。她發(fā)誓下一次會(huì)再次嘗試做生意，經(jīng)營(yíng)方式也會(huì)有所改變。然而，她已經(jīng)不再有“下一次”機(jī)會(huì)了。放棄生意后幾年，我母親罹患了白血病，在過了51歲生日不久后，她就離世了。她富有創(chuàng)造力、聰慧過人、有著企業(yè)家的精神，但是沒有人告訴她，設(shè)定目標(biāo)對(duì)于她的事業(yè)發(fā)展有多重要。她已經(jīng)沒有機(jī)會(huì)聽到這條忠告，也再?zèng)]有機(jī)會(huì)發(fā)揮自己的潛能了。

　　There are no right or wrong goals, only the ones that matter to you. Set them so that you can make progress and achieve success, whatever that may mean to you.

　　目標(biāo)沒有對(duì)錯(cuò)之分，區(qū)別只是你認(rèn)為它們有多重要。定下目標(biāo)，進(jìn)而取得進(jìn)步，邁向成功，不管對(duì)你而言，那意味著什么。

　　口譯：翻譯資格考試三級(jí)口譯模擬題

　　筆譯：翻譯資格考試三級(jí)筆譯模擬題

　　資料來源考試網(wǎng)校老師主講教材精講班課程，完整講義下載進(jìn)入個(gè)人中心>>