Winning 13 Strategies: An Alternative Approach to Life's Battles

Author: He Kai Si / Country: Mainland China
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2005-09-01
Features: A must-read for those aspiring to success, meticulously explains learning methods, deciphers Gaokao exam questions, introduces practical guides, and humorously explores the joys of life. This is a remarkable book, presenting principles you've never heard before. Whether you believe it or not, it's a profound intellectual. It's a practical guide that cuts straight to the chase. It's a book for everyone, from students to scholars to all walks of life, offering immense benefits. Before its publication, the author delivered multiple speeches at universities under the title Thirteen Strategies for Victory, each receiving sensational acclaim.
Two Interests and Responsibility
Interests and responsibility are not contradictory. When pursuing something, if you have both interest and responsibility, your chances of success will be greater. However, our habits and value orientations have always placed responsibility above all else—more important, greater than anything else—while often overlooking personal interests, desires, and ambitions. In the 1950s and 1960s, when I was studying, the popular slogans were "Whatever the Party asks, do it," "Obey organizational assignments," and "The needs of the motherland are my ambition." These had become axioms at the time, unquestionable. If Mr. Lu Xun could still squeeze out a "small" me from his fur coat in A Small Incident, for us, there was no "big" or "small" me, nor was the concept of "self" clear. No wonder some "angry youth" lamented, "I am a brick, ready to be moved by whoever." Things are different today, but years of ingrained habits have turned into collective unconsciousness, still subtly influencing us.
I prioritize interest over responsibility because the former is more effective than the latter in our thinking and practice—meaning that interest is more efficient than responsibility. The reasons are as follows:
First, using interest as a starting point for our success has deep humanistic significance. It naturally aligns with our survival and development and conforms to the laws of creation. No one does not pursue happiness, and no one lacks their own interests. If you dig deeper, you'll find that interests are often tied to our strengths. What we are interested in is usually what we are suited for, and what we are suited for naturally has a higher chance of success. No need for statistics—reality is obvious.
Musicians tend to have better hearing and sensitivity to rhythm and melody. Painters often have a higher ability to distinguish light and color and a strong sense of space. Those who engage in literature excel in imaginative thinking, possess a heightened ability to perceive and capture images, and have a rich emotional world. Mathematicians are undoubtedly strong in abstract thinking. Businesspeople have a keen sensitivity to wealth accumulation and a knack for calculation that surpasses the average person. Even if you're in the political arena, if you lack leadership potential, organizational and administrative skills, a desire for dominance and control, or the ability to maneuver, you might as well go home and sell sweet potatoes early.
Some might argue, "Beethoven was deaf when he wrote the Ninth Symphony—what about his hearing?" Beethoven did lose his hearing when writing the Ninth Symphony, but that was in his later years. In his youth, his hearing was far superior to ours. Any aspiring success must learn to discover and fully utilize their strengths, finding their advantages in their interests to improve work efficiency.
P12-13