Historical article note: This article was originally published on 2019-07-25. Rates, policies, home prices, statistics, product names and qualification standards reflect the environment at that time and may have changed. This archive is for historical record and general education only. It is not mortgage approval, investment, legal or tax advice.
In the past 40 years, with the development of information technology, the world has undergone rapid changes, and China has been changing at a speed ahead of the rest of the world. After joining the World Trade Organization, China, taking advantage of being a latecomer, has improved people's living standards to an unprecedented level through exchange and trade.
On my most recent trip back home, my little nephew asked me: Is Canada better than China? I told him that in terms of material enjoyment, the living standards of urban residents in China have already surpassed those in Canada. Because development has been so fast, many people are filled with anxiety about the future: if development continues like this for another 40 years, will they be able to keep up with the pace of the times? The greatest restlessness and unease among Chinese people today is reflected in several ways: entrepreneurs no longer focus on the actual industry; after finishing EMBA classes, they engage in capital operations with their classmates; technology elites endure the endless cycle of 996 ICU without complaint, constantly swimming in a fish tank, unable to get out; intellectuals suddenly realize their knowledge is insufficient, and their children argue back using Baidu search results; industrial workers find factories too boring and have all become delivery riders, making a bloody contribution to the rise in traffic accidents; no matter how hard young professionals work, they cannot catch up with skyrocketing housing prices; school admissions have become a whole family battle, and middle-aged people are overwhelmed by their school-age children’s exam-oriented education; the most contented group expresses their love for a harmonious society by dancing in public squares—they never paid pensions while working, but their pensions after retirement are ten times higher than their previous salaries. A very small number of people are happy, while most are worried—this is the best moment to spread anxiety.
Services and products specifically aimed at curing various anxieties have emerged: P2P for quick wealth, WeChat groups for quickly increasing reading speed, online courses for rapidly expanding knowledge, knowledge-paid apps for quickly improving cognitive abilities... Before the end of the year, all kinds of high-brow lectures that sound vaguely understandable amplify anxiety, laying the groundwork for next year’s anti-anxiety new drug sales. Have you ever listened to the Hundred Schools Lectures? How were the talks by Yu Dan and Yi Zhongtian? Did they help you solve any problems? Nowadays, products on the market that claim to improve cognition are essentially paid versions of the Hundred Schools Lectures; they heal the anxieties of those who sell paid knowledge, not yours.
The leap in cognition refers to the process of self-improvement in order to survive and develop in a new technological and social environment, with the goal of reducing stress and anxiety. Overemphasizing the impact of technology is actually a way to sell anxiety. When everyone was using kerosene lamps, the electric light was invented, and then those who sold anxiety began to predict which industries would be eliminated and who might permanently lose their jobs after the arrival of the 'light bulb +' era. After the internet appeared, 'Internet +' became a hot topic, and before any conclusions could be drawn, the mobile internet emerged, causing even those selling anxiety to become anxious themselves. After everyone used light bulbs, you are still you, and I am still me; even if you used it a few days before me, so what? Nonetheless, cognitive leaps are necessary in any era, not just when technology advances rapidly. In our time, even with fast technological progress, for ordinary people, it just means adding a few more apps to their phones—there’s nothing to be anxious about, and you don’t need to frantically follow those pushing anxiety. Continually re-understanding yourself, understanding others, and mastering investments and income is something that cannot stop for even a moment.
01 To oneself: Only by finding your original intention through a filter can you achieve your ideal
Stepping out of your original family environment, past education, and work experiences to re-examine yourself in order to adapt to a changing world is the first step in improving cognition. If you can't break out of your original framework, you won't find the direction for transformation. The world is reflected to us through our inherent filters; to know the true nature of the world, we need to see the reality behind the filters. Our emotions are the result of filters plus reality. By reflecting on your own emotions and bypassing the inherent filters, you can see reality clearly. Emotion = Filter + Reality.
Sadness = the affection of 'I think this is important'
Restlessness = the enthusiasm of 'I want to do this'
Jealousy = the reason 'I also want to become like this'
Criticism = love that hopes you become better
Lack of motivation = the effort of 'accumulating motivation'
Loss = the ambition of 'wanting to keep moving forward'
Through the above filters, we can find out what we truly care about, which direction we are striving towards, and the extent of our progress. Filters can help us rediscover our original intention. When describing your original intention, you are depicting your dreams. Being able to loudly express your dreams allows you to find like-minded friends or customers. Some people desperately search for the next “trend,” hoping to be lifted like a pig in the wind, but in fact, everyone's own trend is their original intention. Those who cannot find their original intention lose their ideals.
The above discussion about finding oneself and enhancing self-awareness is my understanding of some parts of the book "Cognitive Leap" (author: Koichi Honda, Japan). Based on my own experiences, I deeply agree with the author's views. When I was working in New York, I discovered the immense wealth embedded in real estate. Amid various emotional trends at that time, I gave up my original stable job and began to pursue my true inner desires: starting with real estate and finance to create my own wealth. During the past ten years living and working in Canada, I have continually shared my original intentions with friends around me and with my clients. Starting in January 2018, I also voiced my dreams loudly through my public account. People who shared the same dreams truly gathered. I found my own breakthrough point. In the process of realizing my ideals, I met more and more like-minded individuals, including you, reading this article. Many people exhaust themselves searching for opportunities in technology but lack the patience to find their own breakthrough; a lot of life and opportunities are actually wasted. Some people say one thing and do another. I naturally repel those who are insincere; such people are always justifying their actions, ultimately deceiving themselves. Even if your original intention was to make money, what is there not to say honestly? Finding a group of people who want to prosper together and walking the path together is wonderful.
