 In later life, Zhu started to regard this twofold approach to cultivation and realization as too complicated, gradual, and difficult to carry out in practice. Like Confucius before him and anticipating Wang Yangming after him, Zhu Xi came to accept that the sincere Confucian adept must, on embarking on his or her project of ethical self-cultivation, first strive to establish his or her sincere determination (lizhi) to realize the cardinal Confucian virtues and become an exemplary person (junzi), that is to say, a master of appropriateness in interpersonal conduct and human affairs generally.