Feng Tang, who is well-known for his literary works, has mixed reputations in the eyes of readers. Some people say they like his uniqueness, while others claim to dislike him as a literary outlier. But in fact, Feng Tang is not a professional writer. According to current terms, he is a successful slash young man - a doctor of medicine, a former McKinsey partner, and now investing in the primary market. Writing is just his hobby.

As a cross-border successful person, people actually know very little about Feng Tang except for his works. Recently, Feng Tang published a new book in which he elaborated on some of his views on life and work. Feng Tang's new book is called "Cheng Shi", which expresses his views by interpreting Zeng Guofan's words and notes. Moreover, this book does not make a summary, but only follows Zeng Guofan's four parts: letters/family letters/family precepts/diary. , first list the original text, and then write the author's personal views.

Although some people think that this arrangement makes the whole book confusing and lacks unity, the advantage is that it is very easy to read and can be turned to at any time. It is especially suitable to be placed beside your pillow, in the car or carried with you. You can open it and read it at will in your spare time. It only takes two or three minutes to get some enlightenment.

Feng Tang’s original intention was to publish a management guidance book, and the reason why he chose Zeng Guofan’s Jia Yan Chao was because, firstly, the author had read Zeng Guofan’s books the most, most diligently, and gained the most; secondly, Zeng Guofan, one of the four famous ministers of the late Qing Dynasty and the Zhongxing Dynasty, not only stood out from the crowd in his success, but also provided methodologies around success in his writings.

But after reading the whole book, it is not difficult to find that: as the saying goes, "rectify others before rectifying yourself." If you want to succeed and manage people well, you must first manage yourself well. Therefore, from this perspective, "Achievements" is a book suitable for all readers who want to achieve success.

This book expounds many views on how to achieve success, but the following four points are mentioned repeatedly:

In the famous Hokkien inspirational song "If You Love to Fight, You Will Win" It is said that "three parts are destined by nature, and seven parts depend on hard work." However, Zeng Guofan believed that "the success of an achievement is determined by human power and the seventh part by destiny." In other words, it should be reversed: three parts are determined by hard work and seven parts by nature. Destined.

This argument has existed in China since ancient times. The ancients summarized the ten elements of success: one is destiny, two is luck, and three are feng shui, four are accumulation of yin virtues, five are reading, six are seven aspects and eight are gods, nine are friends with noble people, and ten are health-preserving. From these elements, none of the first three involve personal effort. According to this statement, should people just leave their lives to fate?

Many people are also very confused about this. Sometimes they feel that people's fate is destined, and sometimes they feel that they can change everything with hard work. Which statement is correct?

In fact, it may not be that important who accounts for destiny or hard work. What is really important is to acknowledge the existence of destiny in the process of achieving things, because only by accepting this reality can we not be easily disillusioned. But if you overemphasize objectivity and act like a monk hitting the clock, you will only be a mediocre person and cannot achieve anything. Therefore, after accepting the existence of the factor of fate, we still have to work hard - because destiny cannot always win, and we will not always lose.

As Zeng Guofan said: "We don't know what the world is like. We try our best to do it, and success or failure is irrelevant." - We have done everything we should do, and the rest of the success or failure is up to God. This is the attitude we should have when doing things.

There were two great masters of Confucianism in the Southern Song Dynasty. One was Lu Jiuyuan, who advocated: "Establishing one's own greatness", and the other was Zhu Xi, who advocated: "accumulating every inch of baht." The later well-known saying "Think big, start small" was summed up by Zeng Guofan from the remarks of these two people. Feng Tang said that if he could only remember one golden saying of Zeng Guofan, then remember this one. It is the only way to achieve success and be a good person.

So how do you understand this sentence? Zeng Guofan said, "The word "Ming" is the first important thing when it comes to things. There are two kinds of Ming: Gao Ming and Shrewdness." - From the perspective of human factors, if you want to achieve success, the most important thing is the word "Ming", which contains two There are two meanings, one is clever and the other is shrewd. Gao Ming refers to the overall situation. You must have a lofty goal when doing things. This is thinking about the big picture. And shrewdness refers to precision, which actually means starting small. There are no shortcuts to getting things done. You can only aim at the goal, keep working hard, and hone yourself repeatedly from the two perspectives of mastery and shrewdness.

