Everyone has own aims and targets and we usually have plans to get them. Plans can be big or small ones and this depends on the extent of targets of everybody. It is not easy at all to have suitable plans which can help us find the efficient and logical ways to have exactly what we want. The problem is what the secret of good planning is. According to a Managing Director of a Traveling company in USA, the most important thing of a good planning is to know exactly what it is that we want to achieve, and define it, and define by when we want to achieve it and with that information, then we can set a deadline and identify the tasks that are necessary to achieve that goal, basically get on with them to a timetable.
There are some things which are clearly out of our control. Plans sometimes go wrong and what should we do if this happens? In my opinion, we can do ourselves to accept that, not worry too much about that. When things change sometimes not for the better, we should be calm to step back, reassess the situation and redefine the goals. This might even mean changing the end goal but I think knowing exactly what it is that we want to achieve is always the important thing.
New year is coming and of course we have a lot plans for this year or our life alike so why don’t you tell us your goals and your plans to reach those goals? Hope some ideas from the presentation above can help you find it easier in making suitable and smart plans.
And now it’s time for us to discuss this topic and these are some questions:
1/ Did you have any target last year?
2/ Have you achieved that? If yes, what have you done to hit that? If not, why? What are the reasons?
3/ Have you got any target or goal in your life? What are they? (in your career, study, love, ect.)
4/ What do you often do to get your goals?
- Do you usually make plans to get your targets or just think that” what will be will be”?
- After having plans, what do you do to put your plans into practice?
5/ Could you tell us your goals this year and your plans to achieve them?
- What exactly will you do to achieve the goals that you have set up?
6/ In your opinion, if your plans go wrong and this might corrupt your long-term project which you put your heart in, what would you do?
7/ “ Plans are nothing; planning is everything”- Dwight D Eisenhower (1890-1969), 34th President of the United States.
- Do you agree with above sentence? Why or why not?
FURTHER READING:
How to Succeed in Life
by Andrew Carnegie
From The Pittsburg Bulletin, 19 December 1903. Reprinted from the New York Tribune.
Everybody wants to preach to the young, and tell them to be good and they will be happy. I shall not enter far upon that field, but confine myself to presenting from a business man's standpoint of view, a few rules, which, I believe, lie at the root of business success.
First--Never enter a bar-room. Do not drink liquor as a beverage. I will not paint the evil of drunkenness, or the moral crime; but I suggest to you that it is low and common to enter a bar-room, unworthy of any self-respecting man, and sure to fasten upon you a taint which will operate to your disadvantage in life, whether you ever become a drunkard or not.
Second--I wish young men would not use tobacco--not that it is morally wrong, except in so far as it is used in excess and injures health, which the medical faculty declares it does. But the use of tobacco requires young men to withdraw themselves from the society of women to indulge the habit. I think the absence of women from any assembly tends to lower the tone of that assembly. The habit of smoking tends to carry young men into the society of men whom it is not desirable that they should choose as their intimate associates. The practice of chewing tobacco was once common. Now it is considered offensive. I believe the race is soon to take another step forward, and that the coming man is to consider smoking as offensive as chewing was formally considered. As it is practically abandoned now, so I believe smoking will be.
Third--Having entered upon work, continue in that line of work. Fight it out on that line (except in extreme cases), for it matters little what avenue a young man finds first. Success can be attained in any branch of human labor. There is always room at the top in every pursuit. Concentrate all your thought and energy upon the performance of your duties. Put all your eggs into one basket and then watch that basket, do not scatter your shot. The man who is director in a half dozen railroads and three or four manufacturing companies, or who tries at one and the same time to work a farm, a factory, a line of street cars, a political party and a store, rarely amounts to much. He may be concerned in the management of more than one business enterprise, but they should all be of the one kind, which he understands. The great successes of life are made by concentration.
Fourth--Do not think a man has done his full duty when he has performed the work assigned him. A man will never rise if he does only this. Promotion comes from exceptional work. A man must discover where his employer's interests can be served beyond the range of the special work allotted to him; and whenever he sees his employer's interests suffer, or wherever the latter's interests can be promoted, tell him so. Differ from your employers upon what you think his mistakes. You will never make much of a success if you do not learn the needs and opportunities of your own branch much better than your employer can possibly do. You have been told to "obey orders if you break owners." Do no such foolish thing. If your employer starts upon a course which you think will prove injurious, tell him so, protest, give your reasons, and stand to them unless convinced you are wrong. It is the young man who does this, that capital wants for a partner or for a son-in-law.
