This article is, by my own measure, the most comprehensive summary I’ve ever written about my personal experience in entrepreneurship, business, and wealth creation — so I’m writing it in a fairly casual, free-flowing style. If any part of it strikes you as something you don’t quite agree with, just treat it as a friend talking a little too freely over drinks and let it go with a smile. After all, by any measure of net worth, I’m hardly the kind of business titan you’d see splashed across the headlines. I’ve got some properties, some assets, and a decent life — nothing more. But I believe it’s precisely because of this modest, unassuming level of prosperity — nothing too dramatic — that you and I have plenty of common ground to learn from each other.
Also, at the suggestion of quite a few friends and followers, I’ve personally recorded an audio reading of this article, so you can listen when it’s inconvenient to read. My throat has been a little under the weather lately, and I’m no professional broadcaster, so please bear with me. Without further ado — let’s begin.
I. Water Flows Low to Form Seas; Those Who Stay Humble Become Kings#
If I were to distill everything I’ve learned about wealth over the years into a single sentence, it would be this: Water flows low to form seas; those who stay humble become kings.
The first half is easy to understand — all the water in the world naturally flows and collects at the lowest points, drawn by gravity and momentum. The second half works the same way: if you keep your posture and your spirit low enough, you will inevitably begin to see your own shortcomings clearly, while more and more people around you will come to recognize your groundedness and reliability.
Don’t think this has nothing to do with building wealth. This is precisely the most critical first step.
Think about it: isn’t wealth the combined realization of a person’s ability and resources? The greater the ability, the more resources, the richer the outcome? So those four words — those who stay humble become kings — are truly a foundational principle, especially on the path of pursuing wealth.
Looking back, every person I’ve ever encountered in my life who has laughed long and lasted long has lived by this principle, without exception.
It shows up in a few specific ways:
The first low is posture — no matter how successful, they continue learning in their field, ensuring they’re never left behind at the technical level because of arrogance.
The second low is mindset — no matter how wealthy, they maintain a calm and open disposition, genuinely willing to listen to the ideas and experiences of those around them, keeping themselves always in a state of growth.
The third low is lifestyle — even after achieving financial freedom, they never treat it as the starting gun for extravagance. They stay grounded and diligent, never burning through what they’ve built.
You’re welcome to hold these three lows up against the people around you — or against anyone you know who’s considered successful. Those who don’t stray from these three lows generally don’t decline. Those who do stray are usually not far from their own downfall.
II. The Key Projects of Self-Development#
Even for a great nation to flourish, it really comes down to a dozen or so major objectives. Achieve them one by one, and prosperity follows naturally. For an individual, it’s the same — just master seven or eight key fundamentals, and that’s enough.
Solitude and reading: No matter how busy, carve out time every day for quiet reading and self-reflection. Let your depth accumulate and your flaws diminish.
Train both body and mind: Wealth never falls from the sky — it’s taken from the arena. Your physical health, stamina, and energy all matter deeply. You will never see a sickly, frail person accomplish anything of real significance.
Cultivate empathy: Nearly every conflict in this world dissolves the moment you genuinely look at it from the other person’s position. The core of the disagreement becomes immediately clear. Learn to develop true empathy.
Mutual benefit: No matter how capable you are, a person cut off from the world and from others is just talking to themselves. Always learn to leave something good for others as you operate, and maintain those relationships over the long term.
Never chase dangerous gains: You must develop a risk-management mindset. In this era, never act on luck or wishful thinking. Avoid anything that grazes the edge of law or morality. Yes, this demands enormous self-discipline to resist temptation — but have you not seen how a moment of weakness destroyed an entire listed company? How a single surge of greed ruined a lifetime of work? Safety and stability are the non-negotiable baseline of living and doing business.
Think in first principles: Never do things without stopping to think. Cultivate the habit of questioning the true nature of things. Once you begin to see the essence behind many of life’s events, your inner level will shoot up instantly — as if the fog has lifted. The vast store of experience and knowledge within you finally becomes integrated and fluid.
Character above all: In both life and business, never let yourself be led astray by people who’ve achieved small things through cunning and clever tricks. Getting 60 on a test through cheating is possible — but scoring above 90, consistently, over the long haul, requires only one thing: genuine substance. Character is that substance. Honesty. Integrity. Focus. Kindness. Not undermining others. Not gaining at others’ expense. These qualities only become more valuable as time goes on. As you grow and succeed, you’ll come to understand just how much they’re worth.
