Ask for What You Want争取实现梦想

The greatest saleswoman in the world today doesn’t mind if you call her a girl. That’s because Markita Andrews has generated1 more than eighty thousand dollars selling Girl Scout cookies since she was seven years old.

当今世界上最伟大的女推销员可不会介意你喊她小姑娘。因为自从玛吉塔・安德鲁斯7岁时起，她已经靠推销女童军饼干赚了8万多美元。

Going door-to-door after school， the painfully shy Markita transformed2 herself into a cookie-selling dynamo3 when she discovered at age 13， the secret of selling.

13岁那年，她发现了推销的秘诀。通过放学后挨家挨户的推销，一向害羞要命的玛吉塔已经变成了卖饼干的楷模。

It started with desire4. Burning， white-hot desire.

这起源于一个愿望，一个强烈而热切的愿望。

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 around the globe. “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 you graduate， you’ll make enough money to take you and me around the world. Okay？”

玛吉塔8岁的时候，父亲离开了她们，此后母亲在纽约当服务员，他们母女俩的梦想就是要环游世界。“我要努力工作，赚足够的钱供你上大学，”一天母亲说，“你要上大学，等你大学毕业后，就赚足够的钱让我们环游世界，好吗？”

So at age 13， when Markita read in her Girl Scout magazine that the Scout who sold the most cookies would win an all-expenses-paid trip 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.

玛吉塔13岁那年，《女童军》杂志消息说销售饼干最多的女童军队员将可获得两人免费全球旅游作为奖励，于是她决定竭尽全力推销女童军饼干，要比世界上任何人卖得都多。

But desire alone is not enough. To make her dream come true， Markita knew she needed a plan.

但仅有愿望是不够的，要梦想成真，玛吉塔知道她就必须制定一个计划。

“Always wear your right outfit5， your professional garb6，” her aunt advised. “When you are doing business， dress like you are doing business. Wear your Girl Scout uniform. When you go up to people in their tenement7 buildings at 4：30 or 6：30 and especially on Friday night， ask for a big order. Always smile， whether they buy or not， always be nice. And don’t ask them to buy your cookies； ask them to invest8.

“总是要穿得体的套装和职业服装，”她的姨妈建议说。“当你做生意时要穿得像做生意的样子。穿上你的女童军制服。在4：30或6：30去登门推销，尤其是星期五晚上去时，要争取大订单。不管他们买不买，要随时面带微笑，令人愉快。而且不要让他们‘买’你的饼干，要请求他们投资。”

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 asking―folks to invest in her dream. “Hi， I have a dream. I’m earning a trip around the world for me and my mom by merchandising Girl Scout cookies，” she’d say at the door. “Would you like to invest in one dozen or two dozen boxes of cookies？”

其他许多女童军队员也想去环球旅游，许多人都有计划。但只有玛吉塔每天放学后都穿着制服，随时随地锲而不舍地请求人们为她的梦想投资。“嗨，我有一个梦想，我想通过出售女童军饼干为我和妈妈赢得一次环球旅行，”她会站在门口说，“你愿意投资买一、两打盒装的饼干吗？”

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 sales conventions9 across the country， starred in a Disney movie about her adventure and has co-authored the best seller， How to Sell More Cookies， Condos， Cadillacs， Computers ... And Everything Else.

那一年玛吉塔共卖出3，526盒女童军饼干，赢得了环球旅行。从那时候到现在，她已经卖出了四万两千多盒女童军饼干，还在全国各地的众多销售会议上发言，主演了一部讲述自己的经历的迪斯尼电影，并与人合著了一本畅销书《如何售出更多的饼干、楼盘、汽车、计算机以及其他的一切》。

Markita is no smarter and no more extroverted10 than thousands of other people， young and old， with dreams of their own. The difference is Markita had 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 of rejection11 leads many of us to reject ourselves and our dreams long before anyone else ever has the chance―no matter what we are selling.

比起其他成千上万的拥有梦想的人，无论老人还是小孩，玛吉塔并不比他们聪明，也没有他们那么活泼开朗。不同之处在于玛吉塔发现了销售的秘诀：请求！请求！再请求！许多人还没有开始就已经失败了，因为他们没有争取他们想要的东西。害怕被拒绝使我们许多人在被别人拒绝之前，就已经先否定了自己和自己的梦想，无论我们推销的是什么。

And everyone is selling something. “You’re selling yourself every day―in school， to your boss， to new people you meet，” said Markita at 14. “My mother is a waitress： she sells the daily special. Mayors and presidents trying to get votes are selling ... I see selling everywhere I look. Selling is part of the whole world.”

其实每个人都在推销一些东西。“每天你都在推销自己，在学校推销、向你的老板推销、向你新结识的人推销，”14岁的玛吉塔这样说，“我的母亲是个服务员，她推销每日特餐；为了获得选票，市长和总统也在进行推销……在我所有可以看到的地方我都可以看到推销。推销是整个世界的一部分。”

It takes courage to ask for what you want. Courage is not the absence12 of 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.

去争取实现你的梦想需要勇气。勇气不是没有恐惧感。正如玛吉塔所发现的那样，尽管你害怕，也要去争取，你请求的次数越多，你就越容易得到，也越有乐趣。