美文欣賞:讓過去過去讓未來到來

Regret can be a terrible addiction. Those who suffer from it so often become bitter and full of self-pity.

後悔是一件很可怕的東西, 它會讓人上癮. 那些經常感到後悔的人會變得更加悲天憫人, 自顧自憐.

It is an emotion that serious entrepreneurs cannot afford: they must keep pressing onwards and should not look back with remorse, dwelling on errors of long ago.

而對於企業家來説, 他們絕對不可以對 “後悔” 這種情緒上癮. 他們必須時刻堅持前進, 不能總是回望很久以前犯下的錯誤而懊悔自責.

As Alexander Graham Bell, inventor of the telephone, said: “When one door closes, another opens; but we often look so long and so regretfully upon the closed door that we do not see the one which has opened for us.” Entrepreneurs must learn to manage the conflict between constant experimentation – which means lots of painful mistakes – and a fear of failure, which can lead to paralysis.

正如電話機的發明者亞歷山大?格拉漢姆?貝爾所言, “當人生的一扇門關閉了, 總會有另一扇門為你打開; 然而, 我們卻經常久久地回顧那扇關閉了的門, 懊悔不已, 卻沒有看到那扇為我們打開的.門.” 企業家必須學會如何平衡各種不斷的嘗試和害怕失敗的心理之間的矛盾. 這些嘗試可能意味着許多痛苦的失誤, 而害怕失敗的心理則可能導致你停滯不前.

Likewise, past glory can be a killer. For example, Greg Dyke, who is a clever fellow, still harks back too much to his resignation as director-general of the BBC. He should move on and stop moaning about the injustice of it all.

同樣的, 過去的榮耀也可能是毀滅你的殺手. 比如説, 格里格?戴克, 一個頭腦聰明的人, 至今仍然對他當初辭去BBC總裁一職耿耿於懷. 他應該立即停止抱怨所有的不公, 繼續前進.

And Tim Waterstone should give up trying to buy back his bookshop chain, which he finally left more than 10 years ago (after selling it once and then getting involved again). He has tried to repurchase it at least five times, if rumour is to be believed. Possibly the root of the problem is that he exaggerates the chain’s importance, once saying: “Waterstone’s does more for the day-to-day cultural life of the nation than perhaps anything or anyone else.”

而蒂姆?沃特斯通, 既然十年前已經決定離開他的連鎖書店了, 現在就應該放棄試圖回購連鎖書店的計劃(他曾經將書店出售, 後來又買回來). 如果傳言屬實的話, 他曾經至少五次試圖將它買回來. 問題的根源可能是, 他過於高估書店的價值. 他曾説, “Waterstone’s 在本國日常文化生活層面上所做的貢獻是任何東西和任何人都不能比擬的.”