How Many Decades Would You Persist for Your Goal?

From a Third-Tier City to a Prestigious North American MBA

I am an ordinary girl, born in a small third-tier county. As a child, I was unremarkable in appearance—dark and chubby—which made me feel very self-abased. I wanted to change my life through hard study, but I failed the college entrance exam and lacked the courage to repeat a year. My attempts at graduate studies also failed, and I found myself unemployed right after graduation.

For some people, their starting points require ten years to achieve their goals. Yes, it took me ten years to go from a third-tier county to an MBA program at a prestigious North American university. I want to share my story to tell everyone that as long as you have reasonable goals and manage them scientifically, you can definitely realize your dreams!

Achieving goals is not as closely related to ability as you might think; some people persist, while others give up. I am that foolishly persistent person.

Twice Failed Graduate Exams

Amidst confusion and setbacks, I began my university life. In my freshman year, I was fortunate to meet my first role model and mentor—my English teacher. She was different from others. In class, she loved sharing stories about the places she had been, the people she had met, and her experiences working in foreign companies. It was then that I decided to become someone "different," just like her.

During the two years I spent preparing for the graduate entrance exams, three of us decided to take biology exams together. I was the only one who didn’t pursue biology because I didn’t pass. After graduating from university, instead of immediately finding a job, I moved to Shanghai and rented a place near my dream school, Fudan University, to prepare for the exams again. This time, I didn’t take the exam because I had clarified my thoughts and realized it wasn’t what I wanted. I chose to cut my losses in time.

Entrepreneurship Competition Gave Me Direction

During the gap months after failing the graduate exams, I kept thinking about what I truly wanted. When I couldn’t figure it out, I started thinking about what I didn’t want. Most of my classmates in my major pursued careers in research and sales, but I didn’t like doing experiments or sales.

I gave up on the graduate exams and started looking for a job, researching extensively—food nutritionist? Designer? Buyer? One day, I suddenly remembered a significant event from my university days: participating in an entrepreneurship competition where our proposal won third place in Jiangsu Province! The entire process was full of passion—we asked a senior sister majoring in design to help design our logo, led the team through brainstorming new ideas, and delivered presentations on-site. Additionally, from elementary school through university, I had always been the publicity committee member in my class and the publicity director in my college. Could I pursue a career in publicity and planning?

Struggling in the Workplace

My first job was in Shanghai at a very small company with a salary of 2,000 RMB. Fortunately, I met my first mentor at work—a market director who didn’t let my ignorance defeat me and insisted on hiring me as an assistant. Two years later, I was promoted from marketing assistant to assistant brand manager.

Living a junior white-collar life in the trendy city of Shanghai, I still remembered the "different" version of myself in my heart. Previously, I wanted to study biology abroad to learn advanced science and experience life in a foreign country. Now, I was doing a job I loved in the marketing department. Could I still go abroad?

A year after graduating, I enrolled in EF (Education First) to learn English, embarking on a lifelong journey of learning. At EF, I was introduced to business concepts and kept exploring until I defined my own goals. I switched jobs to a larger company to accumulate experience and continued improving my spoken English.

In my third year of work, I joined a well-known domestic fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) company as a product manager. I eagerly absorbed knowledge about market strategies, product strategies, brand promotion, and sales strategies on this large platform, significantly enhancing my thinking.

In my fourth year, I was transferred to a new team to establish a new brand—a great opportunity and a challenge. Within a year, our team developed this project into one of the company’s top five strategic brands. After three years of hard work, the brand was successfully launched.

Finding a Clear Path: The Path of Lifelong Learning

Amidst the busy work life, I didn’t slack off in pursuing my dreams and found a clear path. After attending several ChaseDream forum MBA application sharing sessions, I realized that pursuing an MBA in a Western country to comprehensively study business knowledge was my next step.

After finishing my studies at EF, I joined an international speaking club (Toastmasters), commonly known as "Headmasters," initially to improve my spoken English and lay the foundation for future overseas studies. By chance, I became the president of our club, saving a struggling club and repositioning it with a group of passionate members. Now, it’s a well-known Toastmasters club in Shanghai—the Marketing Toastmasters Club.

Joining a Women’s Non-Profit Organization in the USA

Determined to go to the USA for both family and dreams, I left behind most of the materials I had prepared for studying in France, knowing they wouldn’t be useful. Starting anew was my path. Leaving the familiar Shanghai, I was plagued by confusion, doubt, and loneliness. Solitude became another lesson I needed to master.

