# Don't just think about "winning at the starting point", but also be careful not to "fall on the finish line"

By [不就是感冒](https://paragraph.com/@0xb7b9f924bdd958642fa1c058b4441c33cb9403e0) · 2022-06-23

---

I went to Tainan a few days ago to promote my new book. I graduated from Chengdu University. I spent six years in Tainan at the University and Research Institute. I felt very emotional. In addition, old classmates came to the scene to support me that day, which unconsciously reminded me of the past of my college days. Freshmen of Chengdu University are required to live on campus (I think it's really a moral policy!), At that time, the students of our civil engineering department were assigned to the second dormitory of the Guangfu campus, referred to as "guanger". To the north of guangershe is the banyan garden, where is the famous banyan tree (the logo of Cathay Pacific Life Insurance). In the south, there is a big playground. I have many memories: in my freshman year, I was keen on hip-hop dancing. In order to perform at the Department Party, I often practiced rolling with my classmates on the command platform in the middle of the night (imitating the popular La Boyz at that time), which made my body bruised and felt cool. But what I want to talk about today is another experience: I once fell a dog in that Playground - even the one with worn jaw is so handsome! I can't remember the details clearly. It seems that it's the physical education final exam of freshman year. The teacher wants to measure 300 meters of running (or 400 meters?) I'm good at ball games, but running is not my strong point. I just want to pass the exam. On the same day, I put on my sports clothes and started running when it was my turn. I was out of breath. Seeing that the finish line was ahead, I had to make a sprint as usual. Just as I was about to make a handsome dash, somehow, my legs suddenly lost their balance. The whole person fell to the ground at a high speed and glided for a distance. Unfortunately, it was not far enough to cross the finish line. I had to stand up and turn my feet to cross the finish line. Looking around, every running classmate has a certain distance from me. It can be seen that 100% of my own falls and no one trips me. This is the most abominable place! After the teacher reported my grades, he looked at my injury and continued to test other students. But after class he called me over and asked me an unforgettable question: do you know that many people fall before the finish line? I don't know. Isn't a fall an instant of physical disharmony? Is this about the finish line? "Because you think that the finish line is coming, and your body feels the intention, you are ready to stop working. This makes you lose your coordination, so you fall down before the finish line." The teacher continued: "next time you run, don't just stare at the finish line. You should look at a farther goal. The finish line is just a halfway point, so you won't fall!" After listening to the teacher's words, I was both surprised and ashamed. First of all, my blind spot was punctured. Secondly, the PE teacher I didn't care about gave me such a profound lesson, which I still remember today. The finish line on the runway is like many worldly thresholds in life. We must work hard to reach this standard. The life report cards, such as the minimum score for admission, the company's performance standards, the marriageable age of girls, and the five sons of boys, have been accepted by us from childhood to adulthood and taken as our goal. But sometimes I also find that some friends around me will sigh that they really don't want much, but somehow they can't achieve it. But there are also some people around me who are just the opposite. They have things that people envy (they have reached the secular standard), but they still actively pursue some ideals. This reminds me of the words of the physical education teacher. Is it because the latter's goal is relatively ambitious that we can achieve the secular goal we yearn for? I once read an experiment in the book. Its authenticity needs to be verified, but it is very enlightening. An entomologist caught a group of fleas and put them in a glass bottle. Generally, fleas can jump several meters high, but these fleas in the jar have been bound for a long time and only move within a fixed range. After a while, they are released. Although the shackles are gone, the fleas can no longer jump to their original height. Joe's article "I just want a stable life. What's wrong with that?" The flight principle of aircraft points out a key point: gravity exists in the world. If we just want to keep stable in the air, we must continue to work hard to resist gravity, otherwise we will gradually fall. Just like me when I was running, I just wanted to finish the job at the end. This "pass is good" mentality made me put down the accelerator and the engine stopped, so I stumbled just before reaching the array. Back in high school, several students with good grades in the class also gave me a similar shock. When I was complacent about getting 80 points, these students who got more than 90 points just smiled and put the examination papers in the drawer. I said, you are so good that you almost got full marks. However, the students said that the examination paper was simple, and the "joint examination" might not be so easy! I am only complacent because of my present exam results, but excellent people are actually looking at a more ambitious goal: the joint exam. Perhaps it is precisely because their goals are more ambitious that the quiz will surpass me! Education in the Chinese world emphasizes "don't lose at the starting point", but rarely emphasizes "pursuing long-term goals". If the standard school system is to learn English in junior high school, parents will hurry to send pupils to English cram schools; If the primary one starts to learn the multiplication table, there will be a sound of reciting the multiplication table in the kindergarten. Now think about it, this is not only short-sighted, but also a bit speculative. This strategy implies an assumption that life is a 100 meter sprint. If you sneak a few seconds before others, you will certainly achieve your goal first! ([www.lz13.cn](http://www.lz13.cn)) but the problem is that life has actually experienced dozens of colds and heats, which is more like long-distance running than sprinting. Moreover, everyone has his own life track and his own career goals. We compare ourselves, not others. A few years before leaving school and entering the workplace, I had the opportunity to work with Japan and Germany, which made me deeply convinced that I had a good fall in the Chengdu University playground! We often say that these two nations are very hairy, but a more accurate statement is that the "finish line" they set is different from ours. At that time, when we participated in international projects together, the goal of the Taiwan team was to complete the project on time and make money. Therefore, at the beginning of the project, everyone rushed to start the project as soon as possible and tried every means to make the personnel and machines as early as possible. The logic of the Taiwanese people is very simple. The sooner we start, the sooner we finish. But the Japanese team is different. After several weeks of construction, most engineers are still planning, calculating and simulating in their offices. I talked with them. Of course, they also hope to complete the project as scheduled, but they pay more attention to "getting things done at the first time". It is an intolerable unprofessional act to make up for human negligence in the process. So they would rather spend more time in the preparation stage and confirm each step clearly, just like the director and other actors who have memorized the script and then shout "Kai Mai"! Sure enough, the Taiwan team was only ahead of schedule in the first oneortwo months. Later, due to continuous correction and heavy work, the progress fell behind. However, the Japanese team fell behind at the beginning, but it was able to play steadily, starting later and arriving first. I remember when I first learned to drive, my eyes were fixed on the markings on the road, but the car always couldn't drive straight. Later, my father reminded me that when I was driving, I had to look at a fixed target in the distance. If I only looked at the markings in front of the car, I would not be able to drive straight! Just like excellent students will not only look at the test scores, but will think about the future direction of learning; Excellent professionals will not only look at salary and benefits, but also think about their own market value. The secular "finish line" is OK as a process of life, but what is more important is whether we have a broader goal in our hearts that belongs to us.

---

*Originally published on [不就是感冒](https://paragraph.com/@0xb7b9f924bdd958642fa1c058b4441c33cb9403e0/don-t-just-think-about-winning-at-the-starting-point-but-also-be-careful-not-to-fall-on-the-finish-line)*
