The marathon gave me the entrepreneurial spirit
Shaoyan Li, the representative of entrepreneurs giving speeches at the 2021 Pingshan District "Entrepreneurs' Day"
![The marathon spirit reflected in the makeup mirror 1]()
I am a grassroots entrepreneur. After graduating from Zhengzhou University in Henan in July 2005, I came to Shenzhen to make a living and chose foreign trade sales as my starting point. Just like carefully preparing in front of the makeup mirror, I strive to meet every challenge in the workplace in the best condition. During my working time, I was the one who worked the hardest and had the best performance. The desire for challenges in my personality, like the pursuit of perfect makeup when putting on makeup, prompted me to register a company and start my own business in January 2012.
In my spare time, I usually run to relieve stress and relax. During running, I found the same concentration and self-examination as in front of the makeup mirror. Since starting my own business, my biggest feeling is that starting a business is similar to running a marathon. It is not about who starts earlier or who runs faster, but who can run longer and who can run more efficiently. I have come a long way in the past twelve years of entrepreneurship, relying on the faith given to me by the marathon spirit - hard work, persistence and concentration, which is like the process of constantly adjusting and perfecting myself in front of the makeup mirror.
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The first time I ran a marathon alone was like the first time I tried out a new look in front of a makeup mirror, full of anticipation and anxiety. It was still dark at 4 a.m. when I left the hotel to check in at the starting point. The December air was breezy, and I felt desolate and lonely, but I had no fear in my heart. When the gun went off, I quickly joined the crowd, just like myself after putting on makeup, stepping confidently into the crowd. When I actually started running, I only focused on my heart rate and cadence, which, like adjusting every detail in front of a makeup mirror, required precision and concentration.
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When I first started my own business, I had an office, a computer, and a set of sofas. I did everything by myself, from purchasing to after-sales service. It was like every step in the makeup process, which needed to be carefully crafted. Running strengthened my body and gave me enough energy to do more things. This, like the self-shaping in front of the makeup mirror, was to make me more tenacious on the road to entrepreneurship.
This process is to fight with yourself, and use your strong willpower to conquer the negative emotions such as laziness, negativity, shrinking, and giving up in your heart, so as to achieve the goal of defeating yourself and reshaping yourself. This is the same as self-examination in front of the makeup mirror, but also a spirit of persistence in the goal and never giving up. In this way, you can form your own running philosophy in the measurement of meters, which will subtly affect your mental outlook, and it will be easier to face and solve the difficulties encountered in work.
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According to incomplete statistics, the average life span of Chinese startups is generally 2-3 years. There are all kinds of difficulties on the road to entrepreneurship. Entrepreneurship requires founders to have strong resilience and delayed gratification, just like the patience and meticulousness required when putting on makeup. Entrepreneurship is a cycle of continuous decision-making → verification of decision-making → optimization → re-decision-making, so in the process, you have to constantly select and evolve yourself, which is not only physically stressful but also mentally stressful. For a longer period of time, there may be no orders and no income. When the company is in a state of continuous loss, it is like the feeling of being out of breath while running. Many people will slow down and want to stop and rest at this time. If they are discouraged, their efficiency will become lower or even all efforts will be wasted. Marathon has cultivated my determination not to give up and my strong desire for success, supporting me to continue to "transfuse blood" for the company, and on the other hand, I am constantly looking for new breakthroughs. I was nervous every day during the difficult days of entrepreneurship, but I still insisted on running to release stress. While running, I think about the company's development plan and the areas that need improvement, which is like constantly examining and adjusting myself in front of the makeup mirror.
The spirit of marathon can be incorporated into every detail of entrepreneurship. Running brings real motivation, just like some people who have great ambitions but are slow to act. If they cannot implement them, it will be meaningless empty talk. So take a step, every step is progress. People's motivation is concentrated in their thighs. As long as they take a step, they are already halfway to success. This is like every small step in front of the makeup mirror, which is the only way to move towards the ultimate goal.
