Cut off the branches in your heart

It is recorded in “Yanzi Spring and Autumn” that in 685 BC, Duke Huan of Qi appointed Guan Zhong as Xiangguo.

At that time, most of the people of Qi were dressed in tatters and could not eat, so Duke Qi Huan asked Guan Zhong for advice on how to govern the country.

Guan Zhong thought for a while, and asked Duke Qi Huan to give an order to cut off all the branches on both sides of the road.

Although Duke Qi Huan was puzzled, he still gave an order according to what Guan Zhong said.

Unexpectedly, a year later, the tax revenue of Qi State doubled, and the people began to live a good life.

Gong Qi Huan asked Guan Zhong to explain the mystery, and Guan Zhong smiled and said:

Qi is poor because Qi people are greedy for comfort, young adults are either playing birds and birds under the tree, or chatting privately, and they are unwilling to work when they are comfortable, so they are naturally getting poorer and poorer.

Now when I cut down the branches, the sun shines directly, and I can’t find shade from the trees, so I can only work in the fields.

In reality, many people will also hide in their “shade”, living in a muddy life and achieving nothing.

Only by taking the initiative to stay away from comfort and meet new challenges can life be improved.

As the American writer Neil Donner said, growth only happens in an uncomfortable state.

The beginning of a person’s strength is to learn to cut off the branches in his heart and jump out of the comfortable little world.

01

Luo Zhenyu once said: “You like the quiet years, but in fact, the reality is that the river is flowing.” ”

Everyone yearns for a comfortable life, but if they indulge in it for a long time, they can only be ruthlessly abandoned by the times in the end.

Douban blogger Yu Bei talked about his experience.

After graduating from a 985 school, Yu Bei entered a state-owned enterprise to work.

The company is very well paid, and the usual workload is relatively small.

Usually she drinks tea and chats in the office when she has nothing to do, and every day half an hour before getting off work, she starts to pack up her things and leave when she arrives.

After a long time, she began to enjoy these relaxed days.

During this period, the company organized many skills training courses, but she never participated in them under the pretext of having something to do.

I thought that such a comfortable life would continue forever.

Unexpectedly, due to poor efficiency, the company reorganized its business and merged several departments.

After the adjustment, everyone is now responsible for more business than before.

In other words, it was nothing to her before, but a few years of comfortable life made her ability seriously deteriorate.

It didn’t take long for her to be fired from the company because she was not qualified for her current position.

I think of a theory in psychology called the “flower pot effect”:

The flowers in the pot, which enjoy the nutrients in the pot every day, look very moisturized, but they are vulnerable to wind and rain.

The same is true for people, if they stay in the greenhouse for a long time, they will lose their enterprising spirit and limit their growth.

Writer Wu Jun said a sentence in “Insight”, which was very impressive:

Many people can’t make it to the big climate, not because they can’t do it or because they don’t have enough opportunities, but because they choose comfort too early and stop running.

The world is fair, and how much comfort you enjoy today will cost you in the future.

The comfort zone is a short-term safe haven, but it is also a cage that traps your steps.

The stability you are obsessed with will only erode your fighting spirit little by little, and your life will gradually degenerate into mediocrity.

02

In “A Brief History of Mankind”, there is a very interesting story.

More than 100,000 years ago, Africa was inhabited by a colony of monkeys.

They live on fruit trees, have plenty of food, and don’t have to worry about predators.

Suddenly, one day, there was a violent earthquake that caused the Great Rift Valley.

The Great Rift Valley divides the African continent into two parts: West Africa and East Africa.

West Africa still has tall fruit trees with abundant fruits; In East Africa, most of the land is barren.

The monkeys who stayed on the West African continent were living comfortably as before.

And the monkeys of East Africa, in order to survive in the cruel environment, they have learned to make tools and learn to speak……

In the end, the monkeys of East Africa slowly evolved into the humans they are today, but what about the monkeys of West Africa? Or monkeys.

In fact, we in life, like the monkeys in Africa, are divided into two categories.

One type of person is still eating in his comfort zone and waiting for death; The other group of people actively seek out discomfort and allow themselves to evolve.

