楊瑞

The global financial crisis destroyed me in 2008. The years immediately after were some of the worst years of my life. I lost everything， or at least I thought I did.

I was in Vegas when Lehman Brothers folded1）. It was my birthday， and it was the first time Id ever lost big there. I should have known something wicked was coming， but I didnt. So when my consulting contract didnt get renewed， I didnt panic. I kept doing business as usual. When my tenants defaulted2） on rent， I kept paying mortgages. A year later， I still had $50，000 plus in the bank， enough of a cushion.

I suppose at this time I should make you aware that I was not exactly a low-profile person. I was （and am） in luxury goods and hospitality， and I consulted with companies catering to high net worth individuals. I helped them design sales and business strategies to keep their clients happy in the short and long term. Needless to say， the luxury sector was massacred3）， and is still clawing its way out of the muck and mire， at least in the United States.

So， with enough money to float for six to 10 months， I kept looking for work in my field.

And looking， and looking. Nothing.

Any kind of business consulting， nothing. Six more months go by. Any kind of sales， nothing. Six more months. This was where it got scary. I was up for waiting tables， bartending， limo driving， grocery bagging， anything. But nope. Bear in mind that up until this point， I had never even gone a month without a job since I was 12 years old.

My confidence was shot. I mean decimated4）. I was a shell of the man I had been only two years previously. I had the stink of failure all over me.

A friend of mine owned a couple of car washes. He offered me a job. It was outside work， taking orders when people drove in to the wash. “Would you like the undercarriage5） done？” It was winter in Colorado. I declined.

My buddy with the car wash called again a few weeks later. I said no again. Not just because of the embarrassment. Not just because of the cold weather and the elements6）， or standing on my feet for 10 hours a day on concrete without wi-fi.

It was because of my father.

Almost every good father has a catch phrase that he uses to motivate his sons to do better than he did. Typically， its the threat of being stuck doing any minimum-wage job that no teenager from the Gekko7） era would ever aspire to. For some reason， the example that my father chose was “car wash.” Wed go through Towne Auto Wash after Little League8） and hed always point to that guy who asks， “Do you want a regular wash or deluxe9）？” and then hands you that little piece of paper.

“Mickey10），” hed say. “You have to save some money/get better grades/quit chasing girls/do your homework. You dont want to end up like that guy， working in a car wash， do you？” The last time I heard the speech was around 1996. The words， however， hung in the air for years to come.

So， you can see my quandary11）. To me， working in a car wash was the ultimate admission of failure. Not losing all my assets. Not selling my watches and cars. Not letting go of a few rugs and some art.

I was living with friends， driving a 17-year-old car， had less than $200 in the bank with no idea where the next $200 was coming from， and I was worried about being seen as a failure.

A little deluded？ Perhaps， but reality kicked in12） when I didnt have money for a nieces birthday present.

So I called my friend back and asked if I could still have the job at the car wash. My utter failure as a human being was complete， my humiliation final—or so I thought.

On my third day of dragging myself in to work， the raven-haired stunner13） that Id hired as my assistant five years previous pulled in—driving a brand new Lexus.

Now my humiliation was complete. There was nowhere to run， no place to hide.

And yet， just as I was about to die from shame， something happened that literally changed my life. She smiled， jumped out of her car， pointed her Louboutins14） right at me， ran over and gave me a hug. We chatted for about 10 minutes while her car was getting done. She said she was happy to see me， that Id been a great boss， and that she was glad I was working. “So many” of her friends （able-bodied twenty-somethings） were unemployed， and at least I wasnt trapped behind a desk.

I realized that Id been beating myself up15） needlessly and saw how lucky I truly was.

In that instant， I decided that instead of just showing up until I could find something better， I would use all my skills to increase my friends business， and I did. Over the next few months， something amazing happened to me. Something I never saw coming， and something that impacted my life and made me a better man.

I saw hundreds of people every day， and none of them thought I was a failure， and it energized me. I smiled. They smiled back. I was happy and engaging， and I sold about a gazillion16） deluxe washes. But also， my worst fear morphed into something I started to look forward to. I got my confidence back， and it was obvious. I saw dozens of people I knew—clients， old customers， friends Id lost touch with， and every single one of them said something positive.

They respected me.

They held me in higher esteem for seeing me in the cold， wearing a red nylon jacket with a car wash logo on it. Nobody made fun of me or called me names17）. Nobody laughed. There was even an article in a local lifestyle magazine about me.

Then， about six months later， one of my old clients called. He needed some help setting up a new luxury club. We put a deal together and when I resigned from the car wash， my friend was genuinely sad， saying I was the best employee hed ever had.

