One of the most profound realizations I’ve come to is this: as my age and net worth have gradually risen, my desire to consume has actually moved in the opposite direction — steadily downward.
It’s not that I don’t enjoy spending money. It’s that earning money gives me a far deeper sense of satisfaction.
Especially when you’re absolutely certain that a sum invested — a single concentrated effort — will become an enduring, ever-flowing stream of new wealth. In that moment, you suddenly realize: spending money on consumption is genuinely… pointless.
A reader left a comment asking me: “Master, though I deeply love your articles and your thinking, have you ever considered that your writing is sometimes too sharp — that it might unintentionally wound certain people?”
Tonight I want to address this directly. Master Chi’s writing has had one goal from beginning to end: to help you understand what the so-called “Heavenly Way” (天道) truly is.
What is the Heavenly Way? At its core — ruthless, merciless, and brutally real.
Tonight’s article is going to hit hard — every word is carefully chosen, and every word is soaked in the blood and sweat of hard-fought experience.
Because I, Master Chi, have never been one for comforting platitudes. I won’t tell you “just be a good person and the world will be kind to you.” That’s a lie designed to keep you docile.
What I want is for you to read my articles and come away with a stronger will and a tougher mind — and to use that to build a life that actually gets more comfortable, and a skill set that actually gets more powerful.
These past couple of days I went along with the crowd and watched a couple of episodes of Goodbye, My Love.
Many small thoughts came to mind. I’ve distilled them into the observations below. But the biggest takeaway is something I’ve said before: In this lifetime, the one mistake you absolutely cannot afford to make is choosing the wrong marriage partner.
Unlike other decisions where there’s room to course-correct, marrying the wrong person doesn’t cost you just a few short years — it rewrites your entire life story. And more often than not, it rewrites it as a tragedy.
1 - The reason so many people repeat a life of grinding hardship their entire lives comes down to one thing they’ve never understood from beginning to end: big money isn’t something you “earn.” When your abilities reach a certain level and you use those abilities to sit at the right table, you receive your share of what’s on that table.
What I just said is essentially a direct revelation of the wealth-building secret behind 99.9999% of high-net-worth individuals on this earth — but I’ll bet that very few people who read it will truly understand it.
Last night, I, Master Chi, was invited to a dinner that brought me great joy — hosted by a group of young people who have achieved remarkable career success, most of them born between 1995 and 2000.
As the evening unfolded, I found myself deeply moved. If my memory serves me right, several of these young people were once the most ordinary white-collar workers — squeezing onto crowded buses each day, drawing modest salaries, just trying to survive in a big city.
These past couple of days have been quite busy — so busy that I haven’t even had the time to write a proper mid-length piece. Honestly, it’s a bit helpless. On one side, business matters need coordinating; on the other, a friend’s real-world troubles need my support. There’s no way around it — that’s just life.
But in those stolen moments between obligations, a few small reflections managed to surface.
Today, let’s talk about something interesting.
When exactly do you truly feel the benefits that money brings you?
The answer: when you need to find quiet within yourself — and then channel that stillness into thinking, deciding, considering, and deliberating — you’ll suddenly realize that money is the barrier standing between you and the noise of the world.
Take this example: if you’re a young person living in a shared apartment, squeezing onto the subway or a packed bus for your daily commute, you’ll find it’s genuinely hard to quiet your mind.
This afternoon, despite my repeated polite refusals, Miss E showed up anyway — two boxes of hairy crabs and a box of Cohiba cigars in hand. On one hand, her annual visit to check in has become something of a ritual over the years. On the other, she wanted to use this occasion to have me review her destiny framework for the rest of the year and into next.
Miss E, for those who don’t know, is an ordinary white-collar worker who, two years ago, mustered the courage — at my encouragement — to go all-in on building her personal brand in her spare time.
The night runs deep, yet the mind won’t settle — so let’s talk a little more.
When you’re facing life’s many hardships, feeling lost and without direction is completely normal. After all, no one ever taught you how to handle these moments. So don’t be too hard on yourself. Don’t punish yourself with nights of sleeplessness and anxiety.
The sun always rises. Even the finest fortune eventually runs its course — and equally, even the deepest valleys are slowly climbed out of.