今天中午休息时, 照例打开一些朋友的QQ空间, 看看他们最近发生了什么事情. 有一个朋友的一篇文章吸引了我的注意力. 她在开头写道:
我躺在老公的怀里, 半开玩笑地问他: “要是有一天我遇到坏人, 他要对我施暴, 你说我该怎么办?” 老公用坚定而温柔的眼神看着我, 紧紧地握着我的手, 想也没想就对我说: “听他的话, 他喜欢怎样就怎样, 然后给我平平安安地回到家里.” 我有点吃惊, 反问道: “要是我被玷污了, 你不会介意吗?” 他说: “只要你能平平安安地回来, 这就是我最大的幸福与安慰. 别的我都不在乎. 知道吗?” 听了老公的话, 我忍不住紧紧地搂住他, 眼睛湿润了……
看到这里, 我想不仅我那位朋友被感动得潸然泪下, 连我也被感动得一塌糊涂, 我相信所以看过这段真实对话的朋友都会发自内心地感动. 毫无疑问, 我相信我的朋友是拥有美满的婚姻与爱情的. 暂且不管她的生活是贫是富, 起码她有一个真心爱她和孩子的老公. 以前在深圳和她聊天时, 她总是说: “不管发生了什么事情, 只要仕明(她的丈夫)在我身边, 我都不怕.” 当时听了我还笑她这么肉麻, 可是现在想想, 我的 “嘲笑” 真的是对他们之间崇贞的爱情的一种亵渎. 而她的丈夫, 在外人面前一旦谈起他的老婆, 就赞不绝口, 从来不会说她的不是. 当然我和她的丈夫并不熟, 只是有时在外面碰过面, 打过招呼, 但是我的一些认识他的朋友会和我讲过这些事情.
突然发现, 原来 “真正的爱情” 也有很多种层次的. 曾经可能受一些小说电视的影响, 我总以为真正的爱情就一定是那种山盟海誓, 矢志不渝的爱情, 或者说男女双方有一种 “非君不嫁或者非君不娶” 的强烈感受. 可是后来我才渐渐发现, 原来我错了. 现实给我的感受是爱情可以分为很多种层次, 至少可以分为两层: 一般的爱情与崇高的爱情. 我想我们现实生活中的爱情多半是一般的爱情, 也就是双方都喜欢对方, 也有一定的感情基础, 可是却达不到那种爱得无比热烈, 甚至愿意为对方牺牲一切的程度. 我想, 要达到那种程度, 除非两个人在一起的时间非常长, 感情非常深厚, 或者说两个真的是天造地设的一对, 彼此相当了解而且兴趣爱好相同或者互补, 各方面都非常般配. 然而, 要找到这样一个恋人是非常困难的, 所以我们更多的恋爱, 刚开始甚至到结婚时都是一般的爱情. 而我朋友和她的丈夫的感情, 则已经超越了一般的爱情.
然而中国关于爱情的故事, 尽管美丽, 却大多以悲剧收尾, 给人一种凄美的感觉. 像孟姜女哭长城, 梁祝化蝶, 白蛇传, 牛郎织牛等等, 无一不以惨淡的结局收场. 但是, 尽管如此, 这些神话却可以激起我们对爱情的信仰与憧憬. 如果你正陷入热恋中, 这些神话可以让你更加坚定对爱情的信念; 而如果你曾被爱情刺伤, 那么这些神话可以重新唤起你对爱情的渴望, 让你明白, 这个世界上还是有真爱的, 不要因为一时的伤痛而放弃自己的爱与被爱的权利. 多年以后, 当你踏上长城时, 你或许会想象孟姜女的爱情泪水的力量是如何的巨大, 可以撼塌长城; 当你看到成对翩翩起舞的彩蝶时, 你或许会想象那是否是梁山伯与祝英台的化身, 正在相伴相随; 当你凭空远眺望见那闪烁的牵牛织女星时, 你或许会想象, 那是否是牛郎和织女在隔河相望, “盈盈一水间, 默默不得语”; 当你走过西湖抬头凝望那耸立云端的雷锋塔时, 你或许会想象, 那里面是否有一条翻腾哀伤的白蛇, 正在渴望着有朝一日破塔而出, 与许仙相会……
原来, 爱情是一种守护, 一种谅解; 一种关爱, 一种渴望; 一种坚韧, 一种信仰……
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你能否承受创业风险?
原文: 选自英国>
译者: 爱尔兰都柏林大学 赖小琪
How much are you willing to risk? That is the ultimate question any would-be entrepreneurs must ask themselves. Before you embark on a start-up, think hard if you really possess the resolution and sheer desire to make it happen. For in life, the price of glory is never cheap and in this particular arena, it is probably too high for many. After all, when you go for broke in business, it isn’t just a metaphor: it could well be the reality.
你的风险承受能力有多大呢? 这是任何一个未来的创业家都会问自己的问题. 在创业之前, 认真地想想你是否俱备了创业的决心与强烈的欲望, 因为在现实生活中, 荣耀的代价并不小, 特别是在创业这个特殊的领域, 需要付出的代价很可能让许多人望而生畏. 毕竟, 当你全力投入创业中时, 这里的 “代价” 不仅仅是一个隐喻: 它很可能变成现实.
You cannot simply measure the risk of a new venture in terms of your own money. Usually, if a scheme falls apart, then the founders are likely to lose the cash they invested. Almost invariably, theirs’ is the first to take the hit. But in addition they may well have lost money from backers among their friends and family; perhaps suppliers and the bank are out of pocket, too. There will be staff made redundant – and probably a landlord with a vacant building. That is a fair amount of collateral damage. And these are just the financial drawbacks.
