Only hard work is the way to climb the ladder of success and the best way to overcome depression, boredom and laziness. Hard-working people can always create their own successful life with their own hands.
As the saying goes: Diligence leads to success. There are no successful people in this world who are not hardworking.
Zeng Guofan has always believed that he is a person with average qualifications. Only through diligent study and accumulation can he realize his ambitions. For this reason, he emphasized the importance of diligence and wrote in an article:
“Everything in the world must have its effect if it has its merits. "It's ridiculous." It means that things in the world can only be effective if you put in enough effort. It is unrealistic to expect good results without putting in the effort.
"Diligence" is a traditional virtue in China. And "God rewards diligence" and "diligence can make up for weakness", and diligence will indeed bring ideal rewards to people. Diligence will enable people to increase their knowledge, broaden their horizons, and accumulate experience, and will fully infiltrate your diligent career, thereby achieving strong growth and fruitful harvests. Therefore, Zeng Guofan said, "All the sages and heroes throughout the ages, even those who want to be established in the world, are nothing more than the word 'diligence'." Diligence means not slacking off and being conscientious in one's work. Therefore, diligence will give rise to "respect", which is a respect and solemn attitude towards the object of diligence. "Jing" must give rise to "qian", which means being careful and respectful. Therefore, it is common for Zeng Guofan to compare "diligence, respect, and humility". As he said, "Diligence is like King Wen's unyieldingness, greatness like Shun and Yu's disapproval, humility is like Han Wen's invincibility, and the two words 'qin and Qian' are particularly thorough from beginning to end, and are inseparable from the beginning. Diligence is also a warning to laziness." , The reason for being humble is to be proud, if you can be diligent and humble, then the big character is in it." "I will keep these two characters of diligence and respect for the rest of my life, if it is said that I can die in the morning and die in the evening!"
In the competition field of life, how do people with average talents compete with or even win over those with good talents? It relies on the accumulation of diligence. When we were on the same starting line, others may not be as good as you, but you relied on your own intelligence and used it as your basis. You thought that intelligence and talent were omnipotent and ignored your daily efforts. Little did you know that people with average talent accumulated over time and unknowingly I have distanced myself from you. This is the principle of "the stupid bird flies first". However, there are no truly stupid people in this world, only lazy people.
Zeng Guofan repeatedly warned his disciples that learning must rely on daily accumulation. He said: The principle of reading is like the river and the sea that are always flooded, like the drizzle that is always moisturizing. This is like a simple metaphor: realizing a dream is like boiling soup over low heat so that it tastes delicious. Therefore, a gentleman cannot limit himself to one place because of his humble way. Knowledge lies in accumulation, and dreams and efforts also lie in accumulation. The more you accumulate, the more you will naturally be able to master it.
Zeng Guofan extended this to writing articles and poems. He said: Generally speaking, articles and poems should be written when the sincere feelings have reached the extreme and they cannot help but express themselves.
However, it is also necessary to rely on daily accumulation. When writing, you don't have to think hard and can be able to find both sides. Only the reasoning can be enough to express the author's most sincere and practical feelings. When writing an article, I don’t have to worry about trying to figure out the words; after I finish writing the article, I don’t feel unable to express what I’m thinking. This is all the result of accumulation over time. The quality of an article and the level of knowledge do not depend on the superficial skills of rhetoric. The profound meaning of the article is the soul of the article. Many authors focus on inspiration when writing their articles. In fact, the so-called inspiration is still limited by their own level. When it comes to writing essays and poems, it depends on how well you have grasped the principles in your mind. If it can be as easy as picking up something you carry with you and blurting it out in an instant, that’s fine. Otherwise, if you have to find a temporary solution, it is better not to do it. If you force yourself to do it, you can only use clever words and false feelings to please others. This is the most taboo thing for those who are serious about learning.
From this passage, it can be seen that Zeng Guofan has very strict requirements for learning. He must not be perfunctory or dabble in things, but he must be good at accumulating, so that when he uses them, he can make the right choice without having to think hard. When you accumulate more knowledge, you will be able to integrate it and discover unknown content based on what you already know. As a result, the space for imagination and play will become larger, and your thinking will be able to run freely.
In addition to emphasizing diligence in reading, Zeng Guofan also attached great importance to the reading environment. He repeatedly emphasized that a suitable and good environment can easily make people do good, just as a bad and corrupt environment can easily make people bad and evil.
If the environment is harsh and the atmosphere is bad, he thinks it is not suitable for cultivating talents. He once wrote to his younger brother: "You can't study in Hengyang and you can't study in Lianbin, because you will hurt too many friends." . He often taught his son Jize in his letters, to the effect that: Our Qing Dynasty has been passed down from generation to generation, and we have always gotten up at the right time. Generations of our family have been getting up early since the time of our great-grandfather and great-grandfather. I have seen my great-grandfather Jing Xi and my grandfather Xing Gang both get up before dawn. In the cold winter, they would wait for about an hour (that is, two hours) after getting up. Until dawn.
My father Zhuting Gong also gets up at dawn, and before dawn when something happens, and he must get up once or twice every night to check on you. You have all seen this with your own eyes. Passed.
I have been getting up at dawn recently, trying to inherit the family tradition of my ancestors. Since you are over 20 years old and already married and starting a family, getting up early should be your first priority. Not only must you practice it yourself, but you must also teach your new daughter-in-law to practice it herself.
Zeng Guofan also said: It is very important for younger generations to study diligently and cautiously in everything they do, and not to look lazy and lax. Among my brothers, only Brother Cheng is more diligent. I have been encouraging myself to be more diligent recently. There is a certain truth to the fact that families prosper due to hard work and decline due to laziness. So brothers and children should listen and reflect on themselves.
Zeng Guofan does not advocate doing one’s diligence immediately, but advocates slowly developing a habit.
Zeng Guofan implemented the word "diligence" throughout his life. When he was the governor-general of Zhili, he solved the backlog of tens of thousands of cases in one month. In his later years, he was almost blind, but he still kept reading. After he had achieved great things, he still hoped to become a "person of truth" and worked hard for it until he died of illness.
It can be seen that "diligence" is the wealth of a person's life, and we should all cherish it.