I often tell my colleagues that when standing on this track, you must run on this road tenaciously, and you must focus on this industry and dig deep into this industry. Only if you don't give up on yourself, no one can give up on you. It's like standing in front of a makeup mirror. Only by constantly trying and improving can you find the makeup that suits you best. But you can't change tracks frequently. If you are not happy with this company and change jobs frequently, if you can't achieve results on this track, it will be futile even if you change tracks. The most important thing is to accumulate your own strength. In this way, you can't reach a thousand miles without accumulating small steps, and you can't form a river without accumulating small streams. The products are being selected and the team is evolving, but the only thing that remains unchanged is the entrepreneurial spirit of "making a little progress every day". From a certain perspective, making a little progress every day is not only a self-examination spirit of "I reflect on myself three times a day", but also a "marathon spirit" of "holding on to the green mountains and not relaxing". There is no shortcut to marathon, and there is no shortcut to entrepreneurship. In the entrepreneurial methodology, the first move is "explosive power" and the second move is "endurance". "Explosive power" once made our entrepreneurial innovation explode, but what really made it "taste the sweetness" was persistence. Adhere to the "concept of technological surplus", adhere to "focusing on the global market vision", and adhere to the transformation from "engineer thinking" to "user thinking". This is like every attempt in front of the makeup mirror, which requires courage and determination.
Every marathon is a challenge. You need to prepare salt pills, energy gels, endurance and physical strength. Strength and rhythm need to be intertwined. We entrepreneurs must not only be strong-willed, but also keep our original intentions unchanged no matter how the environment changes. It's like standing in front of a makeup mirror. No matter how the outside world changes, we must stick to our own style and ideas.
The sudden outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic in previous years has put a sudden brake on China's rapidly developing domestic and foreign trade, and has had a certain impact on the pace of China's economic development. The global spread of the pandemic has had a significant impact on the world economy. My feeling is that our manufacturing industry is actually facing huge challenges at present: 1. The impact of the pandemic on the manufacturing industry is far-reaching, and it is gradually showing a weak state. 2. Market consumption power is weak, including domestic and foreign sales markets. Under such circumstances, most manufacturing companies' orders are not saturated, which requires us to hold each other together for warmth and resource integration. Our company is actively seeking survival and development in the cracks, increasing internal consumption through product development and innovation, and expanding more sales channels. It's like standing in front of a makeup mirror. Facing different challenges and environments, we all need to constantly adjust and innovate to adapt to changing needs.
Entrepreneurship is a career of constant exploration, trial and error, continuous learning, and continuous evolution. If your ability to evolve does not keep up, you are likely to be eliminated, so we have an urgent sense of crisis and pressure, which motivates us to constantly improve ourselves. It's like standing in front of a makeup mirror, we need to constantly learn new skills and trends to maintain our competitiveness.
There are many people running marathons, but there is only one champion. The process of creating a champion is a process of the birth and widening of gaps. This process is very similar to the gap between people and between companies. However, in this process, the gap between companies is gradually widening. Excellent brands stand out, the strong will always be strong, and weak brands fall into development difficulties and are restricted step by step. Therefore, marathon is not a sport to compete in explosive power, but a sport to compete in endurance. As an enterprise, we must accumulate strength and go steady and far. This is like standing in front of the makeup mirror. We need patience and perseverance, and continuous accumulation and improvement to stand out among many competitors.
On the marathon track, I often meet people I met by chance who give me a lot of encouragement. At this moment, I am grateful to meet so many young entrepreneurs with the same frequency under the care of the Party and the government. We are like a cloud moving another cloud, and like a tree controlling another tree; we empower each other, encourage each other, and achieve together; we fulfill our promises with actions, equip ourselves with learning, and become builders and witnesses of the new era. It's like standing in front of the makeup mirror. We not only need self-motivation, but also support and encouragement from others to grow and progress together.
I am a young entrepreneur, full of strength. There is still a long way to go in the future. I must work hard to create my own world and rush forward! I have been running on my own marathon track, never stopping, never stopping ... I have experienced setbacks, pain, and joy. I hope that these past experiences are not just experiences. These experiences can bring me the next beautiful and mature decade. With the courage to challenge the limit, the confidence to surpass myself, the perseverance, and the perseverance, I always insist on running forward at the same frequency as this era. Isn’t this the spirit of marathon? Let us all run together on the entrepreneurial track. I hope Jiayao will walk with you all the way and run towards the future. I am very motivated, what about you? It's like in front of the makeup mirror. We are always full of hope and motivation, keep moving forward, and pursue a better self.
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