People who are successful in their careers are very meticulous. If on the surface you see a successful person giving you the impression of being carefree, he may actually be even more meticulous. It is the same in our daily lives; not being careful can lead to unexpected events, such as cooking, raising children, maintaining vehicles, etc. We must take everything seriously. This is also true in Beijing's team building training activities. In the expansion base’s "crossing the electric net" activity, once you accidentally touch the net during the crossing, your teammates' efforts will easily be wasted.
During the Spring and Autumn period, Zhao Xiangzi of the Jin State apprenticed under Wang Liang, a renowned charioteer at the time. Wang Liang taught Zhao Xiangzi the art of driving a chariot in a short period, leading Zhao Xiangzi to feel that driving a chariot was not difficult, making him quite smug. One day, on a whim, Zhao Xiangzi challenged Wang Liang to a chariot race. At the start of the race, Zhao Xiangzi fell far behind, but he did not concede defeat. He believed that Wang Liang's horse was better than his, so he asked to swap horses and race again. Wang Liang smiled, they swapped horses, and the race started anew. Surprisingly, this time Zhao Xiangzi fell even further behind. Zhao Xiangzi thought that Wang Liang's horse was worse than his previous one, so he demanded to swap back the horses. Wang Liang silently returned the horse without saying a word. The race continued, but Zhao Xiangzi's horse seemed determined to frustrate him, stopping and starting intermittently. Zhao Xiangzi became extremely angry, directing all his anger at Wang Liang, accusing him: "When you were teaching me how to drive the chariot, weren't there some techniques you didn't teach me?" Wang Liang quickly explained: "Not at all! I have taught you all my skills without reservation. It's just that you cannot appropriately apply them. The most important thing in driving a chariot is to ensure the horse is securely harnessed in the carriage, while the driver focuses on commanding and adjusting the horse's direction and speed. Only then can you run fast and go far. But when you fall behind me, all you think about is overtaking me; when you're ahead, you fear being caught up by me. In a chariot race, there will always be someone in front and someone behind. You place too much importance on the order, focusing all your thoughts on competing with me, where could you find the time to command and adjust your own horse? This is the fundamental reason why you fall behind!" After hearing this, Zhao Xiangzi felt it made sense and couldn’t help but admire Wang Liang sincerely.
Some successes may seem simple, but in reality, how simple are they? Successful people pay more attention to mastering the intrinsic laws of things. Fan Li was an extremely successful businessman in ancient China. When doing business, according to the supply and demand relationship in the market, he discovered that prices fluctuate within certain limits, meaning that when prices reach their peak, they will fall; when they hit rock bottom, they will rise, following the rule of "one high price, one low price, extreme and return." Based on this rule, he proposed a set of "accumulation principles," boldly purchasing grains and other goods during bountiful years. Then, after prices rose, he would sell them. In this way, not only did he enrich himself, but he also made positive contributions to stabilizing prices and comforting disaster victims, leaving behind a good name. Fan Li's success lay in his ability to summarize and master the rules of commerce.
There are always those who mistakenly believe that summarization is an erroneous matter and therefore unimportant, which is a wrong idea. Summarization involves organizing what has been done to make it more systematic and should be given importance from the very beginning.
Article reprinted from: http://www.blwh.cn/hv_more.asp?id=306