Wherever you want to go, start now

Chapter 1 The place you want to go, set sail now (1)
If you have a dream, or decide to do something, you should act immediately.You know, 100 heartbeats are not as good as one action, and one doer is worse than 100 dreamers.

Every life has countless possibilities
Perhaps it is difficult for us to become the next Liu Yong, but it is not so difficult for us to become a different self from the past.

When Liu Yong came to the magazine to have a discussion with our editors, he didn’t want to go there at first, thinking that his pen and ink were just “chicken soup for the soul” over and over again.If the talk is bland, read your own book.

After listening to it, I actually listened to it, and felt that he was not only a middle-aged man who could write inspirational articles, but also exuded a kind of elegant and gentle classical atmosphere.When speaking, he is persuasive and can always pick up a few sentences by citing scriptures, making you feel that he is really observing the world with his heart.

He said that if you teach the younger generation just saying "no drugs, no alcohol, this is the bottom line, you can't cross it", it's too old-fashioned.The current era is completely different from the older generation. In the past, only one skill was better than wealth. Now that technology is constantly innovating, maybe the technology you master will be eliminated soon.Life is no longer a one-way street.Maybe when we were in college, we were camels who worked hard, and we became lions after we made our way in the society, but once we failed, we became babies again, and then began the cycle of camels and lions.Therefore, we need to be prepared for lifelong learning.

Then he used many ancient Chinese classics and poems to prove the difference between the old-style life and the new-style life.Thinking about it later, there should be many kinds of chicken soup for the soul. Some people blindly use the method of beating chicken blood to instill in you the rules of success. What exactly is this book about.

There are many trivial things in life, and the stories that continue to happen present different appearances of life.The key is whether it presents you with a bowl of chicken soup, or a spoon that guides you in the chicken soup.

Holding his spoon, Liu Yong realized the life philosophy of this generation from the living environment of the previous generation.

Many years ago, Liu Yong was a high school student.Facing the future life, he, like you and me, is in the unknown and confused.Maybe ten years after leaving high school, we have grown from 18 to 28 years old, and we are still confused about life. Maybe we have given up the ideal life we ​​once longed for. The 18-year-old Liu Yong seemed to know that life is not only a one-way street when he was studying, and it is not only a road to enter the research institute and enter the society by studying and taking exams.When he was in high school, Liu Yong wanted to give up the idea of ​​relying on exams to muddle his life.He runs the school magazine and always asks for leave to go to the printing factory and squats there all day.After that, his grades always took "C".Sometimes the discipline office said that the articles in the school magazine had a tendency to fall in love with puppies or were not positive enough. If they wanted to remove them, he would squat in the printing factory to catch up on the manuscripts.He found that the fastest way to fill the "skylight" was to write poems, so he began to write poems. This writing turned himself into a poet, won the Young Poets Award, and participated in the World Poets Conference.

Whether he is a publisher, editor or poet, Liu Yong paved many possible paths for himself at his youngest age.After entering university, he was still editing publications and continued to deal with printing houses.Perhaps a poet who does not know how to print is not a good writer.After laying so many roads, he finally realized his dream of becoming a writer.

When he wrote his first book "Whispers from the Fluorescent Window", he found a publisher. The publisher looked through it and said with a smile: "It's a small book, you can print it yourself!" He also took the manuscript to the publication he served, hoping that the company would publish it for him. They also flipped through it and said, "It's a small book, you can publish it yourself!"

So he really went out on his own.He wrote, edited, designed, proofread, and published by himself. He compiled "Whispers from the Firefly Window" based on the people he knew and knew from the printing factory in high school.Thousands of copies were printed, but they sold out quickly.Edition after edition, it was reprinted many times, eventually selling hundreds of thousands of copies.Later, he wrote one after another, and eventually released dozens of books, all of which originated from the foreshadowing he had planted for his future in middle school.

If he hadn't joined the society to edit the school magazine, if he had put his future on the exam, if he hadn't spent so much time and energy in the printing factory, if he had followed the advice of the publisher and his own company If he felt that there was no value in publishing, his book would not have come out, and he would most likely not have become a best-selling inspirational author with a reputation overseas.

Decades later, he said that "life is not a one-way street", which is not a new truth. It is not a new truth when he said that he should study all his life, toss with his dreams all his life. When he was young, he said these words today. Made the best footnotes.

Liu Yong's life does not end when he becomes a writer and writes a book. He is still investing in his dreams, investing in more paths and more life choices.He used the money earned from best-selling books to supplement his "private books", and did many seemingly "losing money" things, crazy things.

