Follow Your Heart

———Reaction to the Alchemist

Paulo Coelho is a world-famous Brazilian writer and his work, the Alchemist , published in 1988, was translated in 68 kinds of languages , regarded as one of the miracles in literature in 20th century. Poetic flavor and philosophy abound in his novels, which relate to religion , sorcery and legends as well , giving us a aesthetic entertainment.

This novel tells a story about a Spanish boy named Santiago go across The Sahara Desert to search for treasures. At the very beginning , Santiago leads a peaceful life, shepherding and traveling around. However , touched by two dreams of the treasury near Pyramid, Santiago comes across the king of Salem, who has learned his dream beforehand and encourage him to pursue his dream. Thus, Santiago gives up his sheep and heads for Africa alone. As soon as he arrives in Tangier, his money is looted by a cheater and nothing is left. In desperation, Santiago have to stop his journey and provide creative ideas for a crystal merchant for over nine months. Have struggled in his mind, the faith leads Santiago to join the caravan across the Sahara, where he meet a British man chasing for alchemy whole-heartedly. During the journey, they pass by a oasis ,where alchemist Al-Fayyum lives. Santiago meets a girl, Fatima, beautifully they fall in love at first sight. Not for long Santiago is hired as oasis counselor for predicting the attack accurately. Afterwards, Santiago has a narrow escape from being killed by the army ,thanks to his touching the heart

of earth during the conversations with the wind, desert and the sun. Then Santiago goes to the Giza, admire the magnificence of the pyramid and suddenly realizes where the treasury is from a refugee’s words.

There are three characters brand in my mind, who indicate three modes of life. The first one is Santiago, of course. Knowing “When you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you to achieve it”, Santiago search for his treasury and achieve his “destiny” insistently, regardless of all the hardest times and barriers. Contrary to Santiago is the second person, a baker. The baker also wants to travel around the world but he choose to devote his life to corn popper since people all consider that ”Bakers are more important than shepherds. Bakers have homes, while shepherds sleep out in the open. Parents would rather see their children marry bakers than shepherds. ” To be honest, I couldn’t tell anything wrong about this idea. But , isn’t it a pity to let your dreams yield to the reality without trying, even once? The following person is the crystal merchant ,who tells me that habits sometimes can be horrible, horrible things, especially when we are used to our mediocre life style, in consequence, stops us from chasing our dreams. The crystal merchant says ”The shop is exactly the size I always wanted to be. I don’t want to change anything, because I don’t know how to deal with change. I’m used to the way I am. ”Maybe he just doesn’t know “The fear of suffering is worse than suffering itself. There is no soul will suffer in the pursuit of its dream. “

As suggested in the preface to the book, the Alchemist is a symbolic work, aiming to enlighten people on realizing that it would take a long and arduous distance to arrive at dreams, during which courage, wisdom, and perseverance are needed. This novel shows a fusion of the conflict of reality and the pursuit of the spirit. Not only each detail is in careful design by the writer, with a strong color of symbolism, but the outcome of the story reflects profound symbolic significance: Your treasure is actually right here under your nose, but only when experience a lot of difficulties and obstacles can you find it. This imaginative fable implies universal ,endless wisdom of life in almost every sentence. It can not only serves as the life guide for teenagers, but also for all the ideal adults. “The fear of suffering is worse than suffering itself. There is no soul will suffer in the pursuit of its dream. “Aphorisms which have the instructive significance in this book can be found everywhere. Moreover, the creativeness and brilliant thoughts of the writer are in high level markedly. What is worth pointing out is that the language of this book is abnormal straightforward, simple and fresh. A deepgoing philosophy of life stands behind the plain, smooth and natural language, which exquisites the fable become a rare masterpiece.

We are capable to chase our dreams no matter when it is or who we are. In the process of pursing dreams, you will never fail to come across a colorful world , a group of lively people and a kind of amazing culture. Hold dreams in your mind, follow your heart, and start off, now.

