Ask! Ask ! Ask!

by Jack Canfield

Ask! Ask ! Ask!

by Jack Canfield

我相信你們都有自己的夢想，但你們都朝著自己的夢想努力了嗎？你們有沒有因為膽怯、害羞、不自信就對夢想望而卻步？要實現夢想，總會遇到這樣或那樣的困難。但我相信，只要我們堅定自己的信念，懷著自信，勇敢地踏出第一步，夢想的實現不會太遙遠。

The greatest saleswoman in the world today doesn’t mind if you call her a girl. That’s because Markita Andrews has1)generatedmore than eighty thousand dollars sellingGirl Scout注cookies since she was seven years old.

Going door-to-door after school, the2)painfullyshy Markita3)transformedherselfintoa cookie-selling4)dynamowhen she discovered, at age 13, the secret of selling.

It starts with5)desire. Burning,6)white-hotdesire.

For Markita and her mother, who worked as a waitress in New York after her husband left them when Markita was eight years old, their dream was to travel the world. “I’ll work hard to make enough money to send you to college,” her mother said one day. “You’ll go to college and when you7)graduate, you’ll make enough money to take you and me around the world. Okay?”

1) generate ['d?en?,re?t] v. 產生

2) painfully ['pe?nf?l?] adv. 極其地

3) transform into 轉變成

4) dynamo ['da?n?m??] n. 〈口〉精力充沛的人

5) desire [d?'za??] n.欲望

6) white-hot ['hwa?t'h?t] adj. 白熱的，狂熱的

7) graduate ['gr?d??e?t] v. 畢業

注：即女童子軍，最早于1910年在英國成立。其宗旨是培養女童及年輕女性成員的自發性和領導才能，意在鼓勵女孩們自立、自尊、自強。該組織通過推行社區、環境和國際性計劃，增加了人與人之間的了解，并借此促進世界和平。

So at age 13 when Markita read in her Girl Scout magazine that the Scout who sold the most cookies would win an8)allexpenses-paidtrip for two around the world, she decided to sell all the Girl Scout cookies she could—more Girl Scout cookies than anyone in the world, ever. But desire alone is not enough. To make her dream come true, Markita knew she needed a plan.

“Always wear your right9)outfit, your10)professional11)garb,” her aunt advised. “When you are doing business, dress like you are doing business. Wear your Girl Scout uniform. Always smile, whether they buy or not, always be nice. And don’t ask them to buy your cookies, ask them to12)invest.”

Lots of other Scouts may have wanted that trip around the world. Lots of other Scouts may have had a plan. But only Markita went off in her uniform each day after school, ready to ask, and keep asking13)folksto invest in her dream. “Hi. I have a dream. I’m earning a trip around the world for me and my mom by selling Girl Scout cookies,” she’d say at the door.“Would you like to invest in one14)dozenor two dozen boxes of cookies?”

Markita sold 3,526 boxes of Girl Scout cookies that year and won her trip around the world. Since then, she has sold more than 42,000 boxes of Girl Scout cookies, spoken at sales15)conventionsacross the country, starred in a Disney movie about her adventure.

Markita is no smarter and no more16)extrovertedthan thousands of other people, young and old, with dreams of their own. The difference is Markita has discovered the secret of selling: Ask, Ask, Ask! Many people fail before they even begin because they fail to ask for what they want. The fear of17)rejectionleads many of us to reject ourselves and our dreams long before anyone else ever has the chance—no matter what we’re selling.

And everyone is selling something. “You’re selling yourself everyday—in school, to your boss, to new people you meet,”said Markita at 14. “My mother is a waitress: she sells the daily18)special. Mayors and Presidents trying to get votes are selling…One of my favorite teachers was Mrs. Chapin. She made19)geographyinteresting, and that’s really selling…I see selling everywhere I go. Selling is part of the whole world.”

It takes courage to ask for what you want. Courage is not the20)absenceof fear. It’s doing what it takes despite one’s fear. And as Markita has discovered, the more you ask, the easier (and more fun) it gets.