After graduating from university, he taught in high school, then resigned to work as a variety show host on a TV station. After the commercials were full, he went to the deserted news department.When he won the honor of "Most Popular TV Reporter", he simply resigned and went to the United States.He continued to study and teach in the United States, and after obtaining the title of associate professor, he simply resigned and returned to Taiwan.

In different industries, different fields, and different life possibilities, he keeps trying, learning, and exploring the highest possible peaks of each road.As he said, there is never only one way in life. If you restrict your dreams too much, do not leave a way out for yourself, and only see one kind of life, then how can you be where you are today.

After successfully writing the book, he started to lose money to study painting and photography, never stopped, never confined his footsteps and vision, and never put his life in the monotonous work day after day, even though It is a monotonous job, but he can work hard to make achievements, and then start a new life.

Liu Yong also told a short story.When I was in college, a classmate who was very good at reading palmistry took his hand to look left and right, and suddenly exclaimed: "Oh my God! You have a star pattern on your hand! Three short lines of the same length cross at one point , radial palm prints." Liu Yong was curious: "What good is that?" She said: "It means that there is a star in your hand! Everyone in this world has their own constellation, and everyone can Find the star that belongs to him in the sky, but most people, the star is in the sky, he can only follow the star in the sky, listen to the control of the star. But you are different, the star is in your hand, you can walk own way."

Everyone, no matter whether you have the star pattern on your hand or not, as long as you have such a dream star in your heart, have expectations for your own life, and keep striving, you will have a different life.Too many people have fallen into a patterned life, studying at a young age, leaving home when they grow up, doing a job that they may not like so much for a more or less salary, and living an ordinary life without waves.

Life is not a one-way street. Liu Yong understood it decades ago when he was a high school student.The world is too impetuous, and people's hearts are too impetuous. They can't calm down, but they yearn for more, but they can't take a crucial step.Perhaps each of us has thought about whether we didn't choose that way, didn't fill out this volunteer, and didn't do this job, so we would have a different life.

The world is so big, so rich and colorful, so that our whole life is inexhaustible, why should we shrink our life into a snail shell that is peacefully used to not wanting to change and fearing to change?Perhaps it is difficult for us to become the next Liu Yong, but we can work hard to become a different self from the past.

Wherever you want to go, start now
Do your best every day, and one day you will find that your persistence is leading you towards the distance you yearn for.

The company is going to recruit a group of planning specialists, and I have the honor to participate in this recruitment activity as one of the interviewers.In this recruitment activity, I happened to meet my classmate Wang Nan.

Wang Nan and I are classmates in high school, and our Chinese scores are very good, especially in writing.She often said that she wants to become a writer and publish her own collection of poems.

During the college entrance examination, Wang Nan missed the university due to a slight difference.For the next two years, she studied in the city's most famous repeat class, took the exam again and again, and finally passed the undergraduate course by more than 10 points in the third impact.

Regrettably, Wang Nan made some mistakes when filling out the application form.

When she received the admission notice, she was taken aback, but there was nothing she could do—she was admitted to a teacher training college in the province. Although it was her favorite Chinese major, she was admitted to a junior college with the grades that would have allowed her to get into an undergraduate degree. Not reconciled, full of complaints, and helplessly went to school to report.

In this interview, Wang Nan did not perform well.

After self-introduction, the recruiter asked, why is there no copy of the CET-[-] certificate in the resume?

She hesitated, a little ashamed: "No."

Graduated with a major in Chinese and did not publish an article in any newspaper. During the 15-minute trial lecture, Wang Nan was so nervous that he slipped his tongue a few times, "Actually, I really like writing..." She repeatedly emphasized, and later, she couldn't continue, so she remained silent in embarrassment.

Without waiting for the final result, Wang Nan knew that this application was useless just by looking at the examiner's expression.Wang Nan left without waiting for the final announcement of the interview results.

Later, I learned about her from others.

Wang Nan just entered the teacher's college. She has attracted much attention because she entered the school No.1, but disappointment, anger and complaints dominated her emotions, and she almost gave up her studies in school.Although Wang Nan really wanted to become a writer, he hadn't even read a few books, and he didn't even bother to write a manuscript.In short, regarding his studies, since he was forcibly discounted that summer, Wang Nan automatically pressed the stop button.

The reason why I am moved by Wang Nan's story is because I found that many failed people always like to talk about their ideals and aim too high.Especially when attending large or small gatherings, almost everyone began to plan a huge change after drinking three rounds.This one said that he was going to quit that job of eating and waiting to die, and devote himself to the career he really loves; the other was going to go to his immediate boss, slapping the table to ask for a promotion and salary increase, and if the other party didn't agree, he would leave the table immediately... However After a period of time, you will find that these people have not changed in the slightest, and those bold words before are just a mental orgasm in a half-dream and half-awake.