Fifth--Whatever your wages are, save a little. Live within your means. The heads of stores, farms, banks, lawyers' offices, physicians' offices, insurance companies, mills and factories are not seeking capital; they are seeking brains and business habits. The man who saves a little from his income has given the surest indication of the qualities which every employer is seeking for.
Sixth--Never speculate. Never buy or sell grain or stocks upon a margin. If you have savings, invest them in solid securities, lands or property. The man who gambles upon the exchanges is in the condition of the man who gambles at the gaming table. He rarely, if ever, makes a permanent success. His judgment goes; his faculties are snapped; and his end, as a rule, is nervous prostration after an unworthy and useless life.
Seventh--If you ever enter business for yourself, never indorse for others. It is dishonest. All your resources and all your credit are the sacred property of the men who have trusted you; and until you have surplus cash and owe no man, it is dishonest to give your name as an indorser to others. Give the cash you can spare, if you wish, to help a friend. Your name is too sacred to give.
Do not make riches, but usefulness, your first aim; and let your chief pride be that your daily occupation is in the line of progress and development; that your work, in whatever capacity it may be, is useful work, honestly conducted, and as such ennobling to your life.
To sum up, do not drink, do not smoke, do not indorse, do not speculate. Concentrate, perform more than your prescribed duties; be strictly honest in word and deed. And may all who read these words be just as happy and prosperous and long lived as I wish them all to be. And let this great fact always cheer them: It is impossible for any one to be cheated out of an honorable career unless he cheats himself.
STUDY CORNER:
Some idoms:
1. (to be) up in the air = not yet determined; uncertain.
ex: It might rain later, so our plans for the picnic are still up in the air.
2. (to be) down in the dumps = to feel sad, be depressed
ex: It’s not surprising that Lisa’s down in the dumps. Susan, the cat she had for 20 year, just died.
3. (to) hang out = to spend time (often doing nothing)
ex: Ted spent all of last summer hanging out by his girlfriend’s pool.
4. take it easy = relax, don’t worry.
Ex: you lost your key? Take it easy, I’m sure you’ll find it.
5. (to be) crazy about = to like very much.
Ex: Amy is so crazy about John, she wants to meet him every day.
6. (to) take something the wrong way = to take offense.
Ex: Don’t take this the wrong way, but I liked your hair better before you got it cut.
7. Cup of tea = the type of person or thing that one generally likes.
Ex: Football is not my cup of tea. I prefer baseball.
8. (to) drop by = to pay a short, often unannounced visit.
Ex: If we have time before the movie, let’s drop by Bill’s house.
There are some things which are clearly out of our control. Plans sometimes go wrong and what should we do if this happens? In my opinion, we can do ourselves to accept that, not worry too much about that. When things change sometimes not for the better, we should be calm to step back, reassess the situation and redefine the goals. This might even mean changing the end goal but I think knowing exactly what it is that we want to achieve is always the important thing.
New year is coming and of course we have a lot plans for this year or our life alike so why don’t you tell us your goals and your plans to reach those goals? Hope some ideas from the presentation above can help you find it easier in making suitable and smart plans.
And now it’s time for us to discuss this topic and these are some questions:
1/ Did you have any target last year?
2/ Have you achieved that? If yes, what have you done to hit that? If not, why? What are the reasons?
3/ Have you got any target or goal in your life? What are they? (in your career, study, love, ect.)
4/ What do you often do to get your goals?
- Do you usually make plans to get your targets or just think that” what will be will be”?
- After having plans, what do you do to put your plans into practice?
5/ Could you tell us your goals this year and your plans to achieve them?
- What exactly will you do to achieve the goals that you have set up?
6/ In your opinion, if your plans go wrong and this might corrupt your long-term project which you put your heart in, what would you do?
7/ “ Plans are nothing; planning is everything”- Dwight D Eisenhower (1890-1969), 34th President of the United States.
- Do you agree with above sentence? Why or why not?
FURTHER READING:
How to Succeed in Life
by Andrew Carnegie
From The Pittsburg Bulletin, 19 December 1903. Reprinted from the New York Tribune.
Everybody wants to preach to the young, and tell them to be good and they will be happy. I shall not enter far upon that field, but confine myself to presenting from a business man's standpoint of view, a few rules, which, I believe, lie at the root of business success.
First--Never enter a bar-room. Do not drink liquor as a beverage. I will not paint the evil of drunkenness, or the moral crime; but I suggest to you that it is low and common to enter a bar-room, unworthy of any self-respecting man, and sure to fasten upon you a taint which will operate to your disadvantage in life, whether you ever become a drunkard or not.
