In 2016, the American scholar Mais Casio proposed the concept of the "BANI era", using Brittle (vulnerable), Anxious (anxious), Nonlionear (nonlinear), and Incomprehensible (incomprehensible) to summarize some of the main characteristics of current society.
Brother K thinks that this statement is more and more in line with the status quo of the times, look at our surroundings, how many people have not increased their wages for several years, how many are unemployed and can't find jobs, business is becoming more and more difficult to do, and many shops on the street are closed or transferred. Brother K himself is the boss of two companies, and like everyone, he can clearly feel the coldness of the times, and when he goes to other companies to communicate with some bosses and entrepreneurs, everyone's feelings are similar. At present, it is a low period for many people, many people have become vulnerable, anxious, and do not know how to cope with the current situation.
01
Shut up: Don't complain about the status quo
Xunzi said: "Those who know themselves do not complain about others, those who know their fate do not complain about heaven, those who complain about others are poor, and those who complain about heaven have no ambition." Translated into the vernacular, it means complaining about poison! A person who complains about the heavens and others will not have a future and great ambitions. However, in reality, many people do not have the wisdom and transparency of the sages, and when they encounter setbacks or underestimates, they will "instinctively" complain negatively, and invisibly shroud themselves in the shadow of depression and pessimism. In fact, such an approach is extremely unwise.
In psychology, there is a concept called "self-fulfilling prophecy", which refers to the more a person talks about and "expects" something, the more it will happen. For example, if a person complains all day long, "Why am I so unlucky", "My luck is too bad", "How bad things happen to me"....then his luck will really get worse and worse, and the whole person will become more and more gloomy and decadent. Mr. Kazuo Inamori said in "The Law of the Heart" that "all the misfortunes in life, for no other reason, are attracted by one's own heart, and it is the heart that endlessly pours out misfortune and complains that summons misfortune." Actually, that's what it means.
This is not an unfounded "superstition", Stanford University has done a special study on the subject, and the results have found that complaining will shrink a person's hippocampus, affect the ability to think and solve problems, and reduce a person's memory. In addition, when people complain, the body also releases a hormone called cortisol, which will "switch" the person to fight or flee mode, and too much cortisol release will also cause damage to our immune system.
Hu Xueyan, the richest man in the late Qing Dynasty, was poor when he was a child, and often did not have enough to eat, and later became an apprentice and often starved for a full meal, but he never complained, and worked hard to learn the craft. A few years later, he was appreciated by the shopkeeper of the money village and began the road to prosperity. Later, when he returned to his hometown, he went to a restaurant in the town and ordered a bowl of cheap chowder dishes that he used to eat back then.
After eating, he sighed: "I haven't eaten such an unpalatable dish for a long time." The restaurant owner replied: "Boss Hu is now developed, and he eats a lot of delicious food, so he is naturally not used to eating ordinary meals back then." Unexpectedly, Hu Xueyan replied: "No, I also thought it was difficult to eat back then, but at that time I knew that it was useless to complain, and only by making myself work hard to earn money and eating better food could I be qualified to say that it was not delicious." "Complaining is an unhealthy negative emotion from any angle. Instead of this, it may be more meaningful to learn from Hu Xueyan, shut up and be silent during the trough period, wait for yourself to cross a thousand mountains, and then look back on the past.
Osamu Dazai said in "Human Disqualification": "I think it is futile to complain to others, and it is better to suffer in silence than to be so." "When encountering a trough, instead of complaining and being frustrated, it is better to seek more inward, change your mood, change your attitude, face the current situation positively, solve the problem with practical actions, and get out of the haze.
02
Close: Cultivate in place
The famous host Lu Yu wrote such a sentence in the book "Chance Encounter": "No matter who we are, we have all experienced or are experiencing the darkest moment of our lives, which is a long, dark, cold, and desperate tunnel. "I believe that people who have experienced a low point, or are in a low point, have felt similar ways. At this time, it is necessary to reflect on why this situation occurs, which aspects of one's own ability are caused by it, and to retreat and cultivate, take advantage of the trough period to improve one's skills and expand the boundaries of one's ability, which may be the most correct way to open.
Kazuo Wada, the former president of Yaohan Group, started as the family's small vegetable store and spent 50 years developing the grocery store into a well-known international distribution group with 400 department stores and supermarkets in 16 countries around the world, 6 listed companies, a total of 28,000 employees, and annual sales of more than 500 billion yen. However, during the bursting of Japan's economic bubble, Yaohan Group suffered a major setback, and its suppliers could not pay their salaries, so it had to declare bankruptcy. A lifetime of hard work was ruined, and Kazuo Wada's life fell to the lowest point.