 

第二篇：follow your heart

我不用 Apple 的产品，但我是 Steven Jobs 的超级粉丝。老乔以前每年的 Macworld Key Note 我从来没落下过，老乔 2005 年在 Stanford 毕业典礼上的演讲已经记不得看过多少遍了。就因为老乔说过：“ You have got to find what you love. You should follow your heart ”。

After six months, I couldn’t see the value in it

大学开始的六个月后，我彻底看不出我念名声这么好的大学意义在何处。

选择北大数学，是出于某种天真和理想主义。在第一次来北大报到前，我对未来的大学生活将会是怎样的完全没有概念。我的脑海里有李大钊，有海子、有英达、有王丹，想着学了数学，每天先生上课时讲到完美的数学公式会情不自禁，每天都有无数人生的哲理等着我去参透，每天有书生意气，每天有挥斥方遒，每天有诗歌佐酒，每天有烂醉如归。

还记得 2005 年的那个夏天，五四的路上挂着醒目的条幅“建设世界一流大学”。用去四年，我想明白了，北大与世界一流大学的距离，是幻美的理想与囧人的现实的差距。数学课永远像嚼木乃伊一般无味，吉米多维奇像千年的僵尸永远在下课后等着你。我永远清楚的记得，第一个学期数学分析的期中考试，我， 39 分。这简直是比小时候当众被同学扯下裤子还要严重的奇耻大辱。我忿忿不平的跑去查分，结果是庆幸老师手下留情。六个月，一个学期过去了，期末的数分，我考了满分。但是经过六个月我彻底看不出念这所大学的意义在何处。

没有理想的北大四年是最痛苦的。其实理想并不是一个判断句，像幼儿园那样说“我想做个科学家”。理想就是大学做你最喜欢的事情，追求你最喜欢的女生。其实 GPA 这东西，对的起天地良心就足够了。你可以多花点时间，将成绩由 60 分提高到 80 分，记住这足够了。因为你要想从 80 分提高到 90分，需要花很多很多的时间，其实某种意义你是在浪费时间。

GPA 是镣铐，虽然很多人能做到带着镣铐跳舞，在北大，我们把这种人叫做“牛人”。带着镣铐跳芭蕾的人，我们叫做“牛魔王”。我自惭形秽，于是大学六个月后就把镣铐脱掉了。这里最大的不同是，当你带着镣铐时，你永远会用排除法思考问题。当面临兴趣、爱好和学业的选择时，你会排除掉那些让你偏离“伟大光明宏伟目标”的选择，走向众人膜拜的康庄大道。

生活中总用排除法来思考，实在是件很糟的事情。北大的学生总是面临无数的选择，保研？出国？工作？还是考研？这是个问题。其实哈姆雷特考虑的生死问题没什么大不了的，他也就问下自己 to be or not to be ，然后就继续苟活着或者死了。而北大的学子们，无数的人

们，每天都会重复问自己这个问题，无数遍的进行排除法这一无比理性睿智的算法。而结果往往是选择了最差的。如果采用了排除法，Bill Gates 现在是一名唯利是图、按小时收费的律师； Steven Jobs 会是软件公司一名普通员工；王石会是国家机关里一名循规蹈矩的公务员。如果采用了排除法，这个地球上会少很多有趣的人。

The only way to do great work is to love what you do

做事凭直觉，这就是我想要的。

大学四年，实习做了不少，各种脏活累活都算做过了，保险业、人力咨询、风险投资、创业公司、投资银行、战略咨询也均有所涉猎。

投资银行和咨询，无论是在美国还是中国都是无数毕业生向往的工作；高薪、一身名牌、空中飞人，这两个职业拥有太多吸引人的地方。但是我的经验是，做投行或咨询，通俗点讲，很像看 A 片，看得人很爽，做的人就未必了。在投行面试的时候，面试官会问：“如果让你每天工作到 4 点，至少持续三个月，你能做到吗？”相信无数人为争当“主角”会说“我能做到”。而事实是只有很少的人能适合这一行业。他们属于那类自我激励、身体强壮、意志坚强、时刻都用最高标准要求自己的那类人。

当初为了进入投行，大学四年我付出了很多努力。我曾花了无数时间从网络下到有关投行各方面的资料，上百遍的修改 cover letter 和简历，为了一个暑假实习，投了上百家公司。不可否认，很多时候我用的是些很笨的方法。在北大，大有只投一两家公司就拿到很好 offer 的牛人存在，但是很不幸我不属于那类人。