你不能仅仅以自己投入的资金来衡量创业的风险. 通常情况下, 如果计划失败, 创业者很可能失去他们投入的资金. 几乎无可变数的是, 他们的资金将会首当其冲. 另外, 他们可能会亏掉他们家人和朋友等支持者的资金. 供应商和银行也可能蒙受损失. 企业可能会变得人浮于事, 工作办公室被闲置. 这是一项巨大的间接损失. 而这些也仅仅是财务上的损失.
As James Dyson, owner of the world-beating household appliance business, has said: “I spent five or six years developing a completely different kind of vacuum cleaner. I built over 5,000 prototypes to get the system to work. Every year I was getting further and further into debt. In the end I owed something like $4m. I took out two or three mortgages on my house. If I failed, everything I owned would have gone to the bank. Everybody thought I was completely mad.”
正如世界级家电企业老板詹姆斯•戴森所言. “我花了五六年来研发一个全新的吸尘器, 制造了超过5,000原型产品来试验. 年复一年, 我陷入越来越深的债务危机之中. 最后, 我欠下了约4百万美元的债务. 我以自己的房子代抵押向银行贷了两三笔贷款. 如果我失败了, 我所有的一切都归银行所有. 每个人都觉得我完全疯了.”
Of equal importance are the personal sacrifices. I have met a number of entrepreneurs who have laboured 70-hour weeks for many years, taking very modest drawings – far less than they could earn working fewer hours for someone else. But they are striving for a dream, and do not really care about today’s income. They want independence, and they want to control their own destiny. You don’t get that as an employee.
个人的牺牲也相当重要. 我遇到过很多企业家, 他们多年来都坚持每周工作70个小时以上, 而收入却差强人意, 比他们替人打工少很多, 而且替人打工也不用工作这么长时间. 但是他们正在为梦想而奋斗, 并不会在乎目前收入的多少. 他们喜欢独立, 想控制自己的命运. 而如果你仅仅是一名员工, 你永远也得不到这些.
Most company owners have cancelled holidays and made major compromises in their family life to support their enterprise. Too often these trade-offs can lead to broken marriages, alienated offspring, neglected friendships, a lack of hobbies. Moreover, the stress of running and owning an organisation, and the sense that you have the final responsibility to ensure it succeeds – this can take its toll on the health of any leader.
很多企业家都放弃了假期, 以牺牲家庭生活为代价来经营企业. 很多时候, 这会导致他们婚姻的失败, 和子女关系疏远, 忽视了在友情以及缺少兴趣爱好. 而且, 持有和经营企业的压力以及确保其成功的义务感, 会让任何一个企业家的健康受损.耗
Of course such hardships are not inevitable. They arise as a consequence of the obsession which most enterprises demand. In a sense a company becomes a ravenous, selfish child who must be fed with cash, energy and passion – in the hope that one day the baby will grow up and repay all that effort. And without such unbending zeal, almost no undertaking is likely to fulfill the promise with which it was established.
当然, 这些困苦都并非是不可避免的. 它们是很多企业家只顾着沉迷于创业的结果. 某种程度上说, 企业就像是一个贪吃自私的孩子, 必须要用资金, 能量以及热情喂饱, 以此来期望它可以有一天长大成人, 不负当初的努力. 没有这种始终如一的热情, 没有任何企业可以实现当初成立时定下的目标.
Having said all that, by no means every entrepreneur is by nature a high-stakes gambler. The more thoughtful, experienced ones learn to constantly lay-off risk if they can. They relentlessly monitor the worst case scenario, asking: what can I afford to lose? They understand the importance of rigorously judging the downsides, so that the risks they take are at least calculated, rather than reckless.
上述总总表明, 毫无疑问, 每一个企业家本质上都是喜欢高风险的赌徒. 那些思想更成熟而且更有经验的企业家懂得在其力所能及的范围内规避风险. 他们坚持不断地关注着最糟糕的情况, 不断地问自己: 我最多可以承受多大的损失? 他们懂得认真判断不利情况的重要性, 这样他们至少可以将遇到的风险计算在内, 而不是鲁莽冒进.
Interestingly, clinical research suggests an appetite for risk is more determined by genetics and personality than by surroundings. For some, there is an element of sensation-seeking; others relish the challenge of creating something enduring, or proving the doubters wrong. Modern life, with its protected cultures and reductions in conflict, has not removed that powerful urge for excitement. And rather than seek thrills through crime, dangerous sports or dubious relationships, better by far to take the plunge and work for yourself, ideally creating jobs and launching fabulous new products in the process.
有趣的是, 临床研究表明, 对风险的喜好程度更多的是由基因和性格而非环境决定的. 对一些人来说, 他们想寻求刺激; 而另一些人, 则喜欢挑战自我, 创造一些持久的东西, 或者索性是为了证明怀疑者的错误. 现代生活中尽管文化得到保护, 矛盾也不断减少, 人们对刺激的强劲需求却没有丝毫的减少. 与其通过犯罪, 危险运动或者暧昧关系来获得快感, 倒不如全身心地投入自己的事业中, 如果一切顺利还可以为社会创造就业以及提供优质的新产品.
But do not be deluded. This is not the easy path. Loneliness, exhaustion, bankruptcy, damage to one’s reputation – all these might be the bitter prizes for those who were bold enough to try, but who still founder. Yet as playwright William Congreve said: “Uncertainty and expectation are the joys of life.”
但是, 切记不要被上述的话语迷惑了. 创业绝对不简单. 孤独, 疲惫, 破产, 名誉扫地等等, 所有的这一切对于敢于尝试的创业者来讲, 都可能是痛苦的代价. 然而正如剧作家威廉•康格里夫所言, “不确定性与期望才是生活的真正乐趣.” |
