Companies these days must be willing and able to change constantly. Sometimes companies change course to survive, and sometimes they do so because an opportunity is too good to resist. I know of a small company that provided a messenger service several years ago. A sudden major increase in corporate use of fax machines nearly put this small company out of business. Fortunately, the owner of the company was astute enough to realize other global corporate trends happening at the same time. The owner shifted gears from offering a messenger service to providing an off site records storage service, and soon business was booming once again.
It all comes down to perspective. When there was a downturn in the economy, some people could say, “This is terrible! With the downturn in the economy, nobody will have a budget for my service.” Or others thought, “This is great! With the tightening of budgets and the loss of support staff, there’s an even greater need for professionals to be effective, which is precisely what I’m here to help them do!”
我们生活在一个公司规模缩减、机构重组和全球化竞争加剧的特殊时代。有些人认为，这会带来众多问题；也有些人认为，这种变化会带来难以置信的巨大机遇。
家政服务行业在近十年迅速发展起来。这些业绩是那些勇于追寻梦想的人创造的。然而，任何一个得以执行的计划，都历经了反反复复的构思阶段——从设想到付诸行动。
是什么阻碍了人们追求并实现他们的梦想？我想，这是恐惧心理在作祟。曾有人说：“失败的原因有很多，没把握住机会是一个最主要原因。”也有人说：“人们不是败于计划，而是败于没有计划。”
如今，无论是为了生存，还是为了抓住千载难逢的绝好机遇，公司必须愿意且有能力进行机构重整。据我所知，几年前，有一家提供信使服务的小公司做得很不错，但传真机的迅速普及使该公司面临倒闭。幸而公司老板非常精明，他意识到了当时的全球化趋向。于是，他马上将公司服务转型，由提供信使服务转为远端记录存储服务，很快，公司再度蓬勃发展起来。
因而，一切都取决于你看待问题的视点。经济不景气时，有人会说：“太糟糕了！经济低迷，产品销不出去。”有些人则会这样想：“太棒了！预算紧张，雇员减少，这就需要大量的高效率专业人员，这恰好适合我！”
心灵小语
任何事情都有两面性，我们往往在难得的机遇来临之时也面临着巨大的困难，是抓住机会迎难而上，还是放弃机会不敢奋斗，考验着我们的智慧和勇气。
记忆填空
1. We live in an unusual__ with corporate downsizing, restructuring, and the increase in global competition. Some__these times as problematic; others see the incredible opportunities created by such__.
2. Someone once said,“There are a lot of__ to become a failure, but never taking a chance is the__ successful way.”I’ve also heard it said that“people don’t plan to fail...they__ to plan.”
3. When there was a downturn in the__, some people could say,“This is terrible! With the downturn in the economy,__ will have a budget for my service.”
佳句翻译
1. 我们生活在一个公司规模缩减、机构重组和全球化竞争加剧的特殊时代。
译______________
2. 是什么阻碍了人们追求并实现他们的梦想？
译______________
3. 一切都取决于你看待问题的视点。
译______________
短语应用
1. What holds people back from pursuing their dreams and acting on their great ideas？
hold back：退缩；抑制
造______________
2. A sudden major increase in corporate use of fax machines nearly put this small company out of business.
out of：在……外；离开；缺乏
造______________
成功的奥秘
There Is Good in All Things
塞隆·Q.迪蒙 / Theron Q. Dumont
One of the most beneficial practices I know of is that of looking for the good in, for there is good in all things. We encourage a person by seeing his good qualities and we also help ourselves by looking for them. We gain their good wishes, a most valuable asset sometimes. We get back what we give out. The time comes when most all of us need encouragement; need buoying up. So form the habit of encouraging others, and you will find it a wonderful tonic for both those encouraged and yourself, for you will get back encouraging and uplifting thoughts.
Life furnishes us the opportunity to improve. But whether we do it or not depends upon how near we live up to what is expected of us. The first of each month, a person should sit down and examine the progress he has made. If he has not come up to “expectations” he should discover the reason, and by extra exertion measure up to what is demanded next time. Every time that we fall behind what we planned to do, we lose just so much for that time is gone forever. We may find a reason for doing it, but most excuses are poor substitutes for action. Most things are possible. Ours may be a hard task, but the harder the task, the greater the reward. It is the difficult things that really develop us, anything that requires only a small effort, utilizes very few of our faculties, and yields a scanty harvest of achievement. So do not shrink from a hard task, for to accomplish one of these will often bring us more good than a dozen lesser triumphs.
I know that every man that is willing to pay the price can be a success. The price is not in money, but in effort. The first essential quality for success is the desire to do—to be something. The next thing is to learn how to do it; the next to carry it into execution.
The man that is the best able to accomplish anything is the one with a broad mind; the man that has acquired knowledge, that may, it is true, be foreign to this particular case, but is, nevertheless, of some value in all cases. So the man that wants to be successful must be liberal; he must acquire all the knowledge that he can; he must be well posted not only in one branch of his business but in every part of it. Such a man achieves success.
The secret of success is to try always to improve yourself no matter where you are or what your position. Learn all you can. Don’t see how little you can do, but how much you can do. Such a man will always be in demand, for he establishes the reputation of being a hustler. There is always room for him because progressive firms never let a hustler leave their employment if they can help it.