Classic stories about life planning

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1. The Story of Four Caterpillars University students, carrying backpacks on their shoulders and a small water bottle, bending over with squinted eyes, spending their days in the library... It’s really worrying for them. Why not make a plan for life first before putting in effort? College students should be versatile individuals with a wide range of skills! With such fierce competition in the job market, it’s essential to put in effort when under pressure! I’ll tell you a story about four caterpillars. Caterpillars all like to eat apples. There were four fine caterpillars; once they grew up, they each went to the forest to look for apples to eat. 　　(1) The first caterpillar 　　The first caterpillar traveled over mountains and rivers until it finally arrived at an apple tree. It had no idea that it was an apple tree, nor did it know that the tree was covered with red, delicious apples. When it saw other caterpillars climbing up, it simply followed them upward in a daze. There is no purpose, no end in sight; I don’t even know which kind of apple I want, nor have I thought about how to pick it. What was its final outcome? Perhaps found a big apple and lives happily ； It might also get lost in the leaves and lead a miserable life. But it’s certain that most insects live in this way, never pondering what the meaning of life is or why they exist. 　　(2) The second caterpillar The second caterpillar also crawled up to the apple tree. It knows this is an apple tree, and it’s certain that its goal in life is to find a big apple. The problem is that it doesn’t know where the big apple will grow But it guessed that big apples should grow on large branches and leaves! So it slowly climbed upward, and when it encountered a branch, it would choose the thicker one to continue climbing up. So it kept climbing up according to this standard, and finally found a large apple. The caterpillar was about to happily pounce on it to eat heartily, but upon taking a closer look, it realized that this large apple was actually the smallest one on the whole tree, with many larger apples above it. What discouraged it even more was that if it had chosen the other branch last time, it could have gotten a much larger apple. 　　(3) The third caterpillar The third caterpillar also arrived at an apple tree. This caterpillar knew it wanted a big apple, so it made itself a telescope. Before even starting to climb, I used a telescope to search and found a very large apple. At the same time, it found that when searching for a path from bottom to top, many branches would be encountered, with various different ways of climbing ； But when looking for a path from top to bottom, there is only one way to climb. It carefully traced back from the position of the apple, from top to bottom, to its current location, and recorded this determined path. So, it began to climb upward. When it encountered a branch, it wasn’t at all panicked, because it knew which way to go and didn’t need to squeeze through with all those other insects. For example, if its target is an apple named “Professor,” it should take the path of “further education.” ； If the goal is to become a “boss,” then one should pursue the “entrepreneurship” path. Finally, this caterpillar should have a good ending, because it already has its own plan. But in reality, it’s often the case that because caterpillars move quite slowly, by the time they arrive, either other insects have already reached the apple first, or the apple has already ripened and rotted. 　　(4) The fourth caterpillar The fourth caterpillar is no ordinary insect; it has its own plans for what to do. It knows what kind of apple it wants, and it also knows how the apple will grow. Therefore, when it uses a telescope to observe an apple, its target is not a large apple, but a budding apple flower. It calculates its own route, estimating that by the time it arrives, the flower will have grown into a mature big apple, allowing it to get the apple it desires. And as it wished, it got a big and sweet apple, and from then on lived happy days. 　　The first caterpillar was a clueless creature with no goals, living blindly throughout its life without any plan for its own existence; it didn’t know what it wanted. Unfortunately, most of us live like the first caterpillar. 　　The second caterpillar, although it knew what it wanted, did not know how to get to the apple. Guided by the supposed correct standards of habit, it made some choices that seemed right but gradually pushed it further away from the apple. And once upon a time, the right choice was so close to it. 　　The third caterpillar had a very clear plan for its life and always managed to make the right choices. However, its goals were too ambitious, and its actions were too slow; success was already out of reach for it. Opportunities and success don’t wait for anyone. Similarly, our lives are also extremely limited; we must make the most of them. With just our own efforts, even if we work hard throughout our lives, it may not be possible to find our own apple. If a plan suitable for oneself is devised, and external help is utilized—such as many telescopes and the like (in real life this could mean finding someone who can assist one)—perhaps the fate of the third caterpillar could be much better. 　　The fourth caterpillar not only knew what it wanted, but also knew how to obtain its apple and what conditions were necessary to do so; it then formulated a clear and practical plan, and with the guidance of a telescope, it worked step by step to achieve its goal. 　　In fact, our lives are like caterpillars, and the apple represents our life goal – professional success. Climbing a tree is like the path of our professional career. After graduation, we all have to climb the tree of life in search of our future; a career without any plan is bound to fail. 　　In modern society, planning determines destiny. The life one leads is determined by the plans they have. We have very limited time; the earlier you plan your life, the sooner you will achieve success. If you want to get the apples you like and change your life, you must start by changing yourself, by making a proper career plan for yourself, and by becoming the fourth caterpillar.