02 To others: Please turn the ruler sideways
The biggest insight I gained from the book 'Cognitive Leap' is how to view the people around us. 'Others' actually have a great impact on us, and if we cannot improve our understanding of them, we ourselves will be in pain. The author suggests that a good way to enhance our understanding of 'others' is to turn the scale we use to judge 'others' horizontally.
Our family of origin must have given us a benchmark during our growth, and later school education reinforced the role of this benchmark in our minds. Our parents tell us, 'Those who work and study diligently and tirelessly are remarkable,' while other people's parents tell their children, 'Those who work and study diligently and tirelessly are fools.' People who grow up in these two different environments and standards will have different worldviews. When we encounter people in life who do not work and study tirelessly, we measure them with our own benchmark and end up looking down on 'others.' The ruler our parents gave us was meant to shape what kind of children we should become. After long-term reinforcement, it becomes the standard we use to judge 'others' or our own children. In a diverse world, this kind of benchmark thinking hinders us from accepting the practices and thoughts of 'others,' leading to rigid and one-dimensional thinking, making it difficult to say 'this is also fine' when facing differences with 'others.' The author of *Cognitive Leap* wisely provides a method for us to upgrade our understanding of 'others': lay our fixed benchmark sideways, step out of the 'higher-lower' evaluation, and see differences with others as 'just different club activities.' You like discussing financial literacy, someone else likes campaigning; you like playing basketball, someone else likes gaming; you like reading quietly, someone else likes watching TV and eating snacks. It’s just different club activities, with no distinction of superiority or inferiority. Laying the benchmark sideways releases yourself and also gives 'others' a break, making things easier for everyone. Here, 'others' actually also include the reader's own children.
03 Balancing a Lifetime of Income, Mastering Wealth
Today, the homeowner Zhang San was hit by a gold brick falling from the sky; tomorrow, the internet celebrity Li Si successfully raised money through an IPO. These stories of sudden wealth are meaningless to people of average intelligence who are too afraid to take risks. There are definitely replicable paths to getting rich, and more than one. When high income is mentioned, people reflexively think of doctors and lawyers; when mentioning wealthy individuals, people think of capitalists exploiting workers. This means your understanding of income and wealth is still stuck at the stage of admiration and imagination. Your perception of affluence needs to make a leap.
Regarding income, our past understanding tells us that only by working hard can we increase our earnings. In fact, income is only proportional to the irreplaceability of our work and has nothing to do with how hard we work, or even with work itself. Happily and leisurely doing what we enjoy can also increase income. Many biographies of successful entrepreneurs mention that vacations are not attractive to them because they are enthusiastically engaged in what they love and can also make a lot of money from, which just happens to be their work. People who earn money through hard work have a common trait: they are reluctant to spend the money they earn. Money that is not spent is, in fact, not truly theirs. If it is neither spent nor invested, it is essentially saved for their own medical expenses, helping hospitals accumulate funds.
I previously expressed my views in the article 'How to Balance a Lifetime Income: The Underlying Anxiety of the Middle Class': balancing a lifetime of income is a task that is difficult to accomplish in one's entire life. Investment is a means to balance a lifetime of consumption: when income is high, purchase assets for investment; when income is low, passive income generated by assets maintains the balance. Although this is easy to understand but hard to practice, many people don't even know this principle. From observation alone, without conducting a census, it is clear that most high-income people do not know how to balance a lifetime of income, otherwise, there would not be so many anxious people.
In his book 'Insight,' Professor Wu Jun mentioned a Q&A segment, which goes roughly like this:
Student: Teacher Wu, my ideal after graduation is to do what I like while using the money my parents gave me for investments to support myself. Do you think this plan is feasible?
Wu Jun: Investing requires learning and dedicating effort; it is not an amateur hobby.
Our past understanding of investment was too superficial. We thought that the reason we haven't started investing yet is because we don't have money, and that once we have money, we will naturally invest. So, are those bankrupt athletes and movie stars just unlucky? Investment is the last profession of our lives, but it is not the last one to start. If you can't manage money, you will be driven by money for life. Once you have active income, you need to consider how to turn that active income into passive income. This understanding is what we need: an upgraded understanding of income and wealth.
Conclusion: The purpose of a cognitive leap is to see yourself clearly, understand others and your environment, and navigate uncertainty. The effort to leap cognitively has only one direction: to make yourself more relaxed and happier. Those who chase the quick-fix tutorials for cognitive leaps become increasingly exhausted; they are prey to merchants who sell anxiety. The simplest and most essential cognitive leap is not about predicting trends in technology or blindly guessing which trend will take off, but about understanding yourself, reclaiming your original intentions, working and learning joyfully, and treating investment as a profession to take seriously and practice diligently. By writing this article, I hope not only that everyone encounters a better version of themselves but also that readers can let go of the anxiety stirred up by others and live more easily and happily.