Whether you are a veteran in the workplace or a newbie in the workplace, when walking on the way to work every day, you will inevitably sigh:

When will I be financially free and get ahead? Can you be like someone who doesn't have to worry about household expenses, is free and content, and can live a life of "sleeping until you wake up naturally, counting money until your hands cramp"?

The piles of tasks every day are killing me, and I will never be busy. One daughter-in-law and N parents-in-law all arrange tasks, and no one can afford to offend them. What should I do?

The conflict between Mr. Liu and Mr. Zhao deepened day by day, and they almost had to perform a "full martial arts show" in the office. Both bosses hope that I can take a stand. I can't afford to offend either of them, but if I don't take a stand, I'll offend both of them. Who can help me?

In short, when will these days end?

Mr. Hesitation has all encountered these problems, so he can relate to them. Thinking back, in fact, the above questions include the four major propositions that people in the workplace are most concerned about: workplace positioning, work tasks, human relations and worldly affairs, and personal growth.

Is our workplace positioning accurate?

Are our working abilities and working methods adequate for daily work tasks?

Are we able to navigate the human world with ease in the workplace?

Can we achieve rapid personal growth?

We must admit that the world we live in is becoming more and more complex: life concepts and values ????may be subverted several times a day; massive information fills the ears and eyes; the development of technology has brought convenience, but not To bring happiness..., what kind of eyes should we use to point directly to our true heart?

Japanese writer Eiko Yamashita advocates: We must do "subtraction" in all aspects, rather than addition. This is especially true for career.

So, here, I want to give you a precious knife that can "remove the bad and retain the good". Its name is "Occam's razor".

Occam is not a person’s name, but a place name. There was a slash young man named William, who came from Occam, so people called him "William of Occam".

William's era was the dark Middle Ages in Europe, when religious forces were rampant and domineering, and the Pope's hands and eyes were all over the sky. The young man William was eloquent and rebellious, and he preached that "there is no God". Not surprisingly, he got the right to live in a "free apartment".

As a slash young man who refused to admit defeat, William did not give up on life, but chose to escape from prison and escape in a very dramatic way. He fled to Germany and took refuge with the German Emperor Louis, and signed a reciprocal contract with the emperor: "You protect me with your sword, I will defend you with my pen."

William later concentrated on writing books and became a celebrity. As a tree attracts the wind, he will inevitably get involved in various debates. Gradually he becomes tired of the debates about "phase" and "essence". He advocates nominalism and only recognizes things that really exist. Anyone who interferes with this Empty concepts of concrete existence are useless encumbrances and nonsense, and should be ruthlessly "shaving off", hence his famous saying, which can be translated simply as "don't add substance if it is not necessary."

Since then, Occam's razor has demonstrated its unique power in various circles such as science, art, and business.

It is said that Copernicus was also a supporter of the geocentric theory at the beginning, but because Comrade Ptolemy’s theory of explaining the geocentric theory was too complicated, in order to simplify it, Comrade Copernicus reversed his thinking and tried to explain these things with the heliocentric theory. Theory and discovery turned out to be surprisingly simple. So he began to preach heliocentrism.

Scientific research follows this rule: When two competing theories can reach the same conclusion, the simpler one is better. Newton and Leibniz invented calculus at the same time, but Leibniz's expression and application of symbols were more concise, so Leibniz's method was still used and became one of the founding theories of modern mathematics.

For example, I saw a best-selling book introducing "hidden champions". One of the definitions of hidden champions is: operating income does not exceed 50 million euros. I think this requirement is too subjective and has no basis. There must be something wrong with it, so when I look back, I think what a "hidden champion" is, isn't it just a leading company in a segmented industry? So I immediately lost interest in this book.

In this new era, there are so many new concepts and new terms that it is dazzling, so we should develop a pair of discerning eyes, take action when it is time to cut off the superficial appearance and present the essence of things. .

Of course, what we focus on here is how to use this weapon in the workplace.

The outstanding characteristic of those who frequently change jobs is their impatience. The essential reason is that their personal expectations are too high and the current position or job cannot meet their needs. Many human resources managers have said that today's young employees have no sense of work responsibility and run away at any time. The underlying reason is that with the prosperity of material civilization, young people's "appetite" has increased.

According to Mr. Hesitation’s observation in the investment field, those leeks that suffer the most misfortune in the stock market are all because of their dream of “getting rich quickly.” When the purchased stocks did not meet expectations, they frequently exchanged their votes, thus paying huge transaction fees, resulting in heavy losses.

Then there is the temptation to start a business, which is also a reason for people to feel restless. Since there are so many entrepreneurs in the news who have become rich overnight, why should I stick to this fixed job?

There is a financial principle that applies to all social activities, that is: Risk is directly proportional to return, that is, the greater the return, the greater the risk. How much profit you want to get, how much risk you have to take. We see many entrepreneurial heroes, which are all due to the "survivor" effect, because those who fail to start a business rarely appear in our sight.

Of course, some people do have the resources, ability, and entrepreneurial qualities. I encourage them to embark on the road of entrepreneurship as soon as possible, but that is beyond the scope of this article.

