当事情进展不顺利时，你是否本能地为自己贴上了“失败者”的标签？你评价自己的语言可以变成一种有力的现实。一次又一次地称自己是位尚未被雇用的售货员，而不应说自己失业了——也就是你在社会生活中的失败——这样说，你就可以认为自己是“拥有选择权”的人。你可以选择参加学习班来培养新的技能，或者勇敢地选择从事另一个行业。
3. 作好准备
规划一个灾难计划来帮助你自己在灾难降临时不会受到影响。问问你自己，会发生的最糟糕的事情是什么？设想一下失去工作或配偶的情形，会让你清晰地考虑现实的选择。你有足够的保险或存款来使你渡过困难时期吗？如果你的老板解雇了你，你的才能会为你带来收入吗？请记住，汉字中“危机” 一词的词义包含两方面：“危险”与“机遇”。
4. 学会聪明地失败
休斯敦某大学教授杰克·马斯顿开设了一门课程，该课程被学生们叫做“失败101”。他让他的学生制造没人会买的冰激凌棒模型。马斯顿说：“他们设计成像仓鼠似的热容器和在飓风中放的风筝。”
尽管这些想法都很可笑，可是一旦学生们把失败看做创新而不是失败时，他们会很勇敢地去尝试做任何事情。马斯顿说，在获得成功之前，大多数学生都至少失败了五次，他们学会了不把失败当做最后的结局。“学生们学会了整装待发，再次准备尝试。”
5. 永不言弃
1975年，厄尔利的Harrisonburg 建筑公司破产了。那时25岁的他向家人借钱维持经营，而并没有宣布破产。他继续做建筑工作，努力掌握管理上的复杂关系。1982年，他厚着脸皮又借了更多的钱来重新开办自己的公司，并于困难时期在银行中留下了良好的口碑。
厄尔利谨慎地扩大了自己新建筑公司的规模。他还去学校学习商业管理课程。1988年，厄尔利的公司被《Inc.》杂志评为世界发展最快的500家企业之一。
厄尔利没有自满，他时常会想起那段艰难的日子。他说：“我不因成功而自满，所以我总在努力发展我的事业。”
失败并不可怕，从某种意义上说失败意味着进步。尽管原地踏步永远不会失败，但是也永远不会有任何惊喜，失败说明你正在尝试新事物，每一次的失败都表明你距离成功又近了一步。所以只要换个角度看，失败并不是什么坏事情，关键在于人们看待它的心态。
tout [tat] v. 标榜；吹捧；吹嘘
It is not so serious as you say actually, you tout its virtue too much!
明明不像你说得那么严重，你也太夸大其词了！
castor ['k鎠t] n. 蓖麻
This kind of mixture is made up of petrol , castor oil and vinegar.
这种混合物是由汽油、麻油和醋组成的。
reverse [ri'v:s] n. 失败，挫败
The failure and reverse which await men and one after another sadden
the brow of youth add the dignity to the prospect of human life,which no arcadian success would do.
尽管失败和挫折等待着人们，一次次地夺走青春的容颜，但给人生的前途增添了一份尊严，这是任何顺利的成功都不能做到的。
calamity [k'l鎚iti] n. 灾祸；灾难；不幸之事
An optimist sees an opportunity in every calamity; a pessimist sees a
calamity in every opportunity.
乐观者在每一次灾难中看到机会，悲观者在每一次机会中看到灾难。
他们能够欣然接受失败，并从失败中懂得：无论尝试什么，都是成功的最好机会。
永远不要害怕，人人都有一次机会，没有谁会一生都失败。
失败仅仅是在寻找新的挑战时所付出的代价。
People who profit from loss are the kind of foot soldiers business leaders seek.
profit from：得益于；利用
Those opinions include taking classes to develop new skills or bravely striking out on another career.
strike out：想出；删去
生命最坚强的意志
Determination
佚名 / Anonymous
In 1883, a creative engineer named John Roebling was inspired by an idea to build a spectacular bridge connecting New York with Manhattan Island. However bridge building experts throughout the world thought that this was an impossible feat and told Roebling to forget the idea.
