The author thinks that life has a "bimodal pattern". On the first mountain, we all have to accomplish a certain mission in life: establish our identity, leave our parents, cultivate ourselves, improve ourselves, and strive to leave a mark on the world. Like psychologist James? Hollis said, "at this stage, we tend to think that I am what the world says I am."

The second mountain is not opposite to the first one. Climbing the second mountain does not mean rejecting the first mountain, but the journey after climbing the first mountain. If the first mountain is about self-construction and self-definition, and it is about gaining and climbing independently with elites, then the second mountain is about getting rid of and abandoning oneself, and it is about dedication and egalitarianism for those in need, and walking hand in hand with them.

The author further said that the difference between the first mountain and the second mountain is equivalent to the difference between "resume morality" and "praise morality".

The author says that writing this book has two goals: one is to show how individuals move from the first mountain to the second. The second is to show how society has changed from the first mountain to the second mountain.

In the first half of this book, the author tells in detail how life on two mountains has changed, leading everyone to climb the first mountain, down the mountain into the valley, and then climb the second mountain. In the second half of this book, the author describes how people live with the mentality of the second mountain, that is, how to make the greatest commitment to others in career, spouse and family, philosophy and belief, community and so on. And how they enthusiastically and comprehensively realize these commitments.

In the author's view, it is a disaster that individualism, which emphasizes individual self-success, self-perfection, individual freedom and self-realization, is rampant in current culture. The whole cultural paradigm must be changed from the extreme individualistic thinking mode to the related thinking mode of the second mountain.

The first part, two mountains

Chapter 1 Moral Ecology? People who shape customs and habits are the real legislators of mankind. Man is a creature who paints himself and then becomes similar to himself. Once the dominant atmosphere was to perform duties, but now, life is to do your own thing. The individualism that appeared in 1960s has its historical significance, but it is gradually going to extremes and becoming a mistake.

Chapter 2 Life on the photo wall? We use graduation speeches and other means to convey the mainstream values of the times and give them to young people as gifts, but these gifts have big boxes, which can be freely explored, and the future is infinite, burning passion and being ourselves ..... Young people who receive gifts are at a loss. Some young people pursue aesthetic life. In this way of life, life is a variety of possibilities that can be experienced. They skim the water, but they never stop. Every day is interesting, but it seems meaningless. When personal, social and emotional freedom becomes the ultimate goal, it leads to chaos and busyness in life, but there is no clear direction and no solid foundation.

Chapter three: Supernatural success without security? More and more young people try to regard adulthood as a continuation of school. When they enter the workplace, they follow the life of winning honor. The question "How can I succeed" soon overcame the question "Why should I do this". They gradually became utilitarian pragmatists. "Character" is no longer a moral quality oriented to love, service and care, but a set of workplace characteristics organized around perseverance, productivity and self-discipline. The elite system promotes a culture in which those who are more accomplished are more valuable.

The fourth chapter valley author to lev? For example, Tolstoy's experience shows that when he is tired of life and feels that life is meaningless, he is in the valley. Wealth, fame and achievements can't keep people away from Silicon Valley. This is a crisis in Trass, and the people in it don't understand their purpose. Just like seamus? Heaney said, "You are neither here nor there; In a hurry, the known and the unknown will be missed. " Around us, those who have gorgeous photo wall accounts, exquisite LinkedIn profile and confident appearance may be the most confused, anxious and confused people when talking about the future. Similarly, society will fall into a trough. For example, individualism leads to four interrelated social crises: loneliness crisis, distrust, meaning crisis and tribalism (a community of lonely narcissists).

Chapter 5 Wilderness In the wilderness, distractions are stripped from life. Wilderness teaches people the ability to do nothing, the ability to rest in uncertainty, and the ability not to jump to conclusions. We are in the first stage of giving up-getting rid of the old self, so that a new self can emerge.

Chapter VI Mind and Soul When we are in the valley, we will know more truly and deeply who we really are and what we really need. "We have desires in our hearts. We are defined by what we want, not by what we know. " The purpose of life is to perfect our soul-to realize the beauty that the soul yearns for. " When people don't experience the purpose and meaning of life, they will feel lost. "The soul is like a reclusive leopard, living somewhere in the alpine forest. You may forget it for a long time. You are busy with ordinary activities in your daily life, but the leopard hides in the mountains. But you often catch a glimpse of a leopard in the distance. It follows you in the Woods. "What we once thought was the most important-achievement, affirmation and wisdom-was not so important, but what we underestimated-mind and soul-was actually the most important.

Chapter 7 the promise of life? The most complete definition of commitment is: falling in love with something, and then building a behavior structure around it when love is shaken. Our commitment shapes our character. When you are deeply involved in a commitment, the difference between altruism and selfishness begins to fade. In this sense, the formation of morality is not individual, but related. Character is not cultivated by sitting in a room thinking about the difference between right and wrong, but by one's own willpower. Character is revealed from our promises. If you want to instill character in others, teach them how to make commitments-temporary commitments in childhood and youth, and permanent commitments in adulthood. When your life is defined by fanatical commitment, you are on the second mountain.

