Zhang Chaoyang adheres to the long-term perspective. During his hardcore live-streaming event themed "Living in the World of Quantum Mechanics" across the years 2024 and 2025, he mentioned that when you decide to do something, the most important thing is to persist.
If you persist for a long time to a certain extent, quantitative change will lead to qualitative change.
01 、Zhang Chaoyang's Long-Termism：
Zhang Chaoyang, born in 1964, graduated from Tsinghua University's Department of Physics with a bachelor's degree, and obtained master's and doctoral degrees from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
He is the chairman of the board of directors of Sohu.
Running has been his lifelong pursuit for several decades.
At the opening ceremony of the 10th season of the Sohu Marathon in 2025, Zhang Chaoyang said that participating in races covering the entire world and the entire China demonstrated our long-termism in doing things and our ability to transcend cycles...
We have experienced so many things, and Zhang Chaoyang and the Sohu Marathon are still running.
Zhang Chaoyang's physics classes have been broadcast live for over 200 sessions, with a total duration of more than 20,000 minutes.
He has also published three books titled "Zhang Chaoyang's Physics Class" as popular science books, which have been collected by the National Library. His physics classes have become the core IP of knowledge live broadcasts on Sohu Video, driving thousands of knowledge broadcasters to join.
Live English classes began in 2016 and are now in their 9th year.
Persisting in climbing mountains, swimming, and running marathons. Last year, at the age of 60, he swam across Weihai Bay in breaststroke, taking 2 hours and 36 minutes.
02 、The dividends of long-termism for ordinary people：
Build the power of compound ability.
Just like Zhang Chaoyang's "running 1 km → 5 km → half marathon → crossing the Weihai Bay", the continuous and progressive path perfectly illustrates "small progress × time = huge leap".
- If we output 100 words every day, we can develop professional writing skills in 3 years;
- if we study English for 30 minutes every day, we can easily read foreign publications in 3 years.
Enhance the ability to resist risks.
During the fierce battle for internet traffic, Zhang Chaoyang relied on live streaming of physics lessons to bring differentiated traffic to Sohu Video.
This "second curve" originated from years of knowledge accumulation.
In the current economic situation, jobs may fluctuate. Preparing for the second ability in advance can provide us with a buffer through the accumulated combined advantages over the long term.
Master certainty.
In this era of uncertainty, our daily fixed micro-habits, such as exercising, reading, and writing, can provide us with psychological anchors.
This sense of control over our bodies and habits gives us a certain sense of order in our lives.
03 、Build a closed loop of "micro habits - progress visualization - review and iteration"：
Micro-habit Design: Make Actions Small Enough to Prevent Giving Up
- Minimum Starting Unit: Zhang Chaoyang's lesson preparation for physics initially only involved "studying the derivation of one formula every day". This light-starting approach enabled him to avoid the "perfectionism trap". To develop a writing habit, start by writing 100 words every day; to cultivate an exercise habit, set a goal of doing 10 push-ups every day.
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Scene Anchoring + Interest Method: Link new habits to existing behaviors. For example, recite 5 words after breakfast, review 3 minor events before sleep, or watch the favorite American TV series "Friends" for 30 minutes every day to learn English. When the actions become interesting, persistence becomes enjoyment.
Progress visualization: Using certainty to combat anxiety
- Data-based recording: Use Excel to statistically analyze key indicators. For example, when I write on the public account, I will record the word count, reading volume, and number of feedback messages for each month, and create a line graph for visualization. Use the data to verify whether the content direction needs to be adjusted.
- Enhancement of sense of ceremony: I will create monthly and annual progress bars. Each time a stage task is completed, a small gift will be unlocked. The sense of ceremony drives continuous action.
Review and iteration: Continuous optimization and correction
- Monthly Review At the end of each month, ask yourself three questions: ① Do the existing habits lead to growth? ② Which habits or routines can be optimized? ③ Do you need to adjust your goals?
- Flexible adjustment: Allow the plan to be flexibly changed according to reality. When Zhang Chaoyang was working, the live English classes would also be shortened from 90 minutes to 45 minutes. For us, the core is to maintain continuity and complete the task rather than striving for perfection.
- Milestone breakthrough: Don't get stuck in the situation of "just focusing on pulling the vehicle without looking ahead". During the process of quantitative change accumulation, it is necessary to set milestones and consciously break through them, thereby forming a dual-drive system of "accumulation of quantitative changes + regular breakthroughs".
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Think carefully, do we lack something in our lives? And is it precisely this lack that separates us from successful people? Are we concentrating on certain things that we consider valuable, but giving up halfway through? Or are our goals too grand, beyond our capabilities, and we give up halfway?
If we could adopt his long-termism. Start with 5-minute micro-habits, use progress bars to track growth, rely on retrospection to iterate the direction, connect daily actions to the long-term value track, and through continuous action, make ourselves more orderly and stronger.