The learning methods and training details of Harvard's top students

Chapter 36 Exercising more children is the only way to excel
(Harvard representative: John Kennedy) Even if you are weak, poor, and ordinary, you still have advantages that others will envy.For those who dream of success, it is not the lack of talent, but the lack of discovery of their own talents and the development and utilization of their own life value.

— Samuel Hahnman, professor at Harvard University

【Wonderful Guide】

biography of kennedy

约翰·菲兹吉拉德·肯尼迪（1917～1963），1917年5月29日生于马塞诸塞州波士顿市布鲁克林郊区富豪之家，父亲曾任驻英大使。1935年在伦敦经济学院曾就教于有名的政治学教授拉斯基。1940年哈佛大学毕业。1941年10月应征入伍。曾到鱼雷艇中队服役。1945年退役后在国际新闻社任记者。

At the age of 29, he won the election for the House of Representatives and was re-elected for three terms (3-1947).In Congress, he paid attention to social relief and civilian welfare internally, opposed communism externally, and supported the Cold War. In 1953 he entered the Senate. In 1953, the book "Biography of the Brave" was published and won the Pulitzer Prize. In the late 1956s, he served as a member of the Senate Foreign Affairs Committee and advocated the expansion of aid to Africa and newly independent countries.His political views gradually shifted to the left, and his popularity within the Democratic Party gradually increased. He was re-elected as a senator in 50. In November 1958, he defeated the Republican candidate Nixon and became the youngest president in American history and the first Catholic president.

During his tenure, he put forward the "New Frontier" political platform.It advocates the revitalization of education, the development of agriculture, and emphasis on urban construction and health insurance for the elderly and children. In 1961, he created the Giron Beach incident that invaded Cuba; he proposed a ten-year "Alliance for Progress" plan to "aid" Latin America, and established the "Peace Corps." In 1962, military threats were used to force Khrushchev to withdraw the "defensive" missiles transported into Cuba. In 1963, it signed a treaty banning nuclear weapons testing in the atmosphere with the Soviet Union and the United Kingdom, and also agreed to set up a US-Soviet "hotline".In September of the same year, he published a speech on the policy of invading Vietnam, and sent 9 US troops to Vietnam to expand the war of aggression against Vietnam. On November 25000, 1963, he was assassinated while on a campaign trip in Dallas, Texas.

【Character Story】

Trained to be president from a young age
As a child, John F. Kennedy spent months in hospital with a series of ailments, the first of which was a severe bout of scarlet fever that kept him in the hospital for two months before his third birthday.During the formative years, when the healthy child is outside playing, he spends most of his time reading, galloping through books of history and heroism.

His father often encouraged him to face the almost constant illness with great courage.

Kennedy Sr., who once served as the British ambassador, often talked with the children about the political situation at that time and the competition and positions of various domestic parties at the dinner table, and encouraged the children to freely express their opinions on world events. There was a heated debate.During the discussions, the children not only gained a better understanding of politics, but also had a strong interest in domestic and foreign affairs. They often went to the library to find more materials to read.As a result, one son became president and two became councilors.

In order to let his son see the scene, the old Kennedy once took a special trip to fly to Paris with the young Kennedy to attend a social event.Because he not only requires children to have good table manners and know how to greet others, but also hopes that John Kennedy has style and style!That's why some people say: "The old Kennedy trained him to be president since he was a child."

Kennedy, who had read about the war, was determined to share the great experience of his generation.He would have been unable to pass a real military medical examination, but his father used his wealth and influence to persuade friends in the army to accept a medical certificate from a family doctor, which eventually made him a naval officer.

【Harvard view】

Learn to bear hardships, life will be richer and thicker

Today's children are all grown up in a sugar bowl, and they can't bear hardships at all, but being able to endure hardships is the biggest prerequisite for a successful career.

In 1878, Gorky went to a primary school in the outskirts of the city to study.Because the original wealthy grandfather went bankrupt and the family had nothing.The sensible little Gorky carries a broken bag on his back every day after school, and walks the streets of the suburbs picking up broken things, bones, rags, shredded paper, nails, everything, and then sells them to the garbage station in exchange for a little money subsidy household.

Later, the situation at home got worse and worse. In the autumn of this year, little Gorky had to leave school to work as an apprentice in a shoe store.In addition to doing a good job in the store, I also have to help the boss with various housework: laundry, mopping the floor, and taking care of the children... Every day I am so tired that my back hurts, I can’t eat well, and I can’t sleep well.Once when cooking, the boss urged to serve the dishes quickly. Gorky was anxious, and the hand holding the soup bowl couldn't help shaking. Accidentally, the freshly boiled vegetable soup spilled on the floor, and his hands were severely burned. Was sent to the hospital.After being discharged from the hospital, he was fired.Later, Gorky went to Sergeyev, an architectural draftsman and builder, as an apprentice.He is said to be an apprentice, but in fact he can't learn any crafts at all, but works as a maid and dishwasher every day.The shopkeeper is only responsible for providing him with three meals a day, and there is no salary or any freedom other than that.Every day he has to scrub copperware, chop wood, light the stove, wash vegetables, take care of the children, and run errands with the proprietress in the market. Every Saturday, he has to scrub the floors and stairs of all the rooms.Little Gorky tasted the hardships of the world very early.