Chapter 8 The second mountain? "A person's life is meaningful only when she is quite concerned about something; It only makes sense when she is fascinated, excited, interested and engaged. " The core challenge of living on the second mountain lies in the following questions: how do I choose my promise? How do I decide what is the right commitment for me? Once I make a promise, how can I keep it? How can I integrate my promise into a coherent, caring and happy life?

The second part of the four commitments

Commitment 1: occupation

Chapter 9 What does a career look like? In the professional mentality, you don't live on the level of self-awareness-you work because the work pays well or makes life more convenient. You're involved in a deeper level. Anyone who has a career can hear the inner call: I was called here. Taking frankl's experience in a concentration camp as an example, the author explains that the real question is: What does life require of me? "What we expect from life is not important, but what matters is what life expects from us". The feeling of calling comes from the question: what is my duty here?

Chapter 10 transmission time? The so-called moment of news dissemination is the moment when something arouses people's interest, or the moment when something is enchanted and arouses desire.

Chapter 1 1 What are the responsibilities of a tutor? Tutors' teaching methods are personal, friendly, pleasant and conversational-more understanding than teaching. Teaching science can teach you the principles of biology, but the tutor will teach you how to think like a biologist. Of course, the last thing the tutor does is to send you to the outside world. In a sense, this is weaning you.

Chapter 12 vampire problem? Becoming a vampire is a philosopher LA? Paul called it "the choice of change". Whenever we promise to do great things, we are making transformative choices. All decisions involve a great degree of uncertainty about the future. After the unpredictable life begins to have an impact, you don't know what you will look like or what you want after the transformation, which makes the choice of transformation particularly difficult. We can adopt some rational techniques, such as applying the rule of 10-10, that is, how will you feel after this decision is made in 10 minutes,10 months,10 years? The author thinks that if we try to recognize our profession, the correct question is not "what am I good at", but "what is my motivation for action". In any career search, the key area to explore is your mind and soul, which is your long-term motivation. As time goes by, the commitment to solve problems often overwhelms the enthusiasm that initially pushed someone to solve problems. Career decision-making is not to find out the biggest or most attractive problem in the world, on the contrary, it is the match between wonderful activities and social needs.

Chapter 13 Mastering work is a way of making a living, but work is a special way of being needed and fulfilling the responsibilities entrusted to you by life. All professional work, no matter how deeply it touches you, contains moments when you have to face arduous tasks. All real work requires persistent practice and boring things over and over again to master a skill. Like Oswald the Lucky Rabbit? Chambers said, "Hard work is the touchstone of character."

Commitment 2: Marriage

A passage in 1 Corinthians defines the love of marriage as follows: "Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealousy. Love is not boasting. Don't be arrogant. Don't do anything shy. Don't seek your own interests. Not easy to get angry. It's not evil Do not like injustice. Only like the truth. Everything is tolerant. Believe everything. Have hope for everything. Be patient in everything. "

Commitment 3: Philosophy and Belief

We all need a constructive philosophy of life and a set of value judgment standards. Fortunately, for centuries, human beings have put forward different value systems and ways to find the meaning of the world at different times and places. For example, the Greek tradition emphasizes honor and glory; Hebrew tradition emphasizes obedience to law and strict conscience; Christian tradition emphasizes humility, compromise and grace; The foundation of the Enlightenment is rationality, individual freedom and individual freedom. .....

Commitment to faith means persisting in faith in doubt, in suffering and anxiety, and in struggle.

Commitment 4: Community

In a healthy community, street safety is not mainly maintained by the police, but by "complex, almost unconscious self-control and people's own standard network, which is implemented by people themselves".

A healthy community is a solid interpersonal system. When people deeply feel all kinds of relationships, when there is a history of mutual trust, a sense of belonging, norms of mutual commitment, habits of mutual help and true feelings between people's hearts and souls, a society is healthy.

Today's communities are also under attack. Many roles played by society have been transferred to the market or the country. When we lose love, a community will become vulnerable, and people there will also become vulnerable.

The recovery of the community depends on the people who live on the second mountain. Community reconstruction begins with commitment, and some people decide to put the community above themselves. The next stage of community construction is to repair the whole community. The third stage of commitment to the community involves creating a technology that brings people together. The blooming of empathy and connection is the moment when the community begins to heal wounds and create possibilities. To some extent, a community is a group of people organized around a common story. Then, it is the same project. Community narrative consists of four parts: framework (defining context), narrative (where we come from and where we are going), identity (who we are) and behavior (defining our behavior).

The best adult life is to live by making promises and keeping them. These commitments are commitments to career, marriage and family, philosophy or belief, and community.