Lesson 3: Mind Your Own Business
第三课 关注自己的事业
In 1974, Ray Kroc, the founder of McDonald's, was asked to speak to the MBA class at the University of Texas at Austin.
1974年,麦当劳的创始人雷·克罗克,被邀请去奥斯汀为得克萨斯州立大学的MBA班作演讲。
A dear friend of mine was a student in that MBA class.
我的一个好朋友正是这个班上的一名学生。
After a powerful and inspiring talk, the class adjourned and the students asked Ray if he would join them at their favorite hangout to have a few beers.
在一场激动人心的讲演之后,学生们问雷是否愿意去他们常去的地方一起喝杯啤酒。
Ray graciously accepted.
雷高兴地接受了邀请。
"What business am I in?" Ray asked, once the group had all their beers in hand.
每个人都拿到了啤酒,这时雷问:"谁能告诉我我是做什么的?"
Everyone laughed. Most of the MBA students thought Ray was just fooling around.
当时每个人都笑了,大多数学生都认为雷是在开玩笑。
No one answered, so Ray asked the question again, "What business do you think I'm in?"
见没人回答他的问题,于是雷又问:"你们认为我是做什么的呢?"
The students laughed again, and finally one brave soul yelled out,
学生们又笑了,最后一个大胆的学生叫道
"Ray, who in the world doesn't know that you're in the hamburger business?"
"雷,地球人都知道你是做汉堡包的。"
Ray chuckled. "That's what I thought you would say."
雷哈哈大笑:"我料到你们会这么说。"
He paused and then quickly said, "Ladies and gentlemen, I'm not in the hamburger business.
他止住了笑声,并很快地说:"女士们、先生们,其实我并不是做汉堡包的
My business is real estate."
我真正的生意是房地产。"
McDonald's today is the largest single owner of real estate in the world, owning even more than the Catholic church.
麦当劳今天已经是世界上最大的独立房地产商了,它拥有的房地产甚至比天主教会还多。
Today McDonald's owns some of the most valuable intersections and street corners in America as well as other parts of the world.
今天,麦当劳在美国以及世界其他地方都拥有一些位于街角和十字路口的黄金地段。
The previous chapter illustrating that most people work for everyone but themselves.
在上一章的结尾,我们用图表说明了大多数人工作其实是为其他人,而非他们自己。
They work first for the owners of the company, then for the government through taxes, and finally for the bank that owns their mortgage.
首先他们要为公司的老板工作,其次是通过纳税为政府工作,最后是为向他们提供住房按揭贷款的银行工作。
As a young boy, we did not have a McDonald's nearby.
小时候,我家附近没有麦当劳。
Yet my rich dad was responsible for teaching Mike and me the same lesson that Ray Kroc talked about at the University of Texas.
然而,富爸爸却向我和迈克传授了类似于雷·克罗克向得克萨斯州立大学的MBA们所传授的内容。
It is secret number three of the rich. The secret is: Mind your own business.
这就是致富的第三个秘诀。第三个秘诀是:"关注自己的事业。"
Financial struggle is often directly the result of people working all their lives for someone else.
存在财务问题的人经常耗费一生为别人工作。
Many people will have nothing at the end of their working days.
其中许多人在他们不能工作时就变得一无所有。