1. The secret of Li Ka-shing’s success: Build yourself and pursue selflessness

As a business giant in the Chinese-speaking world, Li Ka-shing has always been at the forefront of his business without failure for more than 70 years. Many business leaders worship him. Successful entrepreneurs such as Alibaba's Jack Ma and Mengniu's Niu Gensheng once visited Li Ka-shing at the Hong Kong headquarters and asked him in person what was the secret to success? At that time, Li Ka-shing replied: For me, there are only eight words, which are to establish myself and pursue selflessness.

Jack Ma’s understanding of Li Ka-shing’s eight words is: establish yourself so that you don’t lose your way; pursue selflessness so that you can return to your original nature and become ordinary.

2. Source of the secret: Zuo Zongtang’s peerless couplets

However, the origin of these eight characters has always been an unsolved mystery. It was not until a reporter interviewed Li Ka-shing that the source was revealed. It turns out that these eight characters come from a couplet written by Zuo Zongtang, a well-deserved national hero and Confucian general in the Late Qing Dynasty, in the Plum Garden of Wuxi, Jiangsu:

Make high wishes, make middle fate, and enjoy low blessings ;

Choose a high place to stand, seek a flat place to live, and walk toward a wide place.

Zuo Zongtang did not leave so many famous quotes and family letters like Zeng Guofan. Although few but quiet, they are highly praised by Li Ka-shing, Rong Desheng, Jack Ma and others! Li Ka-shing specifically said that these 24 words embody a profound philosophy of life, and Li Ka-shing regarded them as his own life creed and the source of his eight-character business secrets.

3. Ambition to do big things, and be a mortal to enjoy small blessings

The first couplet means to have great ambitions, only seek moderate fate, and live an ordinary life.

"Making high aspirations" means having high aspirations and having compassion for others;

"Making a middle-level destiny" means adhering to the golden mean and pursuing perfection;

"Enjoying lower blessings" means enjoying the true blessings of life and appreciating the true meaning of life.

The second line means that you should look far-sighted when looking at problems, be low-key in life, and leave room for things to happen.

"Choose a high place to stand" to have a far-sighted vision;

"Seek a peaceful place to live" to avoid disasters;

"Go to a wider place" , in order to travel unimpeded.

It can be said that Li Ka-shing has brought China's golden mean to the extreme: aspire to do big things, but be low-key; be ambitious, but don't enjoy great blessings. Only by leaving room for success in life and work can we be able to deal with complex contradictions and emergencies without hesitation, and be able to achieve and maintain a career.

As an entrepreneur, you must learn this way of doing things in the early stages of starting a business, so that you can continue to make progress and make your business bigger and bigger.