I approached that new consulting contract with a vigor and zest I hadnt felt for years！ A few months after that， another contract took me to Asia， and Ive been consulting over here ever since.

So， my worst fear turned out to be my salvation18）.

It gave me confidence， paid my bills for a while and put me in a position to move my company to Asia and have access to an abundance of new cultures and growing markets.

Sure， Im not quite back to where I was that day nine years ago in Vegas， but I have a red nylon jacket with a car wash logo on it that reminds me that for my version of success， I dont have to be.

. New Oriental English

What Does It Feel Like

to Go from Being

Wealthy to Poor？

Good Reading

人生跌宕起伏在所難免，但是你卻可以決定自己的態(tài)度。面對挫折，是選擇彷徨恐懼、一蹶不起，還是選擇重振旗鼓、重新來過，決定權完全在于自己。當你由富變窮、陷入困境時，不妨抓住身邊哪怕極為卑微的機會，重新開始，借此也許你能重拾自信，找到更好的自己。

讀有所悟

2008年那場全球金融危機擊垮了我。緊接下來的那幾年是我這一生中最糟糕的幾年。我失去了一切，至少我自己是這么認為的。

雷曼兄弟垮臺時我還在拉斯維加斯，那天是我生日，也是我人生中第一次損失慘重。我本應該察覺到要有壞事來臨，但是我沒有。所以當我的咨詢合同沒有續(xù)簽時，我并不慌張，繼續(xù)像以前一樣開展業(yè)務。當我的租戶們拖欠房租時，我還正常交按揭。一年以后，我還有五萬多美元的銀行存款，夠給我一個緩沖了。

此時此刻，我覺得我該讓你們知道，我可不是一個低調的人。我以前與奢侈品和餐飲服務業(yè)打交道，現(xiàn)在仍然如此。我曾為那些面向高資產凈值人群的公司提供咨詢，幫助他們設計營銷經(jīng)營策略，以讓他們的客戶無論在短期和長期都滿意。不用說，奢侈品行業(yè)遭受了慘敗，現(xiàn)在仍然在為逃出泥潭而掙扎奮斗，至少在美國是如此。

所以，手握足夠周轉六到十個月的錢，我一直在自己的領域找工作。

我找啊找啊找，都一無所獲。

我尋找任何商業(yè)咨詢的工作，結果沒有一丁點兒機會。六個月過去了。我尋找任何銷售崗位，仍然沒有一丁點兒機會。又是六個月一晃而過。這時我心里開始沒底了。服務生、酒保、豪車司機、雜貨包裝員或其他任何工作我都愿意干，但都沒有機會。我可記得在此之前，從12歲開始，我就沒有哪個月是在無工作的狀態(tài)中度過的。

我的自信心受到致命打擊，我的意思是徹底擊潰。我還是兩年前的我，但只剩軀殼了，渾身彌漫著失敗的惡臭。

我的一個朋友有幾家洗車店。他給了我一份工作。那是戶外工作，就是在汽車開進店的時候接單：“您想清洗一下汽車底盤嗎？”那時正值科羅拉多的冬天，我拒絕了。

洗車店的哥們兒過了幾個星期又打來電話，我再次拒絕。不僅僅是因為尷尬，也不僅僅是因為寒冷的天氣或風吹日曬，也不是因為一天要在水泥地上站上十個小時且沒有WiFi。

拒絕這份工作是因為我的父親。

幾乎每一個好父親都有一個激勵自己兒子做到青出于藍勝于藍的口頭禪。典型的口頭禪是威脅說將來不得不干最低工資標準的工作。在蓋柯式貪婪分子橫行的時代，任何一位青年都不愿意做那樣的工作。由于某種原因，我父親選擇的例子就是“洗車”。我們每次看過少年聯(lián)盟棒球賽后經(jīng)過唐恩洗車店時，都會有伙計過來問：“你是要普通洗車服務還是豪華洗車服務？”然后遞給你一張小紙片。

父親會指著那個伙計說：“米基，你要存點錢/取得更好的成績/放棄追女生/做你的作業(yè)。你不想最后像他這樣做個洗車工，是吧？”我最后一次聽這樣的話是1996年前后。然而，這些話在之后的歲月里卻一直縈繞在我腦海中。

