Paratrooper thinking means that when you are in a certain environment, you should regard the worst case scenario as the norm and set it as the anchor point. With this anchor point, everything that has happened is acceptable normal state.

This concept originated from a famous saying of the commander of the U.S. 101st Airborne Division: "Paratroopers are born to be surrounded." This is the first lesson that all soldiers must learn when they enter the 101st Division.

This also shows that as a soldier, as everyone, you must have a correct worldview if you want to survive. Once your worldview is wrong, your entire behavior will be wrong.

Example 1: Why can you still be humorous when facing a disaster?

The famous movie "The Longest Day" mentioned that when the Allied forces occupied Normandy, a paratrooper from the 101st Division jumped to In the compound of the German army headquarters. When he stood firm on the ground, he found a group of German soldiers pointing guns at him. The soldier had a unique American sense of humor and said, "Gentlemen, I'm sorry, I'm in the wrong place."

Humor is a kind of initiative in life. To be able to say this in such a scene is an amazing ability. The reason behind this is that they have been brainwashed and indoctrinated with a concept for a long time: when you jump to a place, there are dozens of guns pointing at you, which is normal.

When you think it is normal, you can have something called a normal mind, and you will not fall into surprise or useless panic. This is your everyday world.

Example 2: This is Rodos Island, you can dance here

There is a fable in "Aesop's Fables" called "Dance on Rodos Island". The fox boasted that he could dance. Other animals said, "Well, please dance for us." The fox said, I can only dance on Rodos Island, but I can’t dance here. Another animal told it that this is Rodos Island, you can jump here. Later, this became a specialized saying, "This is Rodos Island, you can dance here."

Example 3: Why learn to pick up the ball first when learning juggling?

When we watch acrobatics, we will see a small clip, which is a clown throwing a ball. It was two balls at first, then three balls, four balls, five balls, and finally seven balls. He was able to make the ball fly in the air freely without falling.

Mastering this skill does not happen in a day. In the beginning, when an experienced master teaches his disciples how to throw a ball, there will be a fixed process, which is to let others practice there, and you will be responsible for picking up the ball. You will be responsible for picking up the ball for two months. As soon as someone else's ball falls, no matter where it rolls, you have to pick it up.

Why did Master do this? It means anchoring your character in a frame of reference, and you are the one who picks up the ball. If you want to learn to throw a ball, you must first put yourself in a frame of reference, and it becomes an almost unconscious identity, "I am a ball picker."

What are the benefits of doing this? After two months, he will teach you how to throw a ball. If you have not played the ball-picking game for several months and have not gradually adapted to this kind of hard work, and gradually unconsciously feel that picking up the ball is your duty, if you are taught to throw the ball, you will definitely not throw the ball. If you stop to drop the ball, you will regard picking it up as an unnecessary, annoying, and frustrating state. And after you have gone through two months of hard work, when you go to pick up the ball again, you will not think that picking up the ball is an unnecessary, extra, something you don't want to do but have to do.

Just like when we look at Escher's paintings, you see a group of black birds flying from right to left. But if you look at this picture in another way, you will find that it is a group of white birds flying from left to right. This is a change in worldview, which directly determines your attitude towards the world. If you want to become an excellent ball-throwing expert, you must complete this lesson, which is to "not be distracted". If you are constantly troubled by distractions and frustrations, you will never be a good thrower.

There is a proverb in Germany: "If you have too much and want more, you will lose everything."

When you lose everything, you find that a little bit is enough. Of these two sentences, the first half talks about a world view, and the second half talks about a frame of reference, or world view. When your consciousness is anchored in getting, you will keep asking for it. When you are greedy and lose everything in the end, your consciousness is anchored in another frame of reference, which is to compensate from the worst state.

When we were in elementary school, our teacher told us that 0 is the largest negative number among all negative numbers. Of course, if you look at it from another frame of reference, 0 is the smallest positive number (Note: This numerical comparison is only explained from a speculative perspective. In the mathematical sense, 0 is neither a positive number nor a negative number). Therefore, when your consciousness is anchored in different frames of reference, the worlds you see are two completely different worlds.

Anyone who starts a business is definitely not starting a business for the sake of failure. They are imagining how to succeed, how to become Jack Ma, and how to add another story to the many success stories. However, when it comes to entrepreneurship, different worldviews will determine your different reaction patterns.

To put it simply, we must have a paratrooper mentality when starting a business. Paratroopers are born to be surrounded, entrepreneurs are born to fail, and success is just a fish that slips through the net. The sky net is vast, sparse and not leaking. But in this careless network of failure, occasionally there will be a small hole, a small crack for you to get through, and then you will be a winner. When you think about the problem in this way, it is just normal to face various failures in the entrepreneurial process. At this time, react as you should.

Just like the soldier who jumped to the German headquarters compound just now, how did he gain some initiative in an obvious failure scenario. If we watch 007 more, you will find that this time is not the end of the story, but the beginning of another.

Example 1: The failure of 007 is just the prologue

One of the great features of the 007 series of movies is that its prologue is extremely long. Basically, the prologue is like a movie. The end of this prologue is usually that after all the hardships, James Bond finally found some secret stronghold, found the secret weapon or secret document he wanted, and discovered the searchlight. Called over, he was surrounded, and the movie had just begun.

Therefore, whether it is paratrooper thinking or 007 thinking, it is just a way of thinking about how we should face the world appropriately in a world that is extremely complex and full of contingency. Way. It turns out that paratrooper thinking and the thinking styles associated with paratrooper thinking are exactly the kind of thinking that successful people must have.

Example 2: Jewish Exile and Business Acumen

Over the course of thousands of years of history, Jews have accepted the concept that they are born to be persecuted, and they are born to be persecuted. Yes, I was born to be a stowaway. This is their worldview. This is Rados, dance here. There is no so-called ideal world, a world where you can do what you want to do with peace of mind.