8) all-expenses-paid免費的

9) outfit ['a?tf?t] n. 全套服裝

10) professional [pr?'fe??n?l] adj. 職業性的

11) garb [gα?b] n. 服裝

12) invest [?n'vest] v. 投資

13) folk [f??k] n.（復數folks）人們

14) dozen ['d?zn] adj. 一打（十二個）的

15) convention [k?n'ven??n] n.會議

16) extroverted ['ekstr??v??t?d] adj. 喜社交的

17) rejection [r?'d?ek??n] n. 拒絕

18) special ['spe??l] n.特色菜

19) geography [d??'?gr?f?] n. 地理

20) absence ['?bs?ns] n. 無，不存在

這位當今世界上最偉大的女銷售員是不會介意你是否管她叫作小女孩的。因為瑪奇塔·安德魯斯自七歲起便通過銷售女童子軍餅干創造了超過八萬美元的收益。

當年僅13歲的瑪奇塔發現了銷售的秘密后，她會在放學后挨家挨戶地推銷餅干，原本極其害羞的她將自己變作了一個餅干銷售達人。

一切皆源于欲望。那燃燒的、狂熱的欲望。

在瑪奇塔八歲時，她父親就拋下了她和她母親，之后她母親就在紐約當服務生。對于瑪奇塔和她母親來說，她們的夢想就是環游世界。“我會努力工作，要掙足夠的錢送你去讀大學，”有一天她母親這樣說道。“你會去讀大學，然后等你畢業后，你就去掙足夠多的錢供我們倆環游世界，好不好？”

于是在瑪奇塔13歲那年，當她在女童子軍的雜志上看到，能夠賣出最多餅干的童子軍可以贏得雙人全免費世界游時，她就下定決心要盡可能多地賣出女童子軍餅干—比有史以來這個世界上的任何人都要賣得多。然而單單有欲望是不夠的。要想夢想能夠成真，瑪奇塔明白她需要制定一個計劃。

“永遠都要穿著適合你的服裝—你的職業制服，”她的姨媽建議道。“當你與別人做生意時，穿著就要有生意人的樣子。穿上你的女童子軍制服。不管他們買還是不買，你都要一直保持著微笑，彬彬有禮。還有，不要叫他們購買你的餅干，要讓他們來投資。”

或許還有許許多多其他的童子軍也想要那趟環游世界之旅。或許還有許許多多其他的童子軍也已制定了自己的計劃。但只有瑪奇塔會在每天放學后穿著她的制服出發，隨時準備好詢問他人，不斷地詢問他人要不要來投資她的夢想。“嗨，我有一個夢想，我要通過銷售女童子軍餅干來贏取一趟和媽媽一起環游世界的旅行，”她站在門口說道。“你是否愿意投資一打或兩打盒裝餅干呢？”

瑪奇塔在那年就賣出了3526盒女童子軍餅干，并贏得了世界環游之旅。自那以后，她已賣出了超過42000盒餅干，在全國各地的銷售會議上發言，還主演了關于她個人冒險歷程的迪士尼電影。

與那些不論年齡大小都懷揣著自己夢想的成千上萬的人相比，瑪奇塔并沒有比他們更聰明或更擅于交際。但不同之處就在于，瑪奇塔發現了銷售的秘密：詢問，詢問，詢問！有些人還沒有開始就已經失敗了，因為他們未能問出心中所想。害怕被拒絕讓我們當中的許多人否定了自我、否定了夢想，甚至早在其他人否定我們之前—無論我們推銷的是什么。

其實每個人都在推銷。“你每天都在推銷你自己—在學校，向你的老板，向你新結識的人們，”瑪奇塔14歲那年說道。“我母親是個服務員：她要推銷每日的特色菜。為了拉選票，市長們和總統們試圖推銷自己……而我最喜歡的其中一個老師是查賓太太，她讓地理變得生動有趣，那就是非常成功的推銷……我走到哪里都能看到推銷。推銷是這個世界的一部分。”

問出自己心中所想需要鼓足勇氣。擁有勇氣并不是不再恐懼。而是不管多害怕，你都會盡力而為。正如瑪奇塔所發現的，你問得越多，你的夢想就越容易實現（而且更有樂趣）。

詢問！詢問！詢問！

翻譯：小狐