#长文创作激励计划#
Author: Insight Cen Zhi
Benjamin Graham, the "Godfather of Wall Street", once shared an observation of his own.
When calculating the price, the rich often fight for nothing, but some people who are not in a good economic situation will take the initiative to erase the zero, preferring to suffer a loss themselves.
He analyzed: There may be hundreds or thousands of people working for him under the hands of rich people, and saving a little bit in each place, adding up to a lot, will save a lot of costs.
Ordinary people don't have that condition, so they can only exchange a few resources for a little decency in the subtleties to show that they are doing well.
The rich act with the inside in mind, and the poor care about face.
As a result, the former is getting richer and richer, and the latter is swollen and fat, and he is stuck in the quagmire of poverty.
Therefore, the first step for a person to become rich is to learn to be generous and stingy.
01
No more consumption for desires
Have you ever experienced:
I obviously have a scooter, but I always want to change to a better one;
There are so many clothes in the closet that I can't fit in, but I always feel that I have no clothes to wear, and I keep wandering in the shopping platform;
The skin care products have not been used up, and all kinds of bottles and cans have been hoarded.
Human desires are endless, and if you keep paying for them, you are doomed to empty your wallet.
Netizen @star fruit shared his experience.
She browses all kinds of "grass texts" every day and is brainwashed by "women just want to be kind to themselves".
Obviously, the cosmetics on hand are enough for several years, but I still don't hesitate to start, all kinds of clothes and shoes can be worn until I am old, but I still can't control the crazy chopping.
Some time ago, she fell in love with a designer bag.
Even though the price was three months' salary, after hesitation, she placed the order.
After getting her hands, she took a photo and sent it to Moments, looking at the tide of likes, she was secretly refreshed.
What others don't know is that she had already run out of savings when she bought the bag, and she had to use installments.
Every time the repayment date comes, the high installment fee plus interest will hollow her out, and she can only borrow from east to west, tear down the east wall and make up the west wall.
After working for many years, she has not saved a penny, she is glamorous on the surface, but she is already full of holes on the inside.
Buying, buying, buying, buying, buying, buy
The real rich people are more struck by anyone else in the matter of consumption.
There's a statistic in the book "Millionaire Next Door":
Zuckerberg only wears T-shirts and jeans all year round; Bill Gates has been driving used cars for years; Formosa Plastics Group's Wang Yongqing used a towel for 27 years......
Constantly consuming money is tantamount to giving up control of life. The real rich mindset is to control their desire to consume.
As the Egyptian writer Youssef al-Sibayi said:
If a person is able to curb his desires and live a life without demands, he can be regarded as the master of his own life.
Breaking up material desires and taking care of one's wallet is the beginning of a person's wealth.
02
No more paying for face
"Beijing's No. 1 Collector" Ma Weidu told a story.
In the 80s, Beijing's antique market was filled with a large amount of old furniture, many of which were found in the market after their homes were raided.
In order to dispose of this batch of old goods as soon as possible, most of the owners only ask for a few yuan, dozens of yuan, and some half buy and half give.
At that time, Ma Weidu was about to get married and needed to buy a full set of furniture.
Instead of buying brand new furniture with a festive pomp and circumstance, like many young people, he went to the thrift market and bought a full set of old furniture at a very good price.
When his relatives went to his house to congratulate him, they looked down on his old furniture, saying that he was too picky, and he was greedy for such a big event as marriage.
Ma Weidu laughed that the old furniture was strong and durable.
The economist Veblen once proposed a concept of "conspicuous consumption".
Many people spend a lot regardless of their own conditions, just to satisfy their desire to show off, to get the affirmation and jealousy of others, and to make themselves have a bright face.
In order to show luxury, even if you are in debt, you have to hold a grand marriage; In order to save face, even if you are shy in your pocket, you have to travel around, just to set up a "rich and leisure" persona.
At the end of the year, I earn a lot and don't have much left.
For the sake of a few fluttering compliments from others, emptying your own wallet is not worth it.
Wei Wei, editor-in-chief of the Economic Journal, once said: Insisting on mistakes for the sake of face is the most faceless thing.