Roebling could not ignore the vision he had in his mind of this bridge. He first managed to convince his son Washington, an up-and-coming engineer, that the bridge in fact could be built. Then together they developed concepts of how it could be accomplished and how the obstacles could be overcome. With great excitement and inspiration, they hired their crew and began to build their dream bridge.
The project started well, but when it was only a few months underway a tragic accident on the site took the life of John Roebling. Washington was injured and left with a certain amount of brain damage, which resulted in him not being able to walk or talk or even move. In spite of his handicap Washington was never discouraged and still had a burning desire to complete the bridge and his mind was still as sharp as ever.
All he could do was move one finger and he decided to make the best use of it. By moving this, he slowly developed a code of communication with his wife. Then he used the same method of tapping her arm to tell the engineers what to do. It seemed foolish but the project was under way again.
For 13 years Washington tapped out his instructions with his finger on his wife' s arm, until the bridge was finally completed. Today the spectacular Brooklyn Bridge stands in all its glory as a tribute to the triumph of one man' s indomitable spirit and his determination not to be defeated by circumstances. It is also a tribute to the engineers and their team work, and to their faith in a man who was considered mad by half the world.
Often when we face obstacles in our day-to-day life, our hurdles seem very small in comparison to what many others have to face. The Brooklyn Bridge shows us that dreams that seem impossible can be realised with determination and persistence, no matter what the odds are. Even the most distant dream can be realized with determination and persistence.
1883年，一位极具创造力的工程师约翰·罗布林冒出了一个想法——在纽约市与曼哈顿半岛之间搭建一座宏伟的桥梁。然而，全世界的建筑业专家都认为这是一项根本不可能完成的工程，于是劝告罗布林放弃这个念头。
罗布林不能抹掉他在大脑中对这座桥的幻想。他首先想方设法说服了他的儿子华盛顿——一位崭露头角的工程师，使他相信这个工程是可以实现的。于是，他们一起构思该如何完成以及如何克服障碍，最终怀着兴奋的心情与伟大的灵感，雇用了工作队，开始建造他们的梦想之桥。
建桥计划开始很顺利，但是仅在几个月后，建筑工地发生了一场事故，约翰·罗布林在这次事故中丧生，华盛顿的脑部受伤，导致他不能说话，不能走路，甚至连移动都成问题。尽管如此，华盛顿并没有气馁，仍然怀着强烈的建桥欲望，而且他的思想还如从前般敏锐。
他只有一根手指能动，于是他决定要好好地利用它。通过移动这根手指，他慢慢开发了一套与妻子沟通的代码。他用手指敲打妻子的胳膊，告诉工程师该做什么。这好像很愚蠢，但是工程就在这种方式下开始了。
华盛顿用手指敲打妻子的胳膊发出指令，这种方法持续了13年，直到大桥最后竣工。今天，宏伟壮观的布鲁克林大桥巍然屹立，正是对华盛顿不屈不挠的精神以及其永不言败的决心的颂词，这也是对工程师们与他们的工作组的团结精神的颂词，是对他们对一位被认为了半个世纪癫狂之人的信赖的颂词。
我们在日常生活中时常会面临障碍，可是与其他人相比，这种障碍真是微不足道。布鲁克林大桥的建成向人们表明：只要我们下定决心，坚持不懈，不管成功的概率有多大，都能够实现那些看似不可能的梦想，即使再遥远的梦想也可以实现。
spectacular [spek't鎘jul] adj. 壮观的；雄伟的；引人入胜的
The largest group of religious monuments and megalithic sculptures in
South America stands in a wild, spectacular landscape.
在南美洲一片壮观的原始风景区内，竖立着一些巨大的宗教性的纪念像和雕塑。
up-and-coming adj. 有前途的；大有希望的；精力充沛的；精明能干的
An up-and-coming artist with a great set of skills and strong beliefs that he
represents in his art.
他富有技巧，并在其作品中表达出强烈的信念，是一位冉冉升起的新秀。
tribute ['tribju:t] n. 称赞；颂词