1. People have a limited number of times in their lives to get excited and motivated.

I have spent too much energy during my student years. Our society and culture assume that people can work hard for a lifetime, but after personal experience, I realize that a person can only strive hard for a certain period in their life.

If at some stage in life, you exhaust yourself, pour your heart and soul into something, and thereby deplete your vitality, you might need to use your entire lifespan as a measure to cultivate and repay. Many students who exerted themselves too intensely in school may end up with years of complacency.

2. So, don’t cling to battles. This is a piece of advice I give to many young people facing academic difficulties.

You know I often go against the mainstream; I don’t encourage retaking exams or second or third attempts. People who are not good at studying should get their diploma quickly and end their student life.

It’s like Ultraman fighting monsters—transformations take time. When the energy light on your chest shifts from a bright blue to blinking red, it means your energy is almost exhausted. Just like human effort, there is a limit.

3. I now truly believe that the key to happiness and achievement in life is precisely the time after graduation.

Many people start out full of ambition right after graduation, wanting to be big bosses, entrepreneurs, or to go into business or politics. But once they face a little “social beating,” they give up everything and choose to lie flat.

If you aim for a long-term goal but start out too aggressively, you’ll run out of strength in the middle and can’t keep going. Isn’t this also a kind of “spiritual impotence and premature ejaculation”?

4. I was already drained by the “Hengshui model” in high school, which led me to party wildly in college for several years and fail countless courses. At that time, I rented a place off-campus, slept all day and night, skipped morning classes, and several times when my counselor called to urge me to attend, I just couldn’t get up.

Many of my peers from top universities like 985 schools, after entering college, also got tired. They chose popular majors like computer science, finance, law, but after graduation, they didn’t join big companies with 996 work schedules and gave up on high salaries. They prefer lower wages but less work pressure, and opt for government jobs or transfers.

So I want to say, to get motivated, you need not only physical strength but also “mental strength.” And mental strength is similar to physical strength—it declines with age.

5. After mental exhaustion, it’s as hard to recover as a fracture that needs a hundred days to heal.

What’s the most frightening? It’s waking up one day and realizing that the fatigue from yesterday is still there, still very tired. Resting for a week doesn’t help, and after a year, it’s still the same.

Curiosity, appetite, love, sex drive, competitiveness, and resilience in facing setbacks—all these mental powers disappear. You lose interest in anything new, living only for eating, drinking, and low-level entertainment. These people might soon develop “senile dementia.”

6. Your life can’t be solely divided into studies and work; you need to leave some part for yourself.

Of course, I’m not talking about playing games after work, shopping during holidays, or buying the latest phone or bag; I mean those things that truly upgrade the depths of your soul.

For example, the roles you dreamed of as a child: scientist, writer, engineer, entrepreneur; or creating something: music, literary works, paintings; or pioneering a new path: a theory or lifestyle.

All these require a lot of mental and physical effort, but they can bring long-lasting happiness and achievement. Not the instant gratification and “nipple music” I mentioned earlier, which only leave you feeling empty.

7. What does “loss of mental strength” feel like? I experienced it firsthand in the first half of the year.

Because I was undergoing treatment (not in good condition), I suddenly lost all mental strength. Nothing could hold my interest for long, and I had no desires.

You took me on a trip, but I’d rather lie down; you took me to eat black pearls or Michelin dishes, which are delicious, but to my taste, it’s just a mix of sugar, oil, MSG, and chili—no joy, no sadness.

8. Recently, I stopped taking medication, and I’ve recovered. I started to look forward to small things happening the next day, and I’ve set new long-term goals. Suddenly, I want to eat, shout, and run around. The sun is warm, and October in Chengdu smells of osmanthus. I realize life is wonderful again.

My mom has recently become obsessed with Da Bing.

But I told her, “Mom, I’ve long lost my mental strength; my fighting spirit is all reserved for high school. I plan to retire after 35.”

People, in this lifetime, should use their energy sparingly.