III. A Higher-Level Wealth Philosophy#
One thing I’ve felt most deeply, from reviewing so many destiny charts (BaZi), is that the gap in thinking between employees and entrepreneurs is almost incomprehensibly large.
The common trait of employees is a severe lack of initiative — they wait for problems to reach crisis level before thinking about solutions. By then it’s usually too late: both the best window for handling the issue and whatever hidden opportunity lay within it have already passed.
The common trait of entrepreneurs is that they’re enormously flexible and curious. They love to study new things and are always eager to explore and test new opportunities.
The worldviews of these two groups diverge enormously, and so do the trajectories of their lives.
So how does one evolve from the employee mindset to a genuine entrepreneur’s wealth philosophy?
One line captures the essence: Stop seeing yourself as a person, and start evaluating yourself as an asset.
The moment you do this, much becomes clear. You’ll suddenly see how many areas of your capabilities are lacking, how much room there is to grow — whether in technical skills, focus, relationships, communication, and more.
Then you’ll shed the employee’s inner voice — shifting from “I’ve been working this hard, why am I only earning this much?” to “I’ve been working this hard and I’m only earning this much — which means my effort and direction have a problem.”
Once that shift happens, your life pattern (格局) expands in an instant. From that moment, you’ll completely leave behind the short-sighted fixation on your current salary and start asking: how do I make myself sharper and more capable, so I can permanently raise my ability to create wealth?
You’ll become calm. You’ll become full of drive, of grit, of resolve.
I haven’t seen your BaZi chart yet, so I won’t make wild claims — but I can guarantee you one thing: if your chart shows genuinely good wealth fortune, then once your direction is confirmed, the one and only thing you need to do is throw yourself in completely. Don’t spare yourself.
Why do women achieve wealth less often? Because most women lack this kind of ferocity. But look at any woman who has broken through and built real wealth — every single one of them, in the early days, gave everything they had. They were willing to get their hands dirty, to endure hardship, to never shy away from the unglamorous grind.
Besides, was there ever a phase of original wealth accumulation that was dignified? Li Ka-shing once sat on a factory floor twisting plastic flowers. Joseph Lau once assembled electric fans. Even when they were already bosses, when it was time to get things done, they didn’t waste a single moment.
There’s no way around it. In the early days, everyone looks unglamorous working up a sweat. But let me tell you: the day you truly dig up your first real pot of gold — the kind that genuinely shifts your destiny and reshapes your values — you’ll look back at all that hardship and see nothing but brilliant, radiant, beautiful memories.
IV. For Those Who Have Already Achieved Some Success#
By “some success” here, I mean those of you whose financial foundation has moved comfortably past basic needs, with satisfying annual returns. In terms of the levels I’ve described in previous articles, this corresponds roughly to C-3.5 and above.
My one and only advice for you: learn the skill of sharing your fortune — which, plainly put, means give people a share of the money.
Now, I’m not telling you to be a naive fool who lets people walk all over you. Knowing people well and maintaining your standards is crucial. But the attitude of willingness to share must be there. Once it is, talented people will naturally begin to gather around you, and good fortune will slowly accumulate.
Men tend to grasp this more naturally. Women find it harder — but every woman who has reached the level of a true boss lady, without exception, is someone who doesn’t hesitate to spend generously. Often, she spends more boldly than any man.
And don’t think this principle only applies to business. It’s universal.
I have a group of friends who specialize in stocks — genuinely skilled, whether in value investing or short-term trading, their level is excellent. When they lose, they laugh it off. When they win, they immediately share the information with each other, then gather for good drinks and a proper meal. Because everyone has their people and their networks, sometimes a single off-hand remark is worth tens of millions in real terms.
Is it worth it? Absolutely.
Then you see another type of person — always performing big, but when it actually comes time to put money on the table, immediately exposed as tight-fisted and small. Always posturing, trying to impress through self-promotion rather than action. People like this almost always carry the marks of decline written all over them.
Think about it: if a person won’t even treat you to a good meal, would you ever expect them to share the dividends when they make money later?
The world works this way. Those who can’t attend to small things will never be reliable when it truly matters. The wisdom that spreading wealth gathers people, and gathered people bring more wealth has never been wrong — and never will be.
Closing#
That’s where I’ll end the article. The key points have all been laid out clearly.
As the article reflects, living well is not complicated. Once you’ve distilled the key principles and truly internalized them, great riches may not be guaranteed — but a full, sweet, and beautiful life will never escape your grasp.
Isn’t that, in itself, a most wonderful thing?