Second--I wish young men would not use tobacco--not that it is morally wrong, except in so far as it is used in excess and injures health, which the medical faculty declares it does. But the use of tobacco requires young men to withdraw themselves from the society of women to indulge the habit. I think the absence of women from any assembly tends to lower the tone of that assembly. The habit of smoking tends to carry young men into the society of men whom it is not desirable that they should choose as their intimate associates. The practice of chewing tobacco was once common. Now it is considered offensive. I believe the race is soon to take another step forward, and that the coming man is to consider smoking as offensive as chewing was formally considered. As it is practically abandoned now, so I believe smoking will be.
Third--Having entered upon work, continue in that line of work. Fight it out on that line (except in extreme cases), for it matters little what avenue a young man finds first. Success can be attained in any branch of human labor. There is always room at the top in every pursuit. Concentrate all your thought and energy upon the performance of your duties. Put all your eggs into one basket and then watch that basket, do not scatter your shot. The man who is director in a half dozen railroads and three or four manufacturing companies, or who tries at one and the same time to work a farm, a factory, a line of street cars, a political party and a store, rarely amounts to much. He may be concerned in the management of more than one business enterprise, but they should all be of the one kind, which he understands. The great successes of life are made by concentration.
Fourth--Do not think a man has done his full duty when he has performed the work assigned him. A man will never rise if he does only this. Promotion comes from exceptional work. A man must discover where his employer's interests can be served beyond the range of the special work allotted to him; and whenever he sees his employer's interests suffer, or wherever the latter's interests can be promoted, tell him so. Differ from your employers upon what you think his mistakes. You will never make much of a success if you do not learn the needs and opportunities of your own branch much better than your employer can possibly do. You have been told to "obey orders if you break owners." Do no such foolish thing. If your employer starts upon a course which you think will prove injurious, tell him so, protest, give your reasons, and stand to them unless convinced you are wrong. It is the young man who does this, that capital wants for a partner or for a son-in-law.
Fifth--Whatever your wages are, save a little. Live within your means. The heads of stores, farms, banks, lawyers' offices, physicians' offices, insurance companies, mills and factories are not seeking capital; they are seeking brains and business habits. The man who saves a little from his income has given the surest indication of the qualities which every employer is seeking for.
Sixth--Never speculate. Never buy or sell grain or stocks upon a margin. If you have savings, invest them in solid securities, lands or property. The man who gambles upon the exchanges is in the condition of the man who gambles at the gaming table. He rarely, if ever, makes a permanent success. His judgment goes; his faculties are snapped; and his end, as a rule, is nervous prostration after an unworthy and useless life.
Seventh--If you ever enter business for yourself, never indorse for others. It is dishonest. All your resources and all your credit are the sacred property of the men who have trusted you; and until you have surplus cash and owe no man, it is dishonest to give your name as an indorser to others. Give the cash you can spare, if you wish, to help a friend. Your name is too sacred to give.
Do not make riches, but usefulness, your first aim; and let your chief pride be that your daily occupation is in the line of progress and development; that your work, in whatever capacity it may be, is useful work, honestly conducted, and as such ennobling to your life.
To sum up, do not drink, do not smoke, do not indorse, do not speculate. Concentrate, perform more than your prescribed duties; be strictly honest in word and deed. And may all who read these words be just as happy and prosperous and long lived as I wish them all to be. And let this great fact always cheer them: It is impossible for any one to be cheated out of an honorable career unless he cheats himself.
STUDY CORNER:
Some idoms:
1. (to be) up in the air = not yet determined; uncertain.
ex: It might rain later, so our plans for the picnic are still up in the air.
2. (to be) down in the dumps = to feel sad, be depressed
ex: It’s not surprising that Lisa’s down in the dumps. Susan, the cat she had for 20 year, just died.
3. (to) hang out = to spend time (often doing nothing)
ex: Ted spent all of last summer hanging out by his girlfriend’s pool.
4. take it easy = relax, don’t worry.
Ex: you lost your key? Take it easy, I’m sure you’ll find it.
5. (to be) crazy about = to like very much.
Ex: Amy is so crazy about John, she wants to meet him every day.
6. (to) take something the wrong way = to take offense.
Ex: Don’t take this the wrong way, but I liked your hair better before you got it cut.
7. Cup of tea = the type of person or thing that one generally likes.
Ex: Football is not my cup of tea. I prefer baseball.
8. (to) drop by = to pay a short, often unannounced visit.
Ex: If we have time before the movie, let’s drop by Bill’s house.
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