Did you know?
Making money, like all things in heaven and earth, follows its own set of laws.
Otherwise, why is it that some people — even when they’ve hit rock bottom — can quickly carve out a new path to wealth and bounce back stronger than ever?
Are they smarter than you? No. They’ve simply figured out the small laws of making money one step ahead of you.
So if you can master these same laws, a steady stream of modest wealth will come to you just as easily.
That’s why I hope you’ll truly absorb and internalize what follows. Every point here was distilled from people who have a genuine talent for earning honest wealth.
Wealthy people always create their own opportunities.
Ordinary people tend to believe that the opportunities of their lifetime come through waiting — like a hunter crouching by a stump, hoping a rabbit will run right into it.
But the person who genuinely wants to make money never sits around foolishly waiting for fate to deal them a hand.
Instead, they go to every length to create possibilities and opportunities for themselves. That includes sacrificing their own leisure and rest time, putting themselves in the path of as many solid business opportunities as possible.
Let me share a story that I find rather striking.
Five years ago, two close friends came to me, hoping I could offer some perspective on their wealth fortune. Perhaps it was karma at work — both of their destiny charts (命盘) revealed that a moderate wave of wealth fortune was available to them over the coming three years.
Xiao Hong, the outgoing and spirited one, was immediately curious. She wanted to know how this fortune would manifest, what circumstances might bring it about, and how best to seize it.
Xiao Lan, the reserved and cautious one, showed little interest. She firmly believed that her stable white-collar salary was the wisest choice, and that anything else was high-risk speculation.
Character shapes destiny — this saying proved itself with remarkable clarity through these two women.
Two years ago, I was invited to Xiao Hong’s wedding. The unremarkable white-collar worker I once knew had become a co-founder of a mid-sized live-streaming e-commerce company. Her wealth was steadily moving toward freedom, and her assets had entered a healthy compounding trajectory.
When I asked how it happened, the story was this: once she understood that this fortune window was open to her, she immediately used her off-hours to help out at a friend’s early-stage startup, doing odd jobs. After her main job each day, she’d head home or to a café and work on plans for the entrepreneurial team.
Over time, her role within the startup grew increasingly vital. Her friend eventually offered her equity to keep her — and her side venture gradually eclipsed her main job, blossoming into something real.
As I stood there feeling genuinely happy for her, a timid voice reached me from the side. It was Xiao Lan.
Where Xiao Hong radiated success, Xiao Lan looked exactly as she had five years before — pale and worn. She was candid with me: while Xiao Hong had sacrificed her free time to push forward, Xiao Lan had spent her evenings binge-watching dramas and browsing online shops.
When Xiao Hong received equity in the startup, Xiao Lan still dismissed it as unreliable — she even turned down Xiao Hong’s warm invitation to join her.
She couldn’t see it succeeding. She didn’t think it was worth the effort.
Today, Xiao Hong’s net worth is eight figures, and her annual dividends alone afford her a comfortable life. Xiao Lan still earns seven thousand yuan a month. The two friends have gradually drifted apart, with little left in common.
Over the years, I’ve seen both types many times.
Was there any gap in their intelligence? Not at all. In daily life, both were sharp, articulate, quick-thinking women.
The difference was this: Xiao Hong chose to keep one foot planted firmly in her main career while reaching the other foot out to explore new ground. Xiao Lan kept both feet nailed to a single plank, hoping to build wealth purely through her white-collar identity — which was, to put it gently, wishful thinking.
Because an excessive pursuit of stability means you’ll miss opportunity after opportunity that heaven sends your way — until eventually no more come, and that’s all your life will ever be.
Wealthy people are always prepared.
Young people often send me private messages asking what they can do to build more wealth — what books to read, what articles to follow, what foundational skills to develop.
My standard reply: real-world practice is the only textbook that matters.
Of course, I don’t mean you should throw all caution aside and stake everything you have on a reckless bet.
Quite the opposite. Whatever it is you want to understand deeply, quickly — the best approach is to put in a small amount you genuinely don’t care about losing, set a firm stop-loss line as hard as iron, and then go feel it, experience it, learn from it.
Understand this: in any field in this world, there is no such thing as a day when you’ve fully mastered the fundamentals. Almost every domain evolves radically on a cycle of two to three years. Only through real practice can you actually keep pace with how fast things change.
Not long ago, a reader left a comment specifically to thank me. Her exact words: “Thank you, Master, for the encouragement and support you gave me after reviewing my life pattern (格局). Over the past year, I followed the strategic guidance you gave me. By studying and imitating successful content creators, I gradually developed my own skills — on camera, in copywriting, in building an audience. I haven’t struck it rich yet, but my side income has already exceeded my main salary by more than three times. If you hadn’t pointed this out to me, I never would have spotted this opportunity on my own. I’m truly grateful.”
What I want to say is this: if you want to build wealth, you must get into the arena and feel your way through it — act, observe, reflect. Don’t keep waiting indefinitely until you feel “ready enough.”
Something you can’t do? Learn it. Something you don’t understand? Ask. Something unfamiliar? Imitate. Something confusing? Borrow from those who’ve figured it out.
Connections, resources, capital — they’re scattered all across society. Go looking when you need them, and you will find them.
Wealthy people are always hungry to learn.
Do you know what wealthy people fear most?
Ignorance.
Because ignorance is the root cause of every failure in life.
Ignorance of the law, and you’ll unknowingly cross forbidden lines. Ignorance of human nature, and you won’t know how to lead a team. Ignorance of capital, and you’ll never be able to gather and direct money.
So while wealthy people may not be passionate readers at heart, they are absolutely terrified of paying a steep price for what they don’t know.
In my own circle over the past decade — the affluent world of Jiangnan (the prosperous Yangtze River Delta region) — the defining shift has been that everyone has begun to truly revere knowledge. Especially in recent years, the books generating the most buzz have been circulating through business circles first, not cultural ones. That tells you everything.
In my youth, I became acquainted with a self-made millionaire from the outskirts of Shanghai. Back then, he was genuinely rough around the edges — flashy with his money, much of it windfall, generous in spirit, but lacking in depth.
After going through some hard times and difficult experiences, he’s transformed completely. Every month or two, he’ll reach out and ask me to recommend a few good books. And crucially, he actually reads them — he even takes notes.
Ask him whether reading and learning matter?
Of course they do. He’s living proof — he drew heavily from books to absorb knowledge and historical case studies, completing a total overhaul of both his thinking and his perspective.
Today? What was once a modest millionaire has become a humble entrepreneur worth over a billion.
Compare that with some of the mediocre, ordinary people you encounter — often stubborn, complacent, utterly resistant to growth.
To them, what’s the point of reading? They’d rather ride someone else’s coattails, waiting for a noble benefactor (贵人, Gui Ren) to swoop in and carry them to fortune overnight.
What they don’t realize is that even earning the favor of a noble benefactor requires deep knowledge — of classical Chinese wisdom, Chinese metaphysics (玄学), human nature, economics, history.
The truth is, making money is simply the monetization of what you carry inside you.
The more quality knowledge you hold, the higher your intrinsic value — and naturally, your wealth fortune (财运) grows alongside it.
“Within books lies a golden house” — this old saying is no exaggeration.
Over the years, society seems to have developed a deep bias against wealthy people, assuming the rich are callous and self-serving.
I have reservations about that view — but I am certain there is much this group has to teach us, especially when it comes to building wealth.
Envy, resentment, bitterness — none of it helps you in the slightest.
So why not extract what is genuinely valuable from them, and apply it to yourself?
Build your own wealth. Give the people who love you — and whom you love — a better life.
What could be better than that?