Thoughts on Life 1

This week refers to: 6-26~7-2

My Week#

Lost my second campus card this semester, suspecting a pair of pants as the culprit
Successfully logged my progress for 5 consecutive days, exercised for 5 consecutive days
3 days of exams, 4 days of cost estimation (plus today)

Output for this Week#

Be cautious in choosing your competitors, because in the end, you will become very similar to them.

Always studying who you envy, you will imitate their behavior, and in the end, you may become them.

First, do not consider fools as competitors.
Second, do not seek opponents around you.
Third, choose the top people in your field as role models.

Choose role models who are far away

The people we imitate can be divided into two types:

People who are far away from us.
People around us.

The former can inspire us, but due to the difference in time and space, we are almost impossible to catch up with them; the latter is likely to become our opponents, and a tribe can only have one chief. Choose people who are far away from us as role models, as they will not trigger our competitive and selfish nature.

You can choose great figures as role models, such as Premier Zhou, who said, "Study hard for the rise of China."
You can choose top professionals in your industry as role models, such as the Tsinghua study vlogger.

Play the role of a great figure

If you were Elon Musk, how would you make decisions when faced with a problem? The most common question is, if you were Elon Musk, what would you have for breakfast? Or if you were Yu Minhong? Or if you were Confucius?

Okay, the real purpose of playing the role of a great figure is: to think like a great figure!

I believe everyone has had this experience👇

For example, children have all played role-playing games, pretending to be knights/princesses/heroes. This state is like merging with the soul of a hero, and a mysterious power emerges within them. Subjectively, it seems like they are two different people before and after being possessed, and objectively, their power will continue to flow.

The inspiration of great figures to ordinary people is immense. Although we cannot reach the level of great figures, it does not prevent us from climbing towards their direction.
An ordinary person, or someone who is always melancholic, if they can consistently admire a great figure, they will be able to reduce many low-level troubles and easily free themselves from mundane information.

Therefore, it is worth asking yourself a question every morning: Who do I want to play today?

Once you do this, believe that you already possess 50% of the power of a great figure.

There is another story about Musk's breakfast that I can share. Once, when Musk was on a business trip in China, instead of going to a hotel, he bought a pancake roll from a roadside stall. Whether from the perspective of saving money or being down-to-earth, Musk is an admirable person.

I am not only seeking results. If it's just for the sake of results, people tend to take shortcuts. In the process of taking shortcuts, people easily lose touch with reality, and even their enthusiasm gradually diminishes. I believe that what is truly important is the pursuit of genuine will. As long as you have the will to move towards the truth, even if you fail this time, you will eventually achieve your goal.

This excerpt is from a blogger's memo in 2010 on Zhihu.

A process-oriented life may lead to better results, and establishing a process system is particularly important.

This is also one of the reasons why I decided to publicly share my daily exercise check-ins. Another reason is seeing a girl posting her intermittent runs of 7km+ every day. Seeing someone achieve it is the most motivating thing.

Why do I have to insist on posting screenshots online? Because the benefits outweigh the drawbacks.

Connect with the world and attract like-minded people.
Force yourself to become a better person.

Sima Guang's "Zizhi Tongjian, Volume Six" has a passage:
King Anli of the Wei Kingdom asked Kong Bin, "Who is the greatest scholar in the world?"
Kong Bin replied, "There is no perfect gentleman in the world. If we have to settle for someone, then Lu Zhonglian can barely be considered one."
King Anli shook his head and said, "Lu Zhonglian is probably not even considered one. His actions are not consistent with his words; he forces himself to behave in a certain way, rather than it being a natural expression of his character."
At this point, Kong Bin said something quite classic: "By doing so persistently, one becomes a gentleman."

Kong Bin meant to say, "People have to force themselves to do certain things. If they continue to do so, they will become gentlemen; by doing so consistently, their habits and nature gradually merge, becoming natural."

You can say that someone is pretending, but this is just a process. The process itself is the result, the most real and not a shortcut.

If you find it inspiring, feel free to leave a comment.