But Kazuo Wada, who lost everything, did not give up in decadence, but spent a year reflecting on himself and improving himself. During this year, he refused all activities, he got up at 4 o'clock in the morning every day, started the day of studying, read all kinds of books, wrote reading notes, and when he encountered problems that he did not understand, he called people to ask for advice. At the age of 70, Kazuo Wada started a new business venture, established a management consulting company, and opened an international management school to share his experience and lessons learned from many years of business with entrepreneurs, entrepreneurs, and business school professors from all over the world. More than 300 classes have been held in Wada, and nearly 10,000 people have listened to his lectures, which has a great influence. NHK and other Japanese media called him an "indomitable man", while he called himself "an immortal bird who will create new heavens and earth after burning himself".
Dalio, founder of Bridgewater, said in The Principles: "I experience painful moments in a very different way, and I don't feel discouraged or overwhelmed, but I see pain as a reminder from nature that I have something important to learn." This kind of attitude is also something that everyone who is in a trough should learn from and learn from. In the face of the trough, we should do the following three things:
1. Strengthen exercise;
Not only does exercise strengthen the body, but during exercise, endorphins and dopamine are also produced. These two substances can bring us inner fullness and pleasure, and can well enhance our fighting spirit and mental outlook.
2. Read more;
Reading with physical and mental commitment can not only help you forget your troubles, but also help you learn new knowledge and expand your horizons, which is very likely to become a new driving force for you to break through and grow at a stage.
3. Learn or improve skills;
Know how to keep pace with the times, stay away from all kinds of ineffective social interactions and unnecessary distractions during the trough period, and take this time as a good opportunity to learn and improve various skills. With well-rounded and excellent skills, there are more options in the future.
03
Zero: Empty cup mentality
Recently, there was an interview with Yu Minhong, in which the host asked very emotionally, "You look at the development of your career now, (is it) all the past is a prologue?", Yu Minhong replied very bluntly: "That is not necessarily, it may also be the end, you must be ready to close the door at any time." The world is changing in ways you wouldn't expect. These words increased Brother K's respect for Lao Yu a little more. For an entrepreneur of such magnitude, it is really commendable to have an empty cup mentality of "returning to zero" at any time. And this kind of mentality of being willing to "return everything to zero" is more worthy of people in the trough.
1. Reset to zero;
Everyone knows that "it is difficult to go from thrift to luxury, and from luxury to thrift". In the same way, many people fall from the highlight moment of "career success" to the bottom of their lives, in fact, the saddest thing is the mentality. Only by not dwelling on the past, not obsessing with possession, and having the courage to start from scratch can you truly take the first step towards a new beginning.
is also Yu Minhong, in a live broadcast with Zhang Chaoyang in the same frame, Zhang Chaoyang sighed to Yu Minhong: "I think it's difficult to get out of the trough, it's really difficult." Yu Minhong replied lightly, "I don't think it's difficult, because I'm used to the trough." I'm probably more used to having nothing than normal people. Yu Minhong has been able to go all the way from failing the college entrance examination, being a teacher being opened, and starting a business to the present, which has a very important relationship with his correct and strong mentality.
2. Experience zero;
Some people have been successful, but after encountering setbacks and entering a trough, they often still hold a "pride" in their hearts, thinking that they are just unlucky for a while, and with their rich experience, even if they do not change anything, they will be able to turn over immediately when they have the opportunity in the future. Brother K has seen a lot of such people, they care too much about their so-called "experience", but ignore the rapid iteration and update of new thinking, new technologies, and new models in the current era.
Experienced and well-informed, when he left Jinshan and was ready to start a new business, he did not use his rich experience and experience to judge which industry would have more development prospects, and then rashly "entered". Instead, he silently "zeroed" his past experience and quietly worked as an angel investor for three years. In this way, with this new identity, we will continue to understand the characteristics of all walks of life, accumulate new experience and cognition, and finally choose the track and establish Xiaomi.
In today's rapid iteration of everything, we can't have the mentality of simply "copying" past experience, especially people who are in a trough, if they only want to be opportunistic and blindly copy, I am afraid that what will be "copied" can only be a failure.
3. Success or failure will be zeroed;
The development of everything in the world rarely evolves in a straight line, and most of them appear in a "spiral" way. Every new breakthrough stems from the previous downward "zeroing". The same is true for being a human being, whether it is success or failure, it is all phased, and it will never be static, and between the two, it can still be "transformed" into each other. With this kind of cognition, we can be more objective and open-minded to look down on winning and losing, not complacent because of previous successes, and not hesitant because of current disappointment. Only by emptying the complacency of success can we welcome new successes, and only by emptying the haze of failure can we truly get out of failure.
Festinger's Law tells us that 10% of the outcome of something is caused by the event itself, and the other 90% is determined by how you react to what happened. If you are in a low point, please be sure to come up with the right attitude and reaction, the above three points may be able to help you, try it.