佚名/Anonymous
Success in your career usually means having the abilities of a gymnast—flexibility, strength, focus and skill, heightened by resilience, perseverance, determination and practice. The ability to accommodate change often requires all these things as well.
John Sculley, formerly of Apple computer, said:"The new corporate contract is that we'll offer you an opportunity to express yourself and grow, if you promise to leash yourself to our dream, at least for a while."
For those of you who work in the corporate world, mission statements and strategic planning involve all pulling together to realize a corporate vision, don't they? What we are learning now, is that, important as this is to creating economic viability, it is also important to honor the individual in the company by aligning his or her personal goals and vision, with that of the company, "at least for a while".
As companies are comprised of people—they would not exist without them, would they?—Enlightened companies are caring companies and they demonstrate their valuing of their employees by giving them skills, input, and, the opportunity to realize their goals within the company. Unfortunately, there are still the unenlightened companies who fit the mold described by David Whyte in The Heart Aroused:"The hard news is that the corporate world wants us around while we are useful, but it offers no security based on how likable or impassioned we are... individuals... are continually forced to reassess their abilities to live with unknown and open-ended situations, to actively create their own life independent of the organization and to like themselves while they are doing it." Very great advice, no matter how enlightened your company is!
So, with that in mind, how is your gymnastic ability? How is the balance you create between your personal goals and your career goals? What is your plan for maintaining that balance? Do you actively create your own life independent of the organization? Do you like yourself at work? How far are you willing to stretch before it becomes uncomfortable? Where are your boundaries and limits? Do you know what you value and how important it is to you? How comfortable are you with risk? Do you know your limits of tolerance for change, stress, rigidity, ambiguity, and uncertainty? Do you understand the depth of your desire for a life that matches your values? Are you willing to do what ever it takes to achieve this?
Taking the time to reflect on these things has much value. It prepares you to assess situations as they arise and create solutions that honor what is valuable to you. You also will be prepared to respond with more assurance and immediacy to those situations. I've heard it said that luck is when preparation meets opportunity. When you know yourself well, you are prepared to know when to hold and to know when to fold, to keep your life well-balanced and in alignment with what you value. Then you will recognize opportunity when it presents itself, too.
事業上的成功往往意味著你擁有體操運動員的素質——靈活、有力、專注、技能，並通過恢複力、堅韌、果斷和實踐提升自己的能力。通常，適應改變的能力也需要這些素質。
前蘋果公司的約翰·斯卡利說：“新合作契約的內容是要為你們提供一個機會，來發表自己的言論與成長，條件是你們承諾將你們的目標與我們的保持一致，至少暫時一致。”
對於在那些致力於構建契約社會的人來說，使命與戰略計劃就是要全力實現契約社會的構想，難道不是嗎？此刻，我們正在學習的東西很重要，因為它能創造經濟生機，並且在使公司員工相互尊重方麵也起到重要的作用。這是通過矯正每個人的目標與前景，使之與公司的目標與前景保持一致，“至少暫時一致”。
公司是由許多人組成的，沒有這些人在，公司也將不複存在，難道不是嗎？有水準的公司是人道的公司，這些公司通過培訓員工技術，付給他們薪水，為他們提供意識到自己的目標與公司的目標相一致的機會，來證明自己的價值所在。不幸的是，仍然有一些落後的公司，就像大衛·懷特在《心靈覺醒》一書中提到的模型一樣：“我們有用的時候，契約社會就需要我們在身邊，這是多麽糟糕的消息啊。可是這種基於職員**及受歡迎度的用人方式讓我們感覺不安全。每個人都被迫去重新估測自己的能力，在這個未知的、不安全的社會環境中去生存，去積極地創造自己獨立於任何組織的生活，並在創造中享受生活。”不管你所在的公司水準有多高，這都是一個很好的建議。
因此，記住這些之後，你所擁有的收放自由的能力有多高？你是如何平衡個人目標與事業目標的？你積極地創造自己的、獨立於組織之外的生活了嗎？你喜歡工作中的自己嗎？你願意讓自己走多遠？你的界限在哪裏？你知道自己的價值嗎？知道自我價值對於你來說有多重要嗎？你冒險時有多麽不安？你知道自己對變化、壓力、僵化、含糊和無常的忍耐力有多強嗎？你了解自己對符合自我價值的渴望有多強烈嗎？你願意為實現自己的希望而付出一切代價嗎？
花點時間反省一下這些事情，將會使你受益匪淺。它能讓你在問題出現時審時度勢，想出有價值的解決方法。你還會有備無患，能夠快速地對問題做出反應。我聽說運氣是準備與機遇相結合的結果。當你透徹地了解自己時，你就知道放手與抓牢的時機，懂得保持生活平衡，把握住自己珍惜的東西。這樣，當機遇到來時，你就會迅速抓住了。
The man who has made up his mind to win never say "impossible".
—Napoleon
凡是決心取得勝利的人是從來不說“不可能”的。
——拿破侖
gymnast[?d?imn?st]n.體操運動員
Who is the most famous gymnast?
有那麽誰是最著名的體操運動員？
resilience[ri?zili?ns]n.跳回；回彈，彈力，彈性變形，衝擊值
Rubber has more resilience than wood.
橡膠有比木頭更大的彈性。
strategic[str??ti:d?ik]adj.戰略的
We made a strategic withdrawal, so that we could build up our forces for a renewed attack.
我們作了一次戰略性退卻，以便我們能積蓄力量再次進攻。
rigidity[ri?d?iditi]n.硬；勁直；硬度
Ribs are sometimes add to the webs of castings to give greater strength and rigidity.
有時候，在鑄件的腹板上加上肋條，以增強其強度和剛度。
事業上的成功往往意味著擁有體操運動員的素質——靈活、有力、專注、技能，並通過恢複力、堅韌、果斷和實踐提升自己的能力。
__________________________________________
花點時間反省一下這些事情，將會使你受益匪淺。它能讓你在問題出現時審時度勢，想出有價值的解決方法。
__________________________________________
當你透徹地了解自己時，你就知道放手與抓牢的時機，懂得保持生活平衡，把握住自己珍惜的東西。這樣，當機遇到來時，你就會迅速抓住了。
__________________________________________
As companies are comprised of people—they would not exist without them, would they?
be comprised of：由……組成
__________________________________________
You also will be prepared to respond with more assurance and immediacy to those situations.
respond with：答複；回報
__________________________________________