Not long ago, a private bank invited me to lead a small, closed-door sharing session for their most important clients — their top-tier high-net-worth customers in the region.
The moment I walked in, I realized that nearly half the faces in the room were familiar — people I’d already met through other circles and events.
So I tossed the script and spoke freely. With people I know well, I only ever say the honest things that cut deep.
Especially now — this environment is drowning in flowery nonsense, and real, grounded truth has become a rarity.
That day, some of what I shared was genuinely critical. So I’ve pulled the key points here to share with you all as well:
1 — In this land, never forget: personal effort and personal choices only produce real results when they’re bound to the trajectory of history.
So before you put your head down and grind, first look up at the sky. Then look at the environment around you. Then make your decision.
Many people skip that one or two glances — and it costs them their entire lives.
2 — The era of passionate, blazing ambition has turned its page. We’ve entered an era of quiet, steady lives.
In plain terms: unless you have extraordinarily special connections, the days of “high returns, high growth, high efficiency” investment opportunities are essentially over. And if you do encounter one, it’s almost certainly a scam.
Instead, going forward — whether your business is large or small — the word you need to live by is stability.
Stability means: legal, compliant, and within the bounds of social order. Even if profits aren’t impressive, as long as it generates decent cash flow, that’s a good business. That’s a good investment.
3 — The entire society’s framework for evaluating capability is undergoing a seismic shift — and the vast majority of people still haven’t caught on.
Take the growing wave of graduate students every year. In truth, most of them are simply children with nowhere to go — parents with no connections, themselves with no direction, killing time behind another degree.
The truly sharp ones have already started exploring hybrid “blue-collar plus white-collar” roles. It looks undignified at first glance — but it means real, early accumulation.
Meanwhile, the most awkward position belongs to those 23-to-27-year-old graduate students whose thin, sparse résumés silently announce to the world: I can solve exam problems. That’s all.
4 — Remember this: in today’s environment, it is absolutely reckless to rely on a single job as your only livelihood.
Many people don’t realize yet that countless “unshakeable iron rice bowls” are teetering on the edge. You don’t need to panic or flee right now — but at minimum, start building yourself a fallback.
Because when the setbacks that fate has in store for you arrive, you will be leveled completely. And you may not get back up.
5 — I’ve repeatedly told my boss friends: don’t invest too much trust in employees. Everyone’s just out here making a living — don’t expect them to prioritize your interests. They want high pay and light work, not to fight alongside you.
And equally, I tell my friends who work for others: don’t place too much hope in your company. In today’s world, the moment your value-to-cost ratio falls behind the newer generation, you will be replaced. Your contributions? Your years of hard work? At most, a pat on the shoulder and a polite “thank you.”
I hope you can hear both of these truths together.
6 — For the past two years, I’ve reminded the community over and over: break free from the oxen-and-sheep mentality — in plain terms, the “follow orders” mentality.
Learn to proactively view yourself as a chess piece. Think seriously: where on the board are you positioned right now? What resources do you hold? What relationships still need to be cultivated?
The core insight is this: except for yourself, no one in this society — not your most trusted friend, not even your closest partner — will put your interests first.
So you must develop the instinct to pursue your own happiness and fight for your own interests.
7 — Starting from these past two years, stop letting yourself be fooled by all the empty talk about magnanimity, universal love, and humble virtue.
The baseline is simple: as long as you don’t violate moral ethics, as long as you follow the law, as long as you don’t burden society — you are already a genuinely good person.
Now take what’s left of your energy and pour it wholeheartedly into making money, expanding your reach, and building your position. That is the most practical thing you can do.
8 — Honestly, the direction of the next few years will only grow harsher, more realistic, more cold. Weeping and lamenting about it is completely pointless.
Because there will always be someone crying harder and suffering more than you.
Back to the fundamental, eternal question: what can your capabilities actually handle when placed into the real world?
That is what you need to be thinking about and improving. Otherwise — no matter how much the broader environment warms up — it will have nothing to do with you.
9 — For ordinary people, I have a few more critical additions.
If you have a STEM background: unless you have exceptionally powerful social connections, do not rush toward obsolete industries or traditional manufacturing. You will most likely spend the years ahead trapped in a maddening limbo — not starving, but not thriving either.
Head toward the newly lit fields of technology. And carry the attitude of thick skin, tolerance for failure, hunger for experience — actively broaden your perspective and your skill set.
10 — If you have a liberal arts background: move firmly in the direction of what is patriotic, traditional, and mainstream. Both logically and practically, this is the only path that leads to a good outcome.
Do not chase paths that look flashy and niche but aren’t recognized by the mainstream.
The honest advice: walk the road that everyone else walks first — and walk it successfully. Then, from within that road, find your way to stand out.
11 — In fact, the entire six-year span from 2019 to 2025 will prove to be a great reshuffling of society’s ecological order.
Many convictions you once thought were unshakeable have already been completely shattered — along with the countless complacent people who held them.
In times like these: don’t be stubborn.
Tell yourself clearly: no adaptation, no evolution — the result is 100% elimination.
But don’t be afraid either. As the old guard and the stagnant are swept out, if you can complete one internal upgrade, the ecological niches they vacate will naturally be yours.
12 — In these past two years, don’t mix with the herd anymore.
Because the herd is never as gentle and harmless as it appears from the outside. They are simply powerless — but within their ranks, backstabbing, envy, and resentment are everywhere.
Being among them will only drain and waste your life, endlessly.
The most lethal damage: it will shrink your life pattern (格局) — bit by bit, until you become just like them. Petty, vindictive, short-sighted. Sacrificing years of your life over trivial scraps.
Remember: distance yourself from the herbivores. Become a predator.
Bring real nourishment to yourself and your family — not the same withered, tasteless grass, chewed day after day, offering only the barest sustenance.
13 — Very few people in this world are born predators.
Desire and method must first be witnessed before they can be awakened. But fortunately, there is a shortcut laid out before you — and that is this community.
No circle has ever, at such density, laid out macro interpretation, street-level logic, and the mechanics of upward movement in such complete and granular detail.
After years of growth, this community is filled with brothers and sisters who have achieved financial freedom and exceptional career results. Many of them, three or four years ago, were just ordinary people — just like you.
I can tell you with complete certainty: unless you truly immerse yourself in it, you will never know what “learning intensely inside a good circle for one year” can do to a person.
After a year of that kind of tempering, you will emerge fundamentally transformed. You will finally, completely understand how this society actually works — and the secrets that those at the top will never voluntarily share with you.