Fortunately, I met The Center for Women, a women’s non-profit organization, which helped me connect with a female mentor and secure an internship position at a non-profit organization. My mentor asked me, "Where is your life purpose?" I was stunned—this was the question I had been contemplating all along. With her help, I became more determined about life, no longer confused but focused on self-improvement.

During my eight-month internship at the non-profit organization, I met people with different life stories—like a former Google engineer earning an annual salary of $200,000 who resigned to pursue environmental protection, developing his own career path and attending the Paris Environmental Pollution Conference with a big smile. I also met a once pampered girl who, right after graduation, joined a low-paying non-profit organization to pursue her dream of public welfare.

Goal Management System

Since graduating from university, I’ve been aware of goal management. Every year, I would write down my annual goals, but by year-end, I often found my completion rate was very low. During the Toastmasters phase, I joined a persistence organization, checked in daily, and saw industry experts in the group. I realized that the reason they could persist daily was because they had their own life goals.

During my gap year, I invented a comprehensive goal management and self-management system, continuously practicing it throughout my growth process. From 2016 to 2017, my goal completion rate reached 99%! By 2019, it had soared to 500%!

Explosive Growth

At 30, I quit my job and moved to the USA, resetting my life. Confusion and doubt enveloped me.

Setting Goals: Internships, Exams, School Applications

My son quietly arrived. During pregnancy, I experienced severe morning sickness, vomiting for five months, dizziness, and had to stay bedridden, making MBA applications impossible. On the night my son was born, I submitted my MBA application from the delivery room. My unwavering belief brought results: I was admitted to a one-year MBA program at the University of Pittsburgh, ranked in the top 10 in the US.

Three months after my son was born, I entered an intense MBA program. I chatted with professors about course selection while dealing with the embarrassment of leaking breast milk, struggled with unfamiliar English, heavy coursework, couldn’t understand lectures, and my son cried at midnight, preventing me from getting a full night's sleep. Yet, the next day, I still had three exams waiting for me...

Drying My Tears and Persisting

I wiped away my tears, gritted my teeth, and persisted by setting and achieving goals through goal management.

In the end, I achieved goals I once didn’t dare to imagine: in two and a half years, I gave birth, completed my MBA, and successfully transitioned careers through explosive growth.

A Flourishing Life

After more than a decade of effort, I achieved a flourishing life—happy family, satisfying career, and income multiplied a hundredfold!

• Dreams: Realized my personal dream by getting admitted to a one-year MBA program at a top 10 North American university.

• Career: Changed industries, tripling my salary, and achieved promotions and raises within a year, discovering my career sweet spot.

• Family: From constant arguments to a happy, harmonious household with zero internal friction, exceeding our five-year family plan, and moving into our dream villa.

• Entrepreneurship: My mission landed as a goal management expert, leading 10,000 learners globally to set annual goals, helping 4,000 achieve them, and guiding over 100 to discover their lifelong missions.

On the 1,700th Day in the USA

At 2 AM, on my 1,700th day in the USA, I was eating a $7 can of luncheon meat and writing these words. Seventeen hundred days ago, we moved to the USA with our only savings, and the scientist in our family received an offer that we thought would allow us to live comfortably, matching our domestic income. However, at the supermarket, I was shocked to see a can of luncheon meat costing nearly $7! I couldn’t bring myself to buy it.

Many hidden costs weren’t accounted for, such as internet fees—$49/month the first year, increasing to $79/month the second year. Utilities like electricity, water, gas, and phone bills were several times higher than in China. Faced with unforeseen economic pressures, we chose to adjust our goals.

As someone who always lived paycheck to paycheck, I learned to practice essentialist consumption in the face of economic pressure. I am grateful to the scientist in our family for silently practicing essentialism for so many years. When I read the book Essentialism, it was an epiphany.

Now, on my 1,700th day, I only want to eat a can of luncheon meat—not out of bitterness, but as a reflection on the tough days I’ve endured. I remain calm and continue walking the path I love. What are tough days?

I’d like to quote Lin Sanyue, the mother of our community: Most people misunderstand the meaning of enduring hardship. Poverty isn’t about enduring hardship; poverty is just poverty, not about being tough.

The Compound Effect of Delayed Gratification

We brought our savings to the USA, and the scientist in our family has a salary. Could I really afford a $7 can of luncheon meat? I can afford it, but I know that in Pittsburgh, where there are fewer Chinese people, luncheon meat is so expensive. I haven’t eaten it in a long time in China. Wanting luncheon meat was just an emotional compensation, missing the days of hotpot back home.

