Today my elder son, Ni, joins us,’ said Merchant Hui Neng proudly, to all the agents and workers gathered together. ‘Ni has studied under many teachers who assure me that he will prove to be our most valuable asset.’
Having built up his business from nothing, Hui Neng had been determined that his eldest son would not be deprived of a good all-round education. For Ni’s part there had been many lessons. He had excelled at rhetoric and debate, which he’d really enjoyed, and was able to express himself eloquently. But he had done so badly at his figure work that his tutors had decided to replace debating studies with twice the amount of figure work.
‘You will not be able to join your father in business without figure work,’ advised his tutors. ‘Just because you dislike it is no excuse to shirk.’
‘But why must I study what is of no interest to me at the
expense of what does interest me?’ argued Ni.
‘Because that is the way you will become stronger,’ they had answered stubbornly. ‘Redoubling your efforts on your lesser skills is the only way to remove your weaknesses.’
For More of this fascinating tale you need to read The Teachings of Billionaire Yen Tzu - Volum I Lesson 6
I agree with Yen Tzu that "All of us are mediocre at many things, are good at some, excel at fewer and have the ability to become world-class at something. This is because for every natural
strength we are born with, we have countless weaknesses. Having a strength is not the opposite of having a weakness, however. Like success and failure, or health and illness, each follows a particular pattern."
This is so true. Human beings are complicated but generally we are good at the things we enjoy doing and always thinking that we need to push ourselves to improve the things we are weak at. I think that putting our energy into positive things is by far the best way to get on in life.
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