Here we are at the beginning of a New Year. The revelry of the holidays is behind us, and it’s timeto get serious and get back to work. But before we get too deep into goals, strategies, tactics andfinancial projections, let’s take a look at how you can turn some traditional holiday practices intogreater profits in 2015.

　　又是一年之始。假日的狂欢已经过去，现在到了认真工作的时候了。不过在我们深入考虑目标、策略、战术和财务预期之前，先看看在2015年，我们可以如何借助一些节日传统行为来提升公司的利润。

　　1. Celebrations.

　　1、庆祝

　　My clients and I use the phrase “Pop a cork!” as a cue to stop and celebrate. Why? Becausesharing a toast does two things; it recognizes progress and potential. It says, “Wow, somethinggreat happened, and here’s a toast to having more of it!”

　　“我们开瓶酒!”——我和客户以此作为暂停一会儿来庆祝的暗号。为什么呢?因为“干杯”意味着两件事：肯定过去的进步，表达对未来的期望。“我们做得真棒!为获得更大的成功干杯!”

　　That’s the kind of energy we need to keep us moving all year long, so don’t save your celebrationsfor the beginning of 2016, find a reason to pop a cork (real or virtual) at least once a month.

　　我们常年需要这种促人奋进的能量，所以不要再等到2016年开始时才庆祝，至少每个月都找个理由来“开瓶酒”吧。

　　2. Gratitude.

　　2、感恩

　　We’re reminded, during the holidays, of how much we have to be grateful for. Expressinggratitude can be a powerful exercise in business as well. Take stock of all the things you have to begrateful for in your professional life. All the people you’ve connected with, all the experience you’veaccumulated, all the clients you’ve served. Guess what you’ve done. You’ve inventoried yourresources. And you’ve probably uncovered a few that are undeveloped; people you’ve neglected,talents and skills you haven’t leveraged, testimonials you haven’t asked for. Develop thoseresources, and you’ll have more reasons to say “Pop a cork” and even more to be grateful for thenext time you take stock.

　　在节日期间，我们会想起有多少需要感激的事物。在商界，表示感恩同样可以产生强大的力量。盘点你在职业生涯中一切要感激的事物：所有你联系的人，所有你积累的经验，所有你招待的客户。猜猜你做了什么。你梳理了你的资源，可能还会发现一些没有得到开发的资源：你忽视的人，没有发掘的才华，没有提升的技能，没有咨询的客户评价。开发这些资源，你将会有更多理由来“拔出软木塞”，并在下一次盘点中更加心存感激。

　　3. Sending cards.

　　3、寄贺卡

　　Right now it’s probably easy to remember the last time you received a physical card, with a stampand a handwritten address. But by March you’ll probably have to think back three months toremember how it felt knowing someone took the time to think of you.

　　现在你也许很容易记起上一次收到带有邮票和手写地址的贺卡的情形。但到了3月，你也许得翻出3个月前的记忆，才能想起被别人花时间思念的感受。

　　If it’s true for you it’s probably true for some people who are important to your business. Theymay be prospects you haven’t worked with yet, referral sources you haven’t talked to for a while,or even ex-employees who’ve gone on to bigger things but might be your best source of talentand clients if you keep the relationship fresh. Anyone who showed up on your gratitude inventoryshould probably go on your “just because” greeting card list.

　　如果对你来说确实如此，那么对于那些对你的公司至关重要的人来说，也很可能是这样。他们也许是你还没有与之合作的潜在顾客，也许是你还没有与之深谈的推介来源，甚至有可能是为了追逐更大目标而离开公司，但只要你保持联系就依旧是你最好的人才和客户源的前员工。任何出现在你感谢清单中的人，也许都应该收到你心血来潮的贺卡。

　　4. Giving gifts.

　　4、送礼物

　　Do you know when you’ll find the most sugar in your dentist’s office? You got it, betweenThanksgiving and New Year’s. That’s because general dentists refer business to dental specialists.So every year they get an avalanche of gifts from the practices who have received their referrals.And, as ironic as it may be, most of those gifts are sweets.

　　你知道摆放在牙医诊所的糖果什么时候最多吗?猜对了，就在感恩节和新年期间。那是因为普通牙医会给牙医专家推荐业务，所以每年他们都能收到那些获得推荐的诊所送来的礼物。可能有些讽刺的是，大部分礼物都是糖果。

　　Gifts are sweet any time of year. In fact, they’re even sweeter when they aren’t anticipated, orexpected. You don’t have to give big gifts, it might just mean spending a little extra time with aclient or making a small contribution to a cause you know an employee holds dear. It’s more thanthe thought that counts, but it’s the thought that counts the most in building meaningfulrelationships with your referral partners, prospects, employees and friends of the business.

　　礼物在一年的任何时候都能让人感到亲切。实际上，出人意料的礼物更能营造这种感觉。你没有必要买大礼，也许只需要在客户身上花点额外的时间，或是费点心思了解员工的喜好。礼品的心意比价值更重要，但这份心意却能在你与公司的推介伙伴、潜在顾客、员工和朋友建立关系时发挥莫大的作用。

　　5. Parties.

　　5、聚会

　　Not the drink until dawn kind of parties. With the exception of a few industries, those probablywon’t do much for your reputation. But during the holidays we take more time to reconnect, seepeople we haven’t seen for a while, and hang out with no agenda except catching up or getting toknow each other a little better. Anyone can put together a networking event, the real key tobuilding business relationships by hosting get-togethers is to let go of the agendas and simplyconnect.

　　不是那种不醉不归的聚会。除了在少数几个行业，这种聚会对你的名誉可没什么好处。但在节日期间，我们会花更多时间来联系好一阵子没见的朋友，出门闲逛也只为了叙旧和更好地了解彼此。任何人都可以组织社交活动，但组织聚会来建立业务关系的关键在于，抛开动机，专心交往。

　　6. Reflection.

　　6、反思

　　Each year as we say “goodbye” to the old and “hello” to the new, many of us have made apractice of reflecting on the year past. But in business we usually go straight into analysis mode.What a SWOTT analysis of the business won’t tell us is our own strengths, weaknesses,opportunities, threats and trends. Yet, the greatest strengths and opportunities, as well as thegreatest weaknesses and threats, aren’t going to be found in looking at operations, or profitmargins, or sales funnels or market trends. You’ll only become aware of them by looking atleadership. And that begins with you.

　　每年我们都要辞旧迎新，许多人都养成了回顾过去一年的习惯。但在商界，我们通常会直接进入分析模式。对企业所做的SWOTT分析不会显示我们自身的优势、劣势、机遇、威胁和趋势。研究公司的运营状况、利润空间、销售管道或市场趋势，无助于你了解最大的优势和机遇，以及最大的劣势和威胁。这一切得从你自己开始反思。

　　7. Resolutions.

　　7、下决心

　　Most people have “failed” on their New Year’s resolutions so many times they’ve given up onmaking them. That’s because most people don’t really make sure they have the resolve to dowhat they say they’re going to do. Even more people don’t realize that resolving isn’t a onetimeactivity, it’s a daily practice that becomes easier with repitition. Keep resolving, on New Year’s Dayand the 364 days that follow, and you’re likely to find a lot of your problems resolved by this timenext year.

　　大多数人都在实现新年决心方面屡战屡败，导致他们最后再也不下决心了。那是因为他们并不真正确定自己有决心做那些声称要做的事情。甚至还有更多人没有意识到，下决心并不是一次性行为，而是会不断重复的日常行为。在元旦及剩下的364天中保持坚定，可能在明年的这个时候，你就会发现自己的许多问题已经得到了解决。

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（责任编辑：何莹莹）