Tonight’s dinner was an interesting one. With the new school term just around the corner, several well-connected friends from the Jiangnan region had brought their children along to the meal.
They knew I had a particular gift for developing people, so they seized the opportunity to let their children spend some time with me — to hear my thoughts and gain some perspective.
I have to say, this was an exceptionally wise decision.
Student Question: I want to ask — what is career development actually about? Is it a higher salary, or a higher title?
Everyone says the audit industry has poor long-term prospects: the promotion path is narrow, and transitioning to an in-house role later becomes difficult. But the pay is high.
In-house companies might offer a better title or more diverse career paths, but salary growth is slow and the ceiling isn’t that high either. After all, CFOs who actually make it at in-house companies are rare — and many of them earn about the same as a senior manager at an audit firm. Looking at it that way, doesn’t audit offer more certainty and higher returns? So why does everyone still recommend going in-house?
I’ve noticed that many students I consult with are shortsighted when it comes to workplace survival. At the first sign of disagreement, they want to manage upward, carelessly offend their superiors, then get pushed out — and without the means to turn things around, they end up marginalized and shown the door.
First, don’t underestimate your manager. Someone who can cut through complex affairs, verify and cross-check from multiple angles and channels, untangle the mess, and make reasonably sound decisions — that requires formidable logical thinking and hard-won experience.
From the perspective of Chinese metaphysics (玄学), there is a truth you may find hard to believe.
When you have decided that something is worth doing — just do it. Commit fully. Don’t let a tangle of scattered thoughts pull you off course.
Put in enough sustained effort, and when the time is right, good fruit will naturally emerge on its own.
But most people don’t work this way. They hesitate. They second-guess themselves. They’re afraid of what lies ahead and what lurks behind. The result? An incalculable waste of time and energy — and nothing to show for it in the end.
Student Question:
I’ve received a job offer. I’m reasonably satisfied with both the role and the company location. Before sending the offer, the HR representative walked me through the salary and compensation structure. At that point, I didn’t negotiate — I simply accepted the offer. But three or four days later, it dawned on me that I’m actually not satisfied with the salary. Is it now too late to raise the issue and negotiate?
If someone is living a mediocre, colorless life in their twenties, it’s most likely because their family background wasn’t strong — their parents couldn’t provide solid financial support or reliable guidance in life.
But if someone is still achieving nothing in their thirties — no decent income, no respectable life to speak of — then you can no longer blame the heavens or the earth. You need to pump the brakes right now. Sit down, light a cigarette, and seriously ask yourself: how did you end up like this? What did you do wrong? What opportunities did you let slip by?
Never paint your life too rosy. Because if you want to reach true awakening, you are destined to pass through an extraordinarily brutal low point.
But only by going through that low point — and surviving it — will your life pattern (格局), your vision, and your mindset undergo a genuine leap forward. A life of unbroken smooth sailing produces no real growth at all.
So what does a low point actually look like?
I must admit — I, Master Chi, am truly a fortunate man. Even at my lowest, when my family had fallen to absolute ruin and I myself was penniless, I still carried an invisible wealth of immense value: the worldly wisdom passed down to me in my youth by the first-generation wealthy uncles who surrounded me.
One of those uncles, who had built his fortune starting from Huanghe Road, once said to me: “Don’t be scared. As long as your mind stays sharp and doesn’t get clogged up with nonsense, no matter how many times you fall, you can always get back up.”
I’ve never been one to call myself a tycoon, but over the years, through Chinese metaphysics (guoxue), I’ve assisted many prominent families and distinguished individuals. Combined with a solid upbringing, I’ve seized quite a few opportunities and seen through to the core of many things.
Honestly, striking it truly rich is incredibly hard to replicate — it requires timing, opportunity, and innate talent.
But if all you want is to make a few million? That’s not so hard. Grasp a few key points and that’s enough:
Among life’s many challenges, I’d rank finding a good romantic match somewhere around fifth or sixth in difficulty.
The advice below draws on esoteric wisdom, but if you study it carefully and truly absorb it, you’ll find — unless your destiny chart is exceptionally unusual — that a quality partner is well within reach in three years. Quite easily, in fact.
1. When you find yourself surrounded by people with terrible character, whose lifestyle choices and social skills leave much to be desired, the problem is probably not them — it’s that you’ve drifted into a social circle that doesn’t belong to you.