Li Yanhong: Destiny is in your own hands

Li Yanhong: Destiny is in your own hands

Destiny is the way a person has completed his life. It is the homework that a person has done for a lifetime. Some people believe that fate is destined and cannot be changed. But in my opinion, fate is just the steering wheel of life. In which direction it is in the hands of everyone.
Here, I want to share a few stories about fate with my classmates. There is nothing to talk about, just some of my own experiences.

Vision and destiny

Like many of my classmates, I was born into a family of ordinary workers in a small city. Since I was a child, I have been very interested in learning my interests. The opera was once my love, and even in the middle of the country I once had the idea of ​​applying for a drama school. Because at that time, in the small city of Yangquan, Shanxi, where I live, TV has not yet become popular, let alone the computer Internet. The most entertainment activities of people everyday are listening.
Later, my sister was admitted to Peking University. Like you just entered school, she has become a local star for a while. When she left, she said to me: "In fact, the outside world is very beautiful, so you must study hard, go to college, and get out of Yangquan, so that your future path will be wider."
I followed my sister's advice. Since then, I have started to study hard, so I am admitted to the best high school in Yangquan, Yangquan Yizhong. In the end, I got what I wanted. However, at this time, I have no special concept for the "outside world" that my sister said.
My first contact with the computer was in the first year of high school. At that time, Yangquan Yizhong, where I was located, was the first computer classroom in the city.
Just type some English words and symbols on the keyboard, it will give an answer according to the instructions, I was immediately attracted to this wonderful thing. Since then, in order to get to the machine room, I often find a teacher to soften the hard foam. More practical than others, I also have better skills in computers than other students.
Soon after, the school sent me to the provincial capital Taiyuan to participate in the national high school student computer competition. Before I went, I was full of confidence. I always felt that my computer level was not bad. I even thought about getting a place to come back. I didn't expect the result of the game. I didn't even get a third prize.
This result is a blow to me to some extent. I couldn't figure out at first, but when I walked into Taiyuan's bookstore, I realized why there was no way to compete with them. I found that there are many computer books that I can't see at Yangquan. Others have inherent advantages over my ability to acquire information.
This experience made me feel the relationship between my eyes and my destiny for the first time. I have a deeper understanding of what my sister said to me at the time. I am eager to take a look at the outside world. I believe this will change my destiny.
In the past 20 years, both in the experience of studying at Peking University, in the United States to study computers and work experience in Wall Street and Shibuya, I have greatly broadened my horizons, and even created a huge influences.
So, from the moment you step into the gates of Peking University, your destiny has changed. Not only because it is the highest school in China, but also because you will be exposed to many new things that you have never seen or heard before.

Character and destiny

Although some people often say: "Character determines fate." But in fact, I personally do not agree with this statement. I feel that no matter what your personality is, you are likely to succeed.
A few years ago, the former president of Goldman Sachs opened a course on leadership at Tsinghua University, which invited the global CEOs of some large multinational companies to give lectures. Once, I was also invited to talk about Baidu’s success story. When I finished the class for the students, he chatted with me and said, "Robin, it’s very different to see your character as a successful person or entrepreneur in the eyes of ordinary people, because your personality is very soft and not so strong. But you I have done a very successful job, and I believe that you will be more successful in the future."
As the president of Goldman Sachs, he has seen almost all successful entrepreneurs in the world today. From his evaluation of me, people of all kinds of personality are likely to succeed, just to see if you have used your own character to do things.
For example, some people are good at communicating with others, so they should work hard in their own direction. They are very willing to communicate with customers, and may become a good salesperson in the future, which will also be successful.
And some people's personality is that relatively restrained, like a technical engineer, my character may be more in this aspect, more rigorous in thinking, more logical. I don't want to go out and drink with people every day, but more willing to sit in front of the computer to experience the new Internet products, and how to do it better.
Therefore, I believe that all kinds of personalities can be successful. The key is to analyze your actual situation and make a judgment. What is your personality? God closes a door and will open another window. Everyone should find something that suits him, do what he likes, do what he is good at, because only then can you stick to it, you Only when you encounter difficulties, do not back down, not easily change your direction. I believe that by doing this, success will not be far from you, and your destiny will be different.

Dream and destiny

There is a famous saying that "dreams are a bright light on the road to life." It is important to have a dream if one wants to succeed and wants to change his destiny.
When I was a graduate student in the United States, I enrolled in a research group at the school. At that time, the professor in charge of the interview might be dissatisfied with my answer to his answer, and then asked me casually: "Are you from China?" "Do you have a computer in China?" Although it may not be a stab wound to me, the professor's problem makes my heart particularly uncomfortable. I think how can I ask this question, China is such a big country, and it was already in the 1990s. How could it be without a computer? This is a humiliation for my country. But it is such a sentence that has inspired my inner self-defeating spirit and the belief that we must realize the "Chinese dream." Since then, I have dreamed that one day I will use the technology in my hands to change the lives of Chinese people.
This is why I gave up the stable work in the United States and a comfortable life to return to China to establish Baidu.
At the beginning of Baidu, everything was very difficult. We rented two rooms in the Peking University Resource Hotel as an office, plus me, the company has only 8 people in total. But despite this, everyone has a common dream, that is to do the Chinese own search engine.
After everyone's joint efforts, by the end of 2001, Baidu had a certain development compared with when it was just started. But at this time, I also realized that if Baidu wants to make a breakthrough in the market, it must surpass Google, which already has a 60% share in the Chinese market.
At the beginning of 2002, I organized a technical staff to open a meeting. At the meeting, I told everyone that we must completely surpass our competitors in various technical indicators. At that time, some people thought that this was impossible, and felt that the technical strength of Baidu and the most advanced search companies in the world were too wide. But I told them that although Baidu is still very weak at this time, it is still not well-known in the world and even in China, and its influence is limited. However, Baidu has gathered a group of outstanding talents full of extraordinary ideals and great ambitions. Everyone is here. Make a career and let the Chinese people exaggerate in the field of Chinese search engines.
Thus, a 15-person technical research team named "Lightning Project" was established. During that time, our engineers put all their energy into the work for a common dream and goal. When you are hungry, you can make a pack of instant noodles. When you are sleepy, you will sleep on the floor and wake up to work.
In fact, many of them had the opportunity to work for multinational companies such as IBM and Microsoft and earn a considerable income, but they chose to stay in Baidu, with a modest salary, and work day and night. They said that my dream of "doing the Chinese people's own search engine" touched them, and I was touched by them.
Hard work pays off. One year later, Baidu has greatly improved its index, relevance, Chinese search related search, pinyin search, error correction technology, etc. Many indicators are leading the industry, plus the Baidu mp3 search launched later in the "Lightning Project". This product, user experience evaluation is very high, quickly expanding Baidu's popularity and brand reputation. Baidu’s position as the world’s largest Chinese search engine has just begun.
Therefore, I feel that everyone should have a dream in their hearts, have the ambition of the motherland, find their own dreams, do it when they look for it, and do not follow the trend. At the same time, we must not only have our own dreams, but you should also use your own dreams to infect and influence others, because successful people must use their dreams to ignite other people's dreams, and they are always planting their dreams.
Dear students, the difficulty is not terrible, as long as you can face it optimistically; fate can be changed, and the key is in your hands.