Cai Kangyong, a well-known Taiwanese host, once wrote such a passage: At the age of 15, he found swimming difficult and gave up swimming. When you meet someone you like and ask you to go swimming, you have to say "I can't".I felt that English was difficult, so I gave up English. At the age of 28, there was a great job, but you had to say "I can't" if you can speak English.The more troublesome you are in the early stage of life, the more lazy you are to learn, the more likely you will miss the people and things that fascinate you, and miss new scenery.

In life, many people have their own dreams, but have you worked hard for your dreams?Swearing a hundred times in a dream is not as good as taking one step in reality. In reality, among those who can achieve excellent results, who is not working hard for their dreams step by step?

I know a young man, he is an ordinary network maintenance personnel of the broadband company near my home, because we meet often, we get acquainted with each other after coming and going.His parents divorced since he was a child, and he lives with his grandfather. He has to work until midnight almost every day, because after 12 o'clock, there is an hourly overtime pay of 12 yuan.

One time I applied for Internet repair again, and he said that I couldn't come on Sunday because I had to take the IELTS test!I thought to myself that I haven't even passed the test. Are you a maintenance worker taking IELTS?After a while, he came to repair again and told me: "I'm going to study in New Zealand. I passed the IELTS and I quit my job. I won't be able to repair it in the future."

I was so surprised that I asked him casually: "Why did you go to New Zealand? You can go to many countries after passing the IELTS!" ​​He said: "Because my girlfriend is there, I want to go to study with her. If you don't accompany her, we will slow down. There will be a gap in slowness, so I have to pass the test, so that the distance between us will not be too far."

Since then, he never came to my house to repair the network. Sometimes the network is broken, and I will think of his story.There is another story that also happened to me.She is a girl who works in the elevator, goes up and down in the elevator every day, wears very rustic clothes, never wears makeup, wears a simple ponytail, always carries a water glass, and holds an English book in her hand.

There are quite a few girls like this in Beijing, and they usually work in obscurity, and no one pays attention to them.At first, she read high school textbooks, and then gradually changed to college textbooks, CET-[-] and CET-[-], PubMed, TOEFL.No one cared about what she was studying, what she was watching, what background she was, where she lived, what her salary was, what dreams she had, what she wanted to do after learning this, and what else she was studying besides this.The residents in the building sometimes gave her the magazines they read at home, probably thinking that as long as there are words, for an elevator worker, they can be used for study.

Later, she disappeared for a long time.

I saw her later, on a Monday morning, I hurried to the company and passed her by.Wearing a professional suit, she hurried into a high-end office building.She didn't notice me, but I remembered her.

This is an era that is not stingy with talking about ideals. Everyone seems to have a bunch of goals to be realized urgently, but there is always a silent walker between "ideals" and "realizing ideals".It is too easy to speak, but it is never difficult to do things. Instead of being a verbal hero, it is better to take the first step silently.

Life is a real thing, if you don't take action, your goals will never be achieved.No matter how brilliant the ideal you describe in your mouth, you can only please yourself, but you can't really win yourself.After all, we can never realize our ideals by relying on our mouths. Only our feet can continue to extend our path.

In fact, if you think about it carefully, is it really difficult to realize your ideal?The far place you want to go, start sailing now, do every little bit at hand every day, and one day you will find that your persistence is leading you towards the far place you yearn for.

Only with crazy choices can there be a wonderful life
If we don’t show some courage to fight against the secular values, if we can’t calmly face our deep yearning for a better life, if we can’t take that crucial step, maybe we can only be slaves of life forever.

Some time ago, I interviewed the host and best-selling author Da Bing.

He said that this era is very sad, and people must be measured by labels. You are an expert, he is a scholar, and he is an author, but we all forget that each of us is a person with feelings.

He is like when I mentioned him, he would be defined by a host or a best-selling author. Many people think that his most important label is a host, because many people know him because he hosts TV shows.Actually not.

Dabing started a certain simple and luxurious lifestyle before becoming a host. In the 20s and 90s of the [-]th century, it was still popular to write poetry and travel around the world. The boys had long hair, which seemed a bit like a gypsy on the road, or the lost and lost generation described by Kerouac.They are looking for life, happiness, and themselves on the road.

Before Dabing became a host, he had many identities, or labels, such as backpacker, wandering entertainer, bar owner, and drifter.He loves this seemingly undisciplined, even useless, simple and pure way of life that seeks his own happiness.He said that life is not simple, but this kind of way of almost wanting nothing, wandering around for the sake of feeling, and the attitude of living without wearing a mask, I think this is a simple way of life.

(End of this chapter)