书城外语人生明白要趁早
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第42章 对你有益的错误GoodMistakes

[美]戴夫鲍尔奇/Dave Balch

犯错是有益的,原因如下。

首先,错误清晰地显示出你正在探索新事物。尝试新事物总是好的,因为你会在这个过程中不断地成长。假如不去尝试任何新事物,你怎能进步怎能发展又何以创新答案很简单:“你不能。”看看周围,几乎毫无例外,你在客观世界看到的每一件事,抑或每一件事的每一个细节,都是有人尝试新事物的结果。

犯错的另一个益处是:在犯错的过程中,你也在学习。设想一下,爱迪生创造出电灯泡前失败了一万次。当有人问他失败那么多次,有什么感觉时,爱迪生回答,自己不是失败了一万次,而是知道了一万种不起作用的事物。

最后,犯错之时恰恰是你更接近成功之日。这是什么原因呢

因为在成功前,说了该说的,做了该做的,你所要进行的尝试是有限的。每犯过一次错误,那些所要做的尝试就会少一个,因此,你离成功也就更近了一步。

然而这一切并不表明你就应该一味地往前冲,而不在意每一个错误的后果。恰恰相反,每当尝试新事物时,你就应该主动设定一些合理的限度,以防当事态不像你所期待的那样发展时,你可以再试一次。

我们所拥有的时间和金钱的资源都是有限的,所以不要局限在一棵树上,不要把所有的时间和金钱都投入到一个问题的解决办法上。要知道,第一次也许不会完美,要合理地安排这些资源,这样你就能够学习、改进,并进行再一次的尝试。唯有通过这种方式,快乐地接受并利用你的错误,你才能在业务和事业上取得重大进步。

有一句古语这样说:“假如你没犯错误,就表明你未曾尽力。”

因此,勇往直前,去犯错误吧。然后学习、成长,最后成功。

It’s good to make mistakes,and here’s why.First of all,mistakes are a clear sign that you are trying new things.It’s always good to try new things because when you are trying new things you are growing.If you never try anything new,how can you improve?How can you expand?How can you innovate?The simple answer is,“You can’t.”Look around you.With very few exceptions,either everything you see in your physical world or every single detail of every single thing is the result of someone trying something new.

Another good thing about mistakes is this:when you are making mistakes,you are learning.Consider this:Edison failed 10,000 times before he perfected the light bulb.When asked how it felt to fail that many times,he remarked that he hadn"t failed 10,000 times,but rather had learned 10,000 things that didn"t work.

Finally,when you make a mistake you are that much closer to success.Why?

Because when all is said and done,you will have tried some finite number of things before you succeeded.Every time you made a mistake you eliminated one of those things and are one step closer.

But this all doesn’t mean that you should forge ahead with disregard for the consequences of a mistake.Quite the contrary,when you try something new you have to be willing to set some reasonable limits so that,in the event that it doesn’t work out the way you want it to,you will be in a position to try again.

We all have limited resources in the form of time and money so don’t blow them all on one approach to a problem.Realize that it probably won’t be perfectthe first time and allocate these resources appropriately so you can learn,modify,and try it again.Only by embracing and using your mistakes in this way can you make significant advances in your business and your career.

There is an old axiom that goes,“If you’re not making mistakes,you’re not trying hard enough.”So go forth and make mistakes.And learn.And grow.And prosper.