Let these words from Master Chi stay with you: in this life, you must make every effort to understand and grasp the truly significant affairs of the nation and the great currents of history.
Only then will you gradually come to understand which direction your small boat should be sailing.
When you can see clearly the affairs of the nation, petty concerns will no longer keep you awake at night;
When you possess a grand life pattern (格局), minor details will no longer derail the course of your life.
Everything I, Master Chi, have written across all these articles has served a single purpose — to open your eyes and expand your mind.
To take you from a state of constant entanglement in the smallness of daily life, and help you truly attain expansive character, a grand life pattern, and deep wisdom — so that you may ultimately take the helm of your own life.
Third-tier people are busy with mere survival, nearsighted as mice; Second-tier people compete for comfortable routines, rarely achieving anything great; First-tier people seek strength and growth — to protect their families and serve their nation.
And so many people go through their entire lives without understanding why, despite all their hard work and toil, they remain stuck cycling through the same narrow, cramped circle of existence.
Effort, hardship, struggle, hustling, suffering — they have plenty of all of it. Yet somehow, they never manage to climb to the next level.
The answer is simple and clear: they lost because of their limited life pattern, and were defeated by their narrow perspective.
For this reason, over the years I have consistently encouraged my readers to seek out quality content. Even when watching dramas, choose the classics — series and books like The Ming Dynasty in 1566, The Yongzheng Dynasty, Green Porcelain, In the Name of the People, Emperor Wu of Han, and Years. These are grounded, authentic, and relatively close to real life.
Watch these works of culture and fiction, then hold them up against your own life.
You’ll discover that simply being obedient and compliant is nowhere near enough for anyone who wants to rise higher — after all, the world is full of well-behaved dogs and dull-witted oxen.
You must learn to position yourself at a higher vantage point and think from there.
Only then will your life pattern rise, your understanding deepen, and the decisions you make actually be sound.
A few words on the side — I can’t go too deep here, so take what you will from your own wisdom:
1. These past couple of years represent essentially the low point for quality assets. Saving and accumulating — buying good property and good stocks within your means — is a brave and correct choice. In the short term you’ll weather volatility, but five or ten years from now, you’ll be laughing quietly under your covers.
2. There’s no need to keep grinding away at credentials and academic degrees right now. That’s a textbook case of low-return, wasted effort. With that same time and energy, you’d be far better served actively meeting people who are running businesses, doing deals, working resources, and making connections — and learning some concrete, money-making skills. That’s what smart people do.
3. You must learn English. Fluent English doesn’t just let you communicate with Americans — it opens up effective communication with the entire world. No need to chase certifications. Just put in massive amounts of spoken practice until you can hold a flexible conversation.
4. Don’t fall right before dawn. If your instincts are sharp, you can feel it — we have made genuinely good progress across many fronts. The broader environment isn’t blazing hot yet, but don’t let that worry you. The economy always lags behind national strength, yet it never strays far from a country’s true underlying condition.
5. The sectors worth watching remain unchanged: new energy, electric vehicles, semiconductors, chips, artificial intelligence, power and electricity, healthcare and pharmaceuticals, and banking (though that last one has risen somewhat). At the same time, be selective: the companies you choose must be sufficiently large and stable, with a real industrial moat — and ideally some state-backed institutional DNA is best of all.
6. Be at ease. The lowest point has already passed. What comes next is a gradual recovery of strength, and a wait for the true confidence booster. Honestly speaking, this cycle gave you ample time to prepare. If someone still failed to seize the opportunity this time around, perhaps great wealth was simply not written into their destiny.
True great wealth only flows into your hands after a complete awakening.