Face is not bought with money, it is earned by oneself.
Instead of being trapped in an ethereal face, it is better to live in a down-to-earth manner, and when you have enough strength, you will naturally have face.
03
Stingy with human affection
Self-media writer Yi Feiyu said an experience.
She has a friend who has been playing since she was a child, and she has always had something to talk about.
But after my friend got married, everything changed.
The triviality of marriage made her friend "Xianglin's sister-in-law", and she often called in the middle of the night, crying and complaining about the unhappiness of her marriage.
Or send a long paragraph of text, accusing the partner of all kinds of wrongs in the marriage.
At first, she tried her best to comfort her friend, but her friend's emotions were like a bottomless black hole, and no matter how she could explain it, it would not work, and even dragged her into the abyss of negative emotions.
She finally realized that she couldn't go on like this.
So when her friend poured out her emotions again, she said very firmly: "Your behavior is consuming yourself internally and consuming others." ”
After that, she decisively rejected her friend's late-night calls and stopped responding to her negative emotions.
Away from this "emotional black hole", she found that her life was more sunny, and she returned to her previous positive state.
Osamu Dazai said this in "Human Disqualification":
"My misfortune lies in my lack of ability to refuse, and I am afraid that if I reject someone, I will leave a rift in each other's hearts that will never heal."
This type of person is afraid of conflict and rejection, so they can only consume their own time and energy to maintain relationships.
There is no need for personal contacts, as long as others open their mouths, even if they don't want to go, they will participate hard, which is expensive and laborious.
Harvard University conducted a three-year survey and found that:
If a person learns to say no reasonably, they can reduce unnecessary troubles by more than 90%.
Abandoning redundant socializing, learning to say "no" to relationships that consume you, and generously refusing, is also a scarce ability.
04
Pick the door on time
When the famous musician and calligrapher Li Shutong was studying in Japan, he met the like-minded Ouyang Yuqian.
One day, they made an appointment to go to Uncle Li's house at 8 a.m. to discuss the establishment of a club.
When the time came, Ouyang Yuqian had not yet arrived, Li Shutong closed the doors and windows according to the daily study plan, and prepared to practice.
After a while, Ouyang Yuqian arrived.
He shouted downstairs: Shutong, it's me, please go up.
Li Shutong said to his friend:
"I'm sorry, we made an appointment at 8 o'clock, you were delayed for 10 minutes, and now it's time for me to practice, I can't disrupt my daily learning rhythm because of you, let's talk another day."
After saying that, he sat down at the table and began to practice without distraction.
I find that everyone who has a successful career is a bit apathetic. This indifference is not disrespect for others, but respect for one's own time.
Lei Jun once said that if there is no appointment, he will not meet his classmates when they find the company. Because his daily schedule is full, if a meeting suddenly comes in, then his work all day will be disrupted.
Warren Buffett spends 80% of his day reading and thinking, blocking out all the social interactions that waste time and energy.
Football superstar Cristiano Ronaldo, who earns more than 1.5 billion yuan in 2023, was asked by reporters the secret of making so much money, and he said, "I'll show you my daily schedule, if you can be as disciplined as me, you can too." ”
These people who are at the top in all fields don't like to care about other people's bad things, but concentrate on doing their most important things.
It is precisely because of decades of "extreme picking" and "extreme concentration" that they have reached heights that are difficult for ordinary people to achieve.
The musician Xiao Worm once said something that I agree with: in this world, the most worthwhile thing to spend time and energy on is to invest in yourself.
Dafang rejects others to waste our time and energy, so that we have time to focus on ourselves and improve ourselves.
As the writer Liu Tong wrote in "A Man is a Person": Where you spend your time, the flowers of life will bloom.
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I like a sentence from the movie "The Grandmaster":
People live in the world, some live to save face, and some live to become inside. And only Lizi can win real face.
Many times, being stingy with others is being generous to yourself.
Stop living for the eyes of others, let alone ignore your own needs for the feelings of others, and be a generous and stingy person.
Like it, those years of hard work, every moment of investing in yourself, will eventually bear fruit.
Encourage your friends.