其实关于投资银行或者华尔街的好电影并不多，但是《 Wall Street 》和《 The pursuit of happiness 》却给我带来那样的感动。看着影片中的 Chris 拿着电话，为了一个 deal ，不间断的打着电话，为家庭，为幸福，自己就感动的想哭。

成功的人都是偏执狂，这话一点不假。为了大三暑假一个实习，上过无数家大大小小金融机构的网站，找到 HR 的邮箱或者通信地址，发去或邮寄我的简历。尽管我也知道机会简直微乎其微，但是每次都会对即将发出去的简历检查再三。而后来，连经常去打印简历的地方的老板也认识我了，因为全北大只有我会用 100 克的黄色纸打简历。即使只有个联系电话，我也会毫不犹豫的打电话过去询问对方需不需要实习生。印象最深刻的是有一次直接去了凯雷中国在嘉里中心的办公室，径直闯了进去，拉着一个长的很像老板的人就递简历。记得那人当时着实被我给雷到了，想不到现实中还真会有这样的人来递简历。实习生自然是没戏，不过整个下午跟那位先生聊了很多，关于职业发展、关于价值观。临走的时候，他送我到电

梯，对我说：“ Ming, frankly speaking, I think your behavior is kind of stupid. But I appreciate your effort and enthusiasm a lot.”

偏执狂就是那种很轴的人。德意志银行的全球市场部招收暑期实习生，我进入了 final interview ，但是结果挂了。那一次，我觉得自己离成功已经那样近了，已经可以嗅到成功的味道。回来后，整个人出在亢奋的状况里，久久不能平静下来。用了两个小时，我给 final interview 里两个德意志的董事总经理发去了长长的 email ，去 argue, 去向他们再次证明我才是最适合这个职位的人。当时这样做不知是为了什么，也许就是为了让心里好受些。结果却大大出乎我的意料，其中一位大老板在晚上的时候给我打来了电话，细细的向我解释我落选的原因，告诉我还年轻，需要更多的积累和历练。最后他说道：“明，其实我一点也不担心你会找到顶级投行的 intern 的，你的激情大家都会看到，这也是我欣赏的。 Keep on going, never give up! ”而另一位大老板在我发信后一周，突然一天给我回了信。其中说到，当时他收到信的时候还在出差，不想用 Blackberry 随便给我回封邮件，而等会到了家的一个夜晚，给我回了一篇很长的邮件。他说，从业二十多年，面试无数，从来没见过我这

样 interview 挂了后还这么强烈的来 argue 的。虽然结果我还是没能获得那里的实习机会，但是我从现在看来那时的挫折如今就是宝贵的财富。

2008 年的中秋节，我在中金公司投资银行部的 intern room 干活。那个夜晚，得到了雷曼兄弟倒掉和美林挺不住的消息，心情很压抑。这学期在 CCER 的领导力的课堂上，听杨壮老师口沫乱飞的对华尔街横加批判、对投资银行的倒塌幸灾乐祸，心里很是想骂娘。记得德意志的一位董事说的好：“投资银行是唯一的做事情可以又快又好的地方。”曾经执着于这一行业，是因为在这里你能碰到最优秀的人，是因为在这里你可以尽情挥洒激情。每次给老板提交的工作，我都会反复检查至少七遍以上，不想因为一个甚至微乎其微的错误贬低自己的价值。即使日常工作繁忙，也坚持看完了公司内网上所有的材料。近三个月，从来没落下过周一的早会。代表公司去上海参加培训，有一个比赛，看能多快用 Excel 完成一个财务报表。华尔街的纪录是由瑞士信贷的一个哥们创造的， 36 秒。在上海的那段时间，每天晚上我都会无数遍的摧残键盘。很可惜，最后我个人最好纪录也只是 37 秒。

无论是怎样耀眼的行业，平时的工作总是很繁琐、枯燥的。但是只要做的是你喜欢的事情，就会有很多有趣的地方。而当 the deal is done 的那一刻，所带来的巨大成就感让你觉得以往无数个日日夜夜的努力工作都是值得的。

最后送上老乔的经典语录，自勉共勉。

Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life. Don't be trapped by dogma — which is living with the results of other people's thinking. Don't let the noise of others' opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.