所以，你可以看出我有多為難了。對于我來說，做洗車工就意味著最終承認失敗。失去所有財產、賣掉手表和汽車、放棄一些小地毯和藝術品都不會這樣失敗。

我和朋友住在一起，開著17年車齡的舊車，只有不到200美元的銀行存款，并且不知道下一個200美元從何而來。我擔心被看成一個失敗者。

有一些自欺欺人？或許吧，然而，當我沒有錢給侄女買一份生日禮物的時候，我認清了現(xiàn)實。

所以我回電話給我的朋友，問他我是否還能得到在洗車店的這份工作。作為人類，我算是徹頭徹尾的失敗，并且顏面盡失——或者說我自己這么認為。

在我不情不愿地投入工作的第三天，那個一頭烏發(fā)的美女開著全新的雷克薩斯進了店，五年以前我曾雇她做助理。

那一刻我羞恥到了極點，無處可逃，無地方可藏。

但是，就在我快要羞愧而死的時候，一件真的改變了我一生的事情發(fā)生了。她笑著跳下車來，魯布托鞋頭正對著我，跑了過來，給了我一個擁抱。我們聊了十分鐘，她的車也洗好了。她說她很高興看到我，說我以前是個不錯的老板，還說很高興看到我工作。她的朋友中，“太多人”（四肢健全、20來歲的年輕人）失業(yè)了，至少我沒有困在那一方辦公桌后面。

我意識到我一直在杞人憂天，才明白自己真的有多么幸運。

那一刻，我決定不再像以前那樣只是去露面，期待著找到更好的工作，而是盡我的所有才能壯大我朋友的生意。我確實這樣做了。之后的幾個月，驚人的事情在我身上發(fā)生了。那是我從未預見到要發(fā)生的事情，是影響我一生、讓我變得更好的事情。

我每天看到好幾百人，沒有一個人覺得我是一個失敗者。這使我充滿活力。我微笑，他們也給我微笑。我很開心，主動與人打交道。我賣出了超多的豪華洗車服務。之前我最恐懼的工作變成了我開始渴望要做的工作。我又恢復了自信，這很明顯。我見了好幾十個認識的人，包括客戶、老顧客和一些失去聯(lián)系的朋友，他們每個人都說了積極的話。

他們尊重我。

看到我站在寒風中，穿著一件印有洗車店標識的紅色尼龍夾克，他們更加尊敬我了。沒有人嘲笑我或詆毀我。沒有人取笑我。當?shù)匾槐旧铍s志上甚至發(fā)表了一篇關于我的文章。

大概六個月以后，我的一個老客戶打來電話。他要開一個新的奢侈品俱樂部，需要幫助。我們一起談成了一份合約。當我從洗車店辭職時，我的朋友真的覺得傷心，他說我是他有史以來最好的員工。

對于這份新的咨詢合同，我投入的精力和熱情是我多年來都沒有體驗過的。幾個月之后，我又簽了一份合同，來到亞洲工作，自那之后一直在這里做咨詢。

所以，我最恐懼的工作成了我的救星。

它給了我自信，讓我那段時間的開支有了著落，讓我有條件把公司搬到了亞洲，有機會接觸大量的新文化和不斷增長的市場。

當然，我沒有完全回到九年前那天在拉斯維加斯的樣子。不過，我有了一件印著洗車店標識的紅色尼龍夾克。這件夾克提醒我，我的成功不需要回到那時的樣子。

1.fold [f??ld] vi. 倒閉，歇業(yè)

2.default [d??f??lt] vi. 拖欠

3.massacre [?m?s?k?（r）] vt.〈口〉使徹底擊敗，使慘敗

4.decimate [?des?me?t] vt. 大批殺死；大量毀滅

5.undercarriage [??nd?（r）?k?r?d?] n. （汽車等的）底盤

6.the elements：天氣（尤指惡劣天氣）

7.Gekko：此處喻指貪婪，源自經(jīng)典電影《華爾街》（Wall Street）里的主人公戈登·蓋柯（Gordon Gekko）的名字。在影片中，他貪婪成性，操縱股票，其在電影中的經(jīng)典名言為：“Greed is good， greed is right， greed works.”

8.Little League：（美國）少年棒球聯(lián)盟

9.deluxe [d??l?ks] adj. 高級的；豪華的；奢華的

10.Mickey：米基，Michael的昵稱

11.quandary [?kw?nd?ri] n. 無所適從的窘境

12.kick in：開始奏效，開始發(fā)揮作用

13.stunner [?st?n?（r）] n. 極有魅力的女人；大美人

14.Louboutin：即克里斯提·魯布托（Christian Louboutin），源自法國的著名高跟鞋品牌

15.beat oneself up：對……憂心忡忡；因為……而自責

16.gazillion [ɡ??z?li?n] adj. 大量，許多

17.call sb. names：詆毀某人，謾罵某人

18.salvation [s?l?ve??（?）n] n. 拯救者，救星