I also practiced many acts of delayed gratification. When I first arrived in the USA, many people said, “Dayin, start doing purchasing agents!” I wasn’t untempted, but without income, I felt terrible. After seven years of work, creating brands, developing products, and lively corporate life, it all left me.

Instead of immediately starting as a purchasing agent, I conducted research:

• I looked at purchasing agents’ social media and checked the process on Taobao. I wasn’t interested. To the sisters doing purchasing, I have no particular opinion, just expressing that it wasn’t my choice, so I didn’t want to do it.

• Customs Risks: The funds we brought were for my MBA tuition, which might not be enough. I prioritize self-growth and wouldn’t immediately invest funds into a business. I wanted to focus my limited resources.

• Purchasing Agents Are Very Busy: It would dilute my study time. My primary goal in the USA was to get into an MBA program. I needed to focus all my energy to achieve my dream—a ten-year dream of studying abroad.

Thus, I practiced delayed gratification for two and a half years.

What is the Compound Effect of Delayed Gratification?

While focusing on writing my MBA thesis, I clarified my personal mission: helping women help women. I began to define my future clearly. In two and a half years, I achieved giving birth, completing my MBA, and a successful career transition through explosive growth. After graduating from the MBA, I found a job and earned back the MBA tuition within six months. Six months into my job, I started exploring side businesses, implementing my mission, and a year and a half later, I was earning a six-figure monthly income.

What Did I Do During These 1,700 Days?

• Two and a Half Years of Delayed Gratification and Explosive Growth: Achieved promotions and salary increases.

• More Than Two Years of Implementing My Mission and Doubling My Income: Annual income reached one million RMB.

• Exceeding My Five-Year Plan: In the first month in the USA, I and the scientist in our family set a five-year family plan. Every year, I diligently reviewed and adjusted it. Seventeen hundred days into living in the USA, we exceeded our five-year plan ahead of schedule!

I was moved to tears. Many people overestimate what they can achieve in a year and underestimate what they can achieve in five or ten years. My experience shows that with a ten-year dream of studying abroad, I achieved my goal of entering a prestigious American university. The five-year plan we set upon arriving in the USA was not only met but exceeded ahead of schedule.

My five-year plan included baseline and sprint goals. During reviews, I was surprised to find that I had achieved more than my sprint goals!

Therefore, the more eager you are to achieve your goals, the harder they are to realize. The more anxious you become, the more disappointed and anxious you feel.

Now, many people are extremely anxious because they overestimate their short-term goals and underestimate their long-term goals. One of my favorite quotes from Essentialism is: "When you look far ahead, your vision becomes clear."

By looking far ahead and appropriately adjusting short-term expectations to match actual abilities, you will live more happily. Envisioning ten years ahead, setting five-year plans, and five years later, you will cheer for yourself. Ten years later, you will become your true self.

Influencing 10,000 Learners Across 6 Continents and 12 Countries in Three Years

About Dayin

Looking back twelve years ago, when I was studying physics, I fell in love with the term "dayin." In physics, a "dayin" is the smallest unit of force. In the vast universe, humans are so insignificant—perhaps I am just a speck of dust. But I am willing to tread firmly every day, doing every small task well, making my life more meaningful.

About Dreams

When I achieved my long-held dream and returned to campus, I finally understood that dreams can be realized through effort and goal management. The end is just the beginning.

I constantly thought and questioned my inner self: What is the meaning of your life? When you pass away, what kind of words do you want to leave on your tombstone?

Answer: Mother, wife, daughter, and an influential person.

About Personal Branding

I founded Dayin Goal Academy, becoming a goal management expert. In three years, I helped over 10,000 learners globally set annual goals, assisted 4,000 in achieving them, and guided over 100 to find their lifelong missions.

After more than a decade of effort, I achieved a flourishing life—happy family, satisfying career, and income multiplied a hundredfold!

Conclusion

At any time, as long as you keep moving forward, it’s never too late. With clear goals and direction, you can sing your way through life, march courageously ahead, believe in yourself, and deserve a higher-versioned life!

Most people live ineffective lives because they lack a life GPS. A life goal GPS comprises our clear life values, life goals, and a ten-year vision, continuously guiding us forward. Life is a strategic layout!

A person’s direction is determined by their focus, and their vision determines their pattern. Where your focus is ten years or five years from now, we calmly concentrate on what needs to be done now every day.

The gap between people lies in their ability to plan their lives. If you don’t plan your life, your life will be controlled by others!

Life is a strategic layout. Let’s enhance our ability to plan our lives and live a vibrant, fulfilling life!