If you are determined to take a career path, develop slowly first, and gradually accumulate experience and resources, you must have a correct positioning. This positioning will be considered through a variety of factors, but the most important factors are three Aspects: What are you good at? what do you like? Can the income exceed basic needs?

We divide these three elements into three areas to see the feasibility of multiple options. Different choices will have different impacts on your career.

Assuming that your current job is point A outside the three circles, then unfortunately, you will be the most painful person. If it is not necessary, it is recommended that you leave your job as soon as possible and find another job.

If it is point B, of course, you are the happiest person, which means that you are very good at your job, you like it very much, and your income is considerable. However, such a lucky person has a lower chance of success than starting a business.

So if you had to choose between A\B, what would you choose? Of course, different people will have different choices. There are seniors at the top and greasy middle-aged people at the bottom, like me. Naturally, the circle of "money scene" is the first priority, so the ideal career is point C. As for interest, just force yourself to cultivate it.

Therefore, career positioning is a matter of cutting off unrealistic desires and aspirations, and then making a choice between "fields you are good at", "fields you like" and "fields with money and prospects" .

Young people often make two mistakes when dealing with human affairs: hoping that everyone can like and be satisfied with themselves; hoping that through the training of emotional intelligence, they can be appreciated by leaders by observing their words and emotions.

We all had a dream when we were children, to be a superman and make everyone around me feel good because of my existence. But even Superman cannot achieve this dream. After working for a short period of time, we will probably realize that we are just ordinary people, so we should live down-to-earth on earth.

In addition, the term emotional intelligence is widely praised, but I think it is also a concept that can easily mislead young people. It seems that I don't need to work hard or struggle, as long as I bend down, put aside face and humble myself in front of the leader, I can rise to the top. Such success does exist, and it is rare. If that is your dream, I can only wish you the best.

As an ordinary working person, I believe that we also need to wield a razor in human relations and affairs, turning complexity into simplicity.

If you can’t have both sides, then it’s better to be honest and be honest. Be yourself and let others get used to the real you. But there is a prerequisite, which is to be harmless to humans and animals. Once during a business meeting at a door-to-door meeting, our "upright" financial director directly called the other person a "liar". Although I agreed with his judgment, I did not agree with his way of expression.

So, the first principle is to be honest with yourself, but don’t hurt others.

The second principle is to establish consistent standards of action based on the first principle. For example, if you don't go with Mr. Wang's children when they get married, then don't go when Mr. Li's children get married. Of course, how can we not have a relative? There is intimacy in personal relationships, but in official matters we must adhere to the principle of consistency and don't let others pick on you.

Article 3: Say NO appropriately. This is easy for some people and difficult for others. Hesitation Jun is a "severe NO-sufferer", so later he couldn't stand it any more, so he added a new value to himself: "Be more selfish." Be brave and magnanimous about requests that are not beneficial to you. Say: NO! ! !

Therefore, wielding Occam’s razor and being a simple self will often save you a lot of entangled time and focus on work and self-growth.

If you feel particularly busy and can’t keep up with the pace of work, and your work results always fail to meet your leadership’s requirements, there are generally two reasons: first, you have a problem with time management; second, you There is a problem with your ability to work.

If it is the second situation, you need to make great efforts in work, study and personal growth, which we will cover in the next section. This section only introduces time management methods.

Time management concepts and tool apps are very popular, which fully demonstrates that "time management" is a strong need that many people need. However, there are so many application software that we are at a loss as to what to do.

According to Xian Hejun, there are two mainstream solutions for time management:

There are a large number of articles and books introducing the above two principles, which can be found by just searching on the Internet. . Mr. Hesitation has been using the GTD method to carry out his work, and it is indeed very effective.

Personal growth depends on how you use your time outside of 8 hours.

Some people work very hard outside the 8 hours, arrange a full schedule, and live a very fulfilling life. However, no matter how long you try, you are still standing still. This is when you need to consider whether your efforts are “worth it.”

There are too many things you want to learn, too many skills you want to master, and too many things you want to do. In the end, you achieve nothing.

How to use Occam’s razor in personal growth?

First, focus. With personal career planning as the goal, master the knowledge you need to master, learn the skills you need to learn, and do the things you need to do. If your personal career planning has not been done yet, then think about it first, because this is a matter of "long-term significance".

The second is to do “long-term and meaningful” things.

Usually we all know that we have to do "meaningful" things. For example, instead of posting on Weibo, it is better to read a famous book to improve one's thinking mode. Instead of watching two American TV series, it is better to try to write one yourself. a script.

What is more meaningful than doing meaningful things is to do "long-term meaningful" things. For example, it is meaningful to experience a buffet of "supporting the walls in and out", but the benefits are short-lived and will disappear soon, while mastering a skill through practice is long-term and will benefit you throughout your life.

So, record your time schedule beyond 8 hours and see how much of this kind of "long-lasting and meaningful" things account for.

What kind of things have long-term significance? The following is the experience summarized by a Zhihu V:

In addition to these four aspects, Occam’s razor concept can be helpful in all aspects of life. It just depends on whether you can develop a pair of discerning eyes to find out the essence behind the complicated appearance, and whether you can develop a wise mind and be able to decisively strike directly at your true heart, making life simple and rich.