Be the best version of yourself

Author: Yu Xing
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-06-01
Features:
III. Speed—Whoever is Faster Wins
Dancer Huang Doudou, at the age of 25, holds multiple roles: star, teacher, and artistic director. He wakes up at 7 a.m. every morning, running and practicing, regardless of weather, always moving forward. Short in stature with short legs, he was severely disadvantaged from birth, yet he became a world-class dance master. He said he had long known there was a success formula: run fast. At 25, while many people's lives were just beginning, he had already achieved fame and success, enviable to others. Yet Huang Doudou still races against himself, never stopping. Once he sets out to do something, he must give it his all to do it perfectly—it’s his personality. If he ever stops, he will gain weight, so he must always maintain a sense of flying. He cannot fail; failure means leaving the stage.
Zhang Ruimin, CEO of Haier Group, once posed a question at a meeting of middle-level cadres: "How can a stone float in water?" The answers that came back were varied. Some said, "Pierce the stone," to which Zhang Ruimin shook his head. Others suggested, "Place it on a wooden board," but Zhang Ruimin replied, "There is no board." Still others said, "The stone is fake," but Zhang Ruimin emphasized, "The stone is real." Finally, someone stood up and said, "Speed!" Zhang Ruimin smiled with satisfaction and said, "Correct! The Art of War states, 'The speed of rushing water can carry stones, for it has momentum.' Speed determines whether the stone can float."
This made me think of long jump, high jump, airplanes, and rockets, and of Huang Doudou, who could never stop. Given his physical condition, he was unsuitable to be a dancer, yet he eventually made stones float! Stones always fall downward, but speed changes everything. The experience of skipping stones teaches us that stones bounce on the water because we give them direction whileing them enough speed. Life is the same—no one waits for you, and no opportunity stops for you. Only by racing against time can you possibly win.
Page, one of the most celebrated baseball players in the U.S., said: "Never look back; someone might overtake you." After the lovable Forrest Gump won his love, someone asked him about his insights on love. He replied, "I have to run faster than others!"
"Early birds catch worms." To stay ahead of others and never stop—this is the state of a competitor. If success has a shortcut, it is to give it enough speed.
A merchant once carried two bags of garlic to the Arabian region. The people there had never seen garlic before, nor had they imagined there could be something so flavorful. They warmly welcomed this clever merchant and, as a token of gratitude, gave him two bags of gold upon parting. Another merchant heard about this and was moved. He thought, "The flavor of onions is also quite good." So he brought onions to the same place. The people there had also never seen onions and even thought they were tastier than garlic. They treated the merchant even more warmly and unanimously agreed that gold could not express their gratitude for the traveler. After much discussion, they decided to give him two bags of garlic.
Business often works this way— whoever meets users' potential needs the fastest will seize the advantage and receive gold; while those who follow will likely get garlic.
Process reengineering in the new economy aims to achieve zero distance between businesses and users, and the key to achieving this goal is speed.
When Jeff Bezos read that report, he was exactly 30 years old. The report mentioned that the internet business was growing at a rate of 23 times per year. He immediately quit his job on Wall Street, drove an old Chevrolet Explorer, and crossed the country with his wife and dog. When he arrived in Seattle, a business plan had already taken shape in his laptop. Five days later, he moved into a rented house and started his business in a garage. This is today’s Amazon—the world’s largest online bookstore.
As a leading online bookstore, Amazon has 5 million members, 58% of whom are repeat customers, bringing in $3.9 billion in annual revenue.
On the African savanna, zebras, gazelles, and lions live together. Every morning, after waking up, gazelles and zebras think of the first thing to do: run, faster than lions, or they will be eaten. At the same moment, lions wake up and think, they must run faster than gazelles and zebras, or they will starve.
If we don’t want to end up like some gazelles or zebras, becoming lion food, we must constantly accelerate!