Those Who Achieve Great Things Are Calm and Ruthless

There’s a story in “Zhuangzi·Dasheng”: King Xuan of Zhou loved watching cockfights. There was a master trainer named Ji Xingzi from the state of Qi, and King Xuan asked him to quickly train an invincible fighting cock.

Ji selected a cock with golden claws, colorful feathers, and a high crest from the flock. After ten days, King Xuan grew impatient and sent someone to ask Ji: “Is the cock ready to fight?” Ji replied: “No, it’s still very arrogant and aggressive.”

After another ten days, the king sent someone to ask again. Ji said: “No, it still reacts swiftly to sounds or visual stimuli.”

After yet another ten days, the king became truly impatient and summoned Ji to ask personally. Ji still said: “No, this cock still glares with fierce spirit.” The king was puzzled and said: “Isn’t glaring with fierce spirit exactly what shows courage and fighting prowess?”

Ji smiled and said: “Your Majesty, among all those brave and fierce fighting cocks you’ve raised before, which one was truly invincible?”

After another ten days, Ji proactively came to the king and said: “It’s almost ready. Now this cock shows no reaction to other cocks’ crowing. Its spirit is in a state of profound tranquility, looking just like a wooden cock.”

When other cocks see it, not one dares to engage in combat with it—they can only turn around and flee. This fighting cock has become invincible under heaven.

Zhuangzi called this “concealing one’s edge, keeping killing intent unexposed.”

In reality, truly ruthless people often maintain this “wooden cock state.”

When Zeng Guofan led troops against the Taiping Rebellion, daily battle reports made him so angry he would cough up blood, yet every night he would still light a lamp and read “The Art of War,” forcibly carving the five characters “wisdom, trustworthiness, benevolence, courage, strictness” into his bones.

When others asked how he endured it, he said: “War isn’t about who shouts loudest, but who can stay calm longest.”

Psychology has a concept called “emotional landing”: when people fall into anxiety, the best approach isn’t to fight the emotion, but like an emergency aircraft landing, use concrete actions to help yourself “touch ground.”

For example: deep breathing, gazing at distant scenery, taking walks. This calmness isn’t suppressed—it’s practiced. Just like learning to swim: the more you thrash, the faster you sink; relax, and you naturally float.

Every time you encounter a thorny situation, it’s an opportunity for emotional training. Take a deep breath and ask yourself: “Will this matter still be important three years from now?”

My friend Xiao Jing, when short videos became popular, quit her state enterprise job to become an insurance media creator. She couldn’t set up scenes, so she filmed directly in front of a desk lamp. She couldn’t edit, so she operated frame by frame. She couldn’t do operations, so she learned from successful people.

Now she has hundreds of thousands of precise followers across platforms. Her annual earnings far exceed her previous salary.

Behind this ruthlessness lies psychology’s “goal decomposition effect”:

1. Break big goals into small ones: Accumulating 100,000 subscribers feels abstract, so commit to posting one insurance knowledge video daily.

2. Value “micro-habits” and “just start doing”: Fitness enthusiasts know that starting with 10 minutes often extends to an hour.

3. Completion over perfection: Can’t complete your plan? Change “read 1 hour daily” to “flip through 5 pages.”

Just like Zeng Guofan’s military training—no motivational speeches or slogans, just one rule: “Build solid camps, fight methodical battles.” Dig trenches, build walls, advance inch by inch, and eventually wear down the Taiping Army.

Cultivation Method: From Glass Heart to Strong Heart

Psychology has an experiment: two groups memorized vocabulary. Group A was scolded for every mistake, Group B only received correct answers when wrong. Result: Group B scored 1/3 higher than Group A. The conclusion: excessive criticism only makes people worse.

How do ordinary people develop a “strong heart”?

1. Regularly empty emotional garbage: For a period, I wrote “emotional diaries” daily, pouring all frustrations onto paper, gradually regaining a sense of control over life. Now when encountering troubles, I immediately think “this situation is here to refine me.”

2. Build “psychological bulletproof vests”: When encountering trolls, silently think “you’re right,” then continue with your business.

3. Actively seek challenges: Afraid of embarrassing yourself in public speaking? Then actively seek public speaking opportunities—company meetings, book clubs… Desensitization therapy cures all kinds of cowardice.

When Zeng Guofan was young, he failed the imperial examination seven times before passing, facing ridicule from fellow villagers. He later wrote: “Facing setbacks should be like eating—three times daily, becoming routine.”

Evolutionary biologists discovered that apex predators all have “energy conservation mode”: lions sleep 20 hours daily, cheetahs rest immediately after sprinting. Human “calmness” is essentially strategic energy allocation.

Calmness isn’t about having no desires, but converting emotional entropy into cognitive potential energy. Calmness isn’t lying flat—it’s the confidence of sitting steadily at the fishing platform.

Just like the Lu state carpenter Ziqing, who fasted for seven days before making bell and drum stands, forgetting fame, profit, and self. The beast sculptures he created were so exquisitely detailed that people mistook them for divine work.

When asked for his secret, he said: “What technique is there? It’s simply that when the heart is calm, the hands are steady.”

Let’s encourage each other on this journey.