In the face of this poor reality, Gorky's only pleasure is reading.But in Sergeyev's house, reading was regarded as not doing a proper job, and if he was caught, he would inevitably be beaten severely.Gorky always tried every means to find a book, and then took great risks to climb to the attic late at night, into the shed, and read by the moonlight.Gorky read all kinds of books. The works of Goncourt, Flaubert, and Stendhal made Gorky fascinated, and the wonderful Russian classical literature made Gorky fascinated.

At the age of 16, Gorky was determined to study, hoping to find a bright future for himself by going to college.So Gorky came to Kazan.But for a poor kid, struggling to feed his stomach, going to college is simply an unrealistic fantasy.He goes out early every morning to look for work, chops firewood and carries goods with the homeless. At night, he lives in city parks, in kilns on the shore, and even in tree holes and ditches.He no longer has any expectations of going to college. He clearly knows that society is his own university. In this big class, he will learn a lot of knowledge that is not available in books.

Later, Gorky wrote his "autobiographical trilogy"-"Childhood", "In the World", and "My University" based on his own experience.

The poverty of life tempered Gorky's will and made him stronger after suffering a hard life.In life, it is natural to encounter bitter wind and bitter rain.There is no sea that is always calm, and there is no road that is always flat.Even if the waves are turbulent, even if the ravines are vertical and horizontal, if you cross them, life will become colorful and rich.Uncut jade needs to be carefully polished to be crystal clear, and life also needs to be tempered to be full and thick.

Face up to yourself, reflect on yourself calmly, and ask yourself whether you have tempered yourself into a piece of gold, a piece of gold that is shining enough for people to see at a glance.

[Easy interaction]

As a parent, have you consciously trained your children to suffer?In what ways?What is your training style?
【Parent-child total product】

The famous Russian writer Turgenev in the 19th century said: "Do you want to be a happy person? Then you must first learn to endure hardship. Those who can endure hardship can bear all misfortunes, and there is no difficulty in the world that they cannot escape." In order to let children To be able to be happy in the future, parents cannot feel sorry for their children's hardships.

Zhang Xin was admitted to Tsinghua University in 1994 with the third place in science in Jiangsu Province. After graduation, he went directly to Duke University in the United States to study for a doctorate, and then worked in the China branch of McKinsey Consulting. In 3, he received an MBA from Harvard Business School.During his growth, his parents paid great attention to the cultivation of his will, and often made him suffer a little.

In Japan, some families use the method of "setback education" to cultivate children's ability to endure hardship from an early age.Every winter, they let the young children crawl and roll naked in the wind and snow.It was freezing cold and the north wind was howling. Many children's lips were purple from the cold and they were shaking all over, while their parents stood aside and ignored them.Japan also advocates the "style of studying abroad for the poor", allowing wealthy students from big cities to go to remote mountainous areas and villages to receive arduous life training. The purpose is to cultivate children's hard-working spirit and perseverance.

【Harvard view】

Grow, start from self-training
Independence comes from exercise from an early age.The so-called training is multifaceted, such as labor training, training of strong will, training of endurance and spirit of bearing hardships, and so on.Parents in western countries start from exercising their children's ability to live independently, and generally adopt a hands-off approach to their children's education.

1. Let go
The so-called letting go means that from the time children are born, parents try to create opportunities and conditions for them to exercise themselves.The common practice is to make children do self-serving labor according to different ages.For example, there are three children in an American family. They all have their own roles at home and will learn corresponding labor skills: a 3-year-old boy can help his father mow the lawn, water flowers, and clean the yard; Food recipes bake a variety of delicious treats; an 10-year-old girl knits colorful tea coasters, and more.

2. Don't let go

(1) Teenagers in Europe and the United States have been engaged in newspaper delivery and part-time jobs since they were young. This in itself is a kind of hard work.In the cold winter, when children of the same age in China may still be sleeping soundly in the hot quilt, they have already got up to deliver newspapers from door to door.

(2) The average family income in western countries is relatively high, but they have strict restrictions and requirements on children's pocket money.Moreover, pocket money is never used as a means of rewarding children for learning. The purpose is to educate children to understand that their hard work is solely for the purpose of becoming useful talents in the future.American parents are more "harsh" on their children's pocket money.According to a survey, 54% of teenage students in the United States do not have pocket money, and the older they are, the less likely they are to get pocket money.

(3) Westerners never let children's shortcomings and mistakes be ignored, let alone protect them, but try to teach children to know their mistakes and correct them.

[Easy interaction]

1. Have you consciously exercised your child since he was a child?

2. Compared with the above content, what else do you need to create opportunities for children to exercise themselves?

【Parent-child total product】

In order to exercise children's independence, parents should educate their children to be responsible for their own actions from an early age, and not to take on everything for them, otherwise it will dilute their sense of responsibility and be detrimental to their growth.

1920, the American boy that has 11 years old was kicked not carefully when playing football broke the glass of neighbor’s house, the family claim for compensation 12.50 dollars.After the boy that entered catastrophe admits a mistake to father, father makes him responsible to his error.He said in embarrassment: "I have no money to compensate others." His father said: "I will lend it to you first, and pay it back to me in a year." Since then, the boy has been working hard every weekend and holiday. After half a year of hard work, He finally earned enough to pay $12.50 back to his father.This boy becomes the Reagan of American president later namely.He says when recollecting this thing: "The labor that passes oneself will assume error, make what I knew to call responsibility..

(End of this chapter)