Self-Cultivation

Foreword I have always believed that the quiet hours of late night are the perfect time to settle the mind and sort through one’s thoughts. Why squander those hours on meaningless short videos and idle entertainment, when you could find genuine joy in even the smallest forward movement? Tonight surprised me more than most. As my thoughts wandered, they shaped themselves into something worth writing down — a short essay I’d like to share with you.

Student Question: Hello Master Chi. I recently started working at an insurance company. I previously heard your teachings about building a side business — that if you have the energy, you should develop a personal brand. I’ve now made some money from my side business and found a group of like-minded friends. How can I amplify my current advantages? Master Chi’s Response: 1. Most people will never grow wealthy from a side business. The primary reason is that what they do is too easily replaced.

Student Question Hello, Master. I recently started at a new job. Perhaps because I want so badly to get ahead, I’ve pushed myself to become something like an ascetic monk. Every day I’m up at six in the morning and in bed by eleven at night, no exceptions. My phone has almost no games on it — I mainly use it to search for information online. But lately I’ve lost my sense of direction again. I’m starting to question what the real value of all this is. I’d like to ask for your guidance.

Student Question Master Chi, greetings. Since joining the community, I’ve gained a great deal. I’ve recently been seconded to a department within my bureau. In my day-to-day writing, I keep making small errors in the details. When I review a document I’ve just drafted, it looks fine to me — and I do consider myself a capable reader. But once my supervisor goes through it, they always find problems and things that need correcting.

First things first: arrange your time wisely. Don’t throw great chunks of your life at things with negligible returns. There’s an old saying: in your first thirty years, you can’t get enough sleep; in the next thirty, you can’t fall asleep. But it’s not really insomnia, is it? It’s that after thirty years, you’ve realized how precious time is. You simply don’t want to waste it in bed. We only have this one life. Make it count — do things that matter, things that genuinely excite you.

Student Question Hello, Master. I work in real estate, and our department’s sales have been declining for over three months now. My superiors have been putting increasing pressure on us to turn things around. For more than a month, I’d been desperately hoping to find an experienced sales veteran — someone who could inject new energy and turn things around. Finally, I came across a very promising candidate. The moment I met him, I had an unusually strong gut feeling: this is the person I’ve been looking for. The deeper our conversations went, the more I felt this was a heaven-sent opportunity. Not only did he have solid marketing experience and a deep understanding of how the industry works — he had also held a key position at one of our direct competitors.

The holiday is almost here. I was already thinking about taking a break when something jolted me awake: there are still a few important things I haven’t reminded my brothers and sisters about! I have to tell you — because if you handle these few small things properly, every single one of them can help your fortune run smoothly for an entire year. So I sat down and carefully wrote out these suggestions:

End of year — I’d rather not write something overly complicated. Everyone’s getting ready for the New Year; who wants to strain their brain over dense, cryptic content? But this Year of the Water Rabbit (Gui Mao, 2023) — it truly matters. As the crossroads between breaking down and building anew after the great pandemic, it will mark a turning point in the destiny of many. Years from now, when you’ve made something of yourself, you’ll find yourself suddenly realizing: the year your fortunes turned was right here, right now — 2023, the Year of the Water Rabbit.

Student Question Hello Master, I wanted to follow up on what you shared in the community about building a personal IP side business. Recently, by answering questions, I’ve already made 1,300 yuan. It’s not a lot, but it’s helped me discover more of my own value. I’d like your guidance on some tactical questions: I have an ordinary bachelor’s degree, and my English credentials are only CET-4 and CET-6 — no prestigious titles to speak of. Does this affect my ability to build a personal brand?

Student Question Hello Master, I’m thinking about creating self-media content by “picking up bottles” (generating side income). My family has a middle school physics teacher and a middle school math teacher. What do you think about doing analysis videos for high school entrance exam (中考) questions? Each video covers one problem, about ten minutes long, published across Douyin, WeChat Video, and Kuaishou simultaneously. Please advise. Master Chi’s Response This type of tutoring and education content is under strict restrictions.