The host, Ma Dong, told his story in the interview.

In 2001, Ma Dong entered CCTV and became the producer of “Challenge Host”.

With his profound knowledge and witty conversation, he has received praise from all sides.

Later, he hosted many well-known columns, and in 2011, he also served as the director of the CCTV Spring Festival Gala language program.

At that time, many people believed that his future at CCTV was limitless.

But no one expected that in 2012, Ma Dong threw away the “iron rice bowl” and chose to resign from CCTV.

His family and friends persuaded him, but he said, “I’m in my 40s, and I want to do something more challenging and meaningful.”

After leaving CCTV, he joined iQiyi as the chief content officer.

There, he learned from scratch about the production of Internet shows, as well as various co-ordination matters in front of and behind the scenes.

Through hard work and dedication, his abilities have been greatly improved.

A year later, he launched the original variety show “Wonderful Story”, which became popular all over the Internet for a while.

Since then, he has successively produced popular programs such as “Wonderful Conference” and “Summer of the Band”.

After stepping out of his comfort zone, he continued to polish himself and eventually became a crossover all-round producer.

American writer Spencer said that life is always changing, and change means crisis.

Sooner or later, people who are self-contained will not be able to keep up with the changes of the times.

By stepping out, you can discover your potential and cope with the ever-changing changes of life.

When you get out of your comfort zone and embrace challenges, you can win more room for yourself.

03

Princeton University did an experiment.

They randomly recruited two groups of people, one who put the alarm clock on the desk and the other who put the alarm clock on the bedside table.

After two weeks, it was found that the former had developed the habit of waking up early, while the latter had almost no change in waking time.

It turns out that when the alarm clock rings, people will instinctively reach out to turn off the alarm and continue sleeping.

But if you put the alarm clock on your desk and want to turn it off, you have to get out of the comfort of your bed.

In this way, people who are completely sleepy will naturally get up early and start a new day.

Through this experiment, they concluded that people only think of making changes when their immediate comfort is not sustainable.

In this world, the weak always find comfort for themselves, but the strong find discomfort for themselves.

By tearing down the safe haven and taking a more difficult path, you can break through the limitations and continue to surpass your past self.

Phelps, a famous swimmer, has won 23 gold medals in the Olympics and set dozens of world records.

Many people marvel at his talent, but they don’t know that this is more due to his “self-inflicted” energy.

In order to exercise his sensitivity, he will tell the training gym in advance during training, so that the other party will suddenly lose power during his training;

In order to improve his concentration, before preparing for the competition, he would have the coach deliberately throw things underwater and shout loudly to intervene.

In addition to this, he sometimes breaks his swimming goggles, preventing himself from opening his eyes underwater.

This forced him to do everything he could to ensure that he could swim smoothly with his eyes closed……

It was through these painful trainings that his technique was able to advance by leaps and bounds, and eventually he was a great success.

The host Liang Ning once said:

The most accomplished group of people, they have a very important talent — to keep themselves in a slight pain at all times.

Life is like this, a comfortable environment will only kill your determination to forge ahead.

Push yourself so that you know where the limits of your abilities are.

The mussel has to go through thousands of struggles in order to give birth to pearls; The pine can stand proudly on the top of the peak after the wind and rain.

Growing up is constantly experiencing pain, surviving the process of tearing, and when you take the initiative to choose to endure hardship, what awaits you is a new life after Nirvana.

American writer Spencer Johnson once said:

“Don’t think that the current comfort is a kind of enjoyment, if you get used to this comfort, you will become a fool, a fool, and you will eventually be ruined here. ”

In the course of life, we can all find a shade that allows us to lie down comfortably.

It could be a comfortable and warm bed, a stable and easy job, a circle of eating, drinking, and merrymaking……

But if you immerse yourself in it for a long time, the comforts you have enjoyed will eventually destroy us completely.

Instead of staying in the deep pool of stagnant water and waiting to be arranged by fate, it is better to take the initiative to move forward and get out of the comfortable little world.

Cut off the branches in your heart, force yourself to keep moving forward, and survive the short-term pain and discomfort, so that you can meet a better you.