In real life, sometimes we may lack the ability to look at the big picture. For example: I am confused about the future and don’t know where to go. What should I do at this time? Zeng Guofan pointed out: "You must be down-to-earth and diligent in small things, so that you can achieve success in the future." That means you should start with what you can do now and work hard. Over time, you will naturally be able to find a direction. The most important thing at this time is to immerse yourself in work and not worry about the future. In this way, if you have no desires in your heart, you will not consume energy, but it will increase your chances of winning.

Nowadays, self-media is popular, and many people hope to become famous overnight. They worry about the amount of reading every day and focus on finding tips. But those who are truly successful first polish their content carefully, and after constant exploration, they gradually become popular with the public. Qualitative change often requires the accumulation of quantitative change. When the quantity is not enough, pursuing results will only cause yourself more trouble.

Of course, if you want to succeed, in the best case, you should first have the overall situation of the matter, and then understand the various links that make up the matter, and open up the interconnected joints, so that you can move forward faster.

According to his own summary, Zeng Guofan's life was "successful defeats and repeated battles."

Please note: This is different from repeated defeats. Repeated defeat means doing things many times and failing many times. Repeated defeats emphasize the tenacity of not giving up despite repeated failures.

Zeng Guofan failed many more times in his life than ordinary people: he failed many exams at first, then he became an official in the capital and was scolded by the powerful people in the capital, and when he became an official in a local area, he was scolded by the locals. The leader of the army also suffered many defeats in Yuezhou, Jinjiang, and Hukou. According to his words: "There are many times when the teeth are knocked out, and every time they are not swallowed with blood." In today's terms, it is "knocked out." The teeth go into the stomach.” Everyone likes success and dislikes failure. However, failure is when you really gain insights and experience. Zeng Guofan believed that whenever he made progress in his life, it was only when he was frustrated and humiliated. So not only should you not be afraid of failure, but you should also cherish the misfortune. Feng Tang's metaphor here is very good. He said: "Cherish the time of misfortune, just like cherishing the girl who broke your heart." - Although it hurts, you can't bear to hate it after all.

Xu Tu’s self-improvement emphasizes persistence and not being anxious.

The reason why people hate failure is not only because it shows our shortcomings, but also often gives people the illusion that time is wasted, so anxiety is inevitable. Zeng Guofan emphasized: "If you harbor anxious and angry thoughts, you may not succeed. Be patient, be patient!"

Nothing is an exception. Feng Tang took treatment as an example and pointed out that no matter Whether it is a physical illness or a mental illness, you need to give the pain some time, give the medicine some time, and give God some time before you can slowly get better. After all, it is just a legend that the medicine can cure the disease.

People always hope to become famous in one day and achieve it overnight. The overwhelming anxiety of selling makes people eager for success. But food must be eaten bite by bite, so going against the trend of the times, being more relaxed, slower, and not in a hurry will make things more successful.

Zeng Guofan himself was not in good health, and he only lived for more than sixty years due to his hard work all his life. In his works, he often talks about the way to maintain health - "The way to maintain health is based on the four words of group leisure, ministerial work, saving thoughts and getting rid of worries, both of which lead to a pure heart."

According to Zeng Guofan, the mind is the king and the body is the minister. If you can be physically and mentally exhausted, you will never be exhausted no matter how tired you are, and you may even be happy. So how do you avoid feeling tired? Six words: Save yourself from worries and eliminate worries. That means less entanglement, less worries, and naturally less worries. For people nowadays, it means looking at their mobile phones less, being less idle, avoiding worldly gossip, and escaping beyond the range of keyboard warriors. As for the body, it is necessary to: walk long and diligently, and move the muscles and bones regularly. Just exercise regularly. As for how to exercise, Feng Tang gave a specific plan: focus on exercising at least twice a week, for at least an hour each time. Only by being strong and maintaining your weight can you prevent your body from holding back your energy. According to Feng Tang, if you can still wear the jeans you wore when you graduated from college at the age of 50 or even 60, you will be able to take several more steps on the road to success.

The book "Cheng Shi" is like a reading notebook by Feng Tang, so the experience during the reading process is very interesting: not only are you understanding Zeng Guofan's views, but you also seem to be communicating with Feng Tang. Feng Tang can not only help you better understand Zeng Guofan's thoughts, but also put forward his own different views. It's really a book to read and get inspiration from two successful people.

Although the reading notes are not as logically rigorous as traditional books, the little sparks of thought have become another remarkable and fresh experience. British writer Polk said: "Reading without thinking is equivalent to eating without digesting." The note-taking style objectively encourages us to think and summarize. As the saying goes: There are a thousand Hamlets in the hearts of a thousand people. I believe that if you read this book, you will definitely gain something different from it.