生意场的四句箴言

译者 兰心蕙译

Four Things in Business You Always Need to Be Thinking About

生意场的四句箴言

Without clear guideposts to direct you, it’s hard to know whether or not you’re spending time on the things that matter.

没有清晰的指导原则，你便很难判断自己是否把时间投入到了关键事务。

You could easily be flapping away in the winds of chaos. It may look impressive, but you’re not going anywhere.

振翅于片片纷乱之中着实很容易。这一切看起来很炫，但你却收获了无。

So it can be useful to have a set of guiding focuses in your business.

因此想做好生意，一些指导业务重点的原则还是很有用的。

These areas of focus help structure your action and act as a filter for whether or not you decide to do something. They also help you achieve balance in your actions, acting as a gauge to determine when you’re lopsided and have been spending too much time and energy in one area. Regularly taking stock of how you’re spending your time helps you realign your course back to a balanced approach.

这些原则助你对商业行为进行规划，或充当过滤器，帮你决定是否要采取某些行动。这些原则还能帮你实现行动平衡，它们可以作为标尺帮你决定行为是否失衡，你是否把太多的精力和时间投入到了某一个方面。 定期审视时间的运用方式可以使各个行为重新调整到平衡的状态。

For myself, these areas are divided into four categories:

就我个人而言，这些方面可以分为以下四类

Write

书写

Train

训练

Connect

联络

Optimize

最优化

These act as a reminders for me to focus on what matters most. And they bring awareness to my actions so I don’t get too imbalanced or distracted.

这些原则可以警示我关注最重要的事务，也还可以让我意识到自己的行为，不要过于失衡或精力分散。

Here’s how I think about each one:

以下是我对每一个原则的看法：

Write. It’s pretty obvious what this means. My business is centered around writing. Nearly everything I do in my business hinges in on writing in one way or another. I write on the blog, in emails to my list, when I create a product, when I mindmap, and when I connect with others. For you, this might be something different. It may be speaking or playing guitar. This first area should be whatever your mode of creation is. For me, it’s writing. If I didn’t write, I wouldn’t have a business.

书写。顾名思义。我的生意重点就是写东西。我的所有业务都是关于写东西的种种方式。当我设计一个产品，当我在头脑中思考，当我和他人联络，我就会在博客写东西，给我的邮箱列表人写东西。对你而言，业务会有所不同。或许是演讲或者弹吉他。第一条原则其实就是你的生意创造模式。对我而言，是写东西。如果我不写东西，就不会有这个生意。

Train. This area is about improving your skills. You always want to be thinking about the question: “How can I upgrade my skills? What useful things can I learn to provide my people with more value?” This might be learning how to build a highly engaged newsletter or getting some type of new coaching training. It’s a good idea in this area to focus on improving your strengths, rather than your weaknesses. You also need to think about essential skills you may need to improve to make your business more effective, like keeping better track of your finances or taking better care of your body to give you more energy in your business.

训练。这点是关于技能的提升。你经常思考这个问题：“我如何提升技能？我能学些什么来为目标群体创造更多价值？” 这可能是如何撰写吸引人的通讯,或者参加一些新的教练培训。这点的关键是关注提升优势，而非自己的劣势。你仍需要思考哪些关键技能能让业务变得更加高效，比如更好的追踪财务状况或让身体更加健壮，以便使自己精力充沛地投入到业务中。

Connect. Creating awesome offerings is great, but unless you connect with the right people, you won’t have an audience to share them with. In order to succeed you need to talk as much as you walk. This means being an unabashed self promoter. Your gifts need to be shared, so why not talk about them?

联络。提供美妙的优惠固然不错，但你需要联系到合适的群体，否则不会有人来分享这一切。成功的关键是多走动，也要多沟通。这意味着你要厚着脸皮的自我推销。既然要和大家分享优惠产品，那何不和大家聊聊这些产品？

Optimize. If training is about improving, then optimizing is about implementing. It’s about regularly reviewing and creating awareness around what you could do better, then taking action to do it. Some things aren’t as easily tracked (like trust and authenticity), but the stuff that is trackable you should monitor. Subscribers, revenue, and conversion rates are a good place to start.

最优化。如果训练是关于提升，那么最优化便关乎实施。定期审视并提高意识，认识到该如何进步，然后诉诸行动。有些东西很难追踪或审查（比如信任和真实性），但是你可以关注容易追踪的东西。比如订阅者，收入和转化率都是不错的起始关注目标。

Of course, there will always be some overlap in areas of focus when you’re taking action. You’ll often be connecting while you’re writing, and optimizing can often involve improving your skills.

当然了，在采取行动的时候，各个不同的关注方向可能会有所交叉。在写东西的时候要与他人联系，实现业务最优化时往往需要提升相关技能。

Now, you might want to use this structure or define your own. I adapted this one from Charlie’s Three Cs, a great article to read on the subject. Hat tip to Charlie for encouraging me to start thinking about this.

现在，你便可应用这些指导框架或自己设计指导原则。此观点源自《查理的三C原则》，关于商界话题的妙文。感谢查理，激励我可以开始思考这一切。

I don’t get too deep into trying to tag each task or project I do in each of these areas. But you could you do that if you wanted to. For me, it’s more of a background filter that helps me answer the question: Am I doing something that’s important?

至于如何在每个任务或者项目运用这几点原则，我不想赘述。但如果你愿意，不妨尝试。对我而言，这些原则更像生意背后的滤器，帮我解决疑问：我是否在做重要的事情？

So, what do you think: Could you use something like this in your business?

那么，你认为这些原则怎么样：是否可以在自己的生意场上用点类似的原则呢？