The Fastest Way to Improve Cognition: Work Hard to Make Money
During university, I formed a team with friends and sometimes engaged in micro-entrepreneurship during winter and summer breaks.
I remember one project where we started a tutoring institution during winter break.
At that time, various after-school tutoring programs were booming.
We specifically contacted students from our high school alma mater who had been admitted to Tsinghua, Renmin University, and Fudan University that year, inviting them to be our teachers.
In our promotional materials, we emphasized “teaching methods rather than just knowledge,” focusing on methodology.
In big cities, using prestigious universities as a selling point might not be very effective.
But ten years ago, in fourth and fifth-tier cities, raising the banner of Tsinghua, Peking University, Fudan, and Jiao Tong University commanded respect from everyone.
Moreover, having just finished the college entrance examination, these students still had fresh theories and experiences in their minds.
Although we only ran one or two sessions, our training program became an instant hit.
In subsequent winter and summer breaks, parents would still frequently call asking if we were going to reopen our training institution.
After hearing about this, a childhood friend of mine came to me for advice.
I spoke to him eloquently.
For example, why choose a training program?
It’s a light-asset operating model, and parents are willing to spend generously on their children’s education, making training programs low-cost with high profits.
How can you make your training program stand out from the competition?
The key is to have what others don’t have, and to excel where others are merely adequate. Having prestigious university students as instructors was a dimensional advantage.
As for cost control, marketing strategies, and follow-up services, I broke these down in detail, explaining system after system, layer after layer.
My friend listened while staring at me with wide eyes, looking at me incredulously.
He was puzzled how someone who had grown up running around naked with him could suddenly become so capable.
At that moment, I was also surprised that my cognitive level had indeed improved significantly.
From then on, I deeply realized: working hard to make money is the fastest way to improve cognition.
People need to be tempered through practice.
In the process of desperately trying to make money, a person rapidly iterates their understanding of social rules, the essence of things, and human weaknesses.
02
American Michael Roach Geshe is known as a Buddhist businessman.
He spent several years in India intensively studying Buddhism and eventually earned a doctorate in Buddhist studies.
His master encouraged him to return home to do business: “You have completed your meditation retreat and should continue practicing in the secular world, preferably as a businessman.”
Michael wanted to continue studying Buddhist philosophy.
But his master said: “A busy office is real life and the best place to awaken yourself.”
Work is the best dojo for self-enlightenment.
When pondering how to make more money, a person’s understanding of things gradually deepens.
Zhihu blogger @Autumn Moon wrote an article about his success story selling fried chicken legs.
His family sold fried chicken legs, and because they were fried to be crispy outside and tender inside, neighbors all loved them.
Although business was booming, it was limited to a radius of dozens of miles around the town.
How could he expand the business further?
This question kept churning in his mind.
His first thought was food delivery.
At that time, food delivery had just emerged in big cities and hadn’t yet penetrated to smaller towns. Various delivery platforms were sending salespeople to walk the streets, hoping merchants would join their platforms.
Many store owners rejected the delivery model and turned them away.
But he seized this opportunity, personally contacting delivery platforms and using delivery services to expand his business radius.
His second idea was franchising.
He shared his recipe and, through capital investment partnerships, opened several stores with others.
In this way, while people in town were still running small workshops, his fried chicken leg business continued to expand.
When netizens asked him why he had such business acumen, he said that when a person wants to make more money, they are forced to think of better ideas and consider better models.
Working hard to make money means working hard to solve problems, and this is the process of cognitive upgrade.
Opening roads through mountains and building bridges over water, people walk step by step and understand step by step, naturally elevating their thinking patterns to higher levels.
03
American millionaire Steve Siebold spent 26 years interviewing over 1,200 of the world’s wealthiest people.
He discovered that these wealthy individuals all shared a common trait: they love learning.
Looking deeper into the reasons, it’s because they need sufficient knowledge reserves to support their expanding business territories.
Zhang Yiming explores other fields; he read “General Biology,” which greatly inspired his system design and enterprise economic system management.
Steve Jobs specifically learned programming, not for practical use, but to learn its thinking model. He believed that having more interdisciplinary models enables a person to better achieve future success.
Cognition isn’t innate; it’s honed through the effort to make money.
Making money and cognition are mutually causal.
The harder people work to make money, the more they understand the importance of enriching their minds.
I know a shoemaking master from Quanzhou.
This master worked at a shoe factory when he was young, responsible for checking shoe quality daily.
This position had no technical content, so naturally, the salary was in the lowest bracket.
He didn’t want to live on a low salary, so he set his sights on becoming a shoe designer.
At that time, Quanzhou’s shoe industry was booming, and there was a large gap for shoe designers.
He spent money on a design training course and bought many books to understand basic knowledge and craft processes, frequently consulting with senior designers in the factory.
People around him mocked him for overestimating his abilities.
After years of hard study, he gained deep insights into the industry and presented some of his designs to leadership.
The leadership was quite surprised and immediately transferred him to the design department, with his salary increasing several times.
Later, he continued to deepen his shoemaking skills and eventually became a pivotal designer in the company.
Behind wealth is cognition; behind cognition is learning ability.
Working hard to make money means working hard to learn, and this is also the process of cognitive upgrade.
Continuously doing things that promote growth and constantly improving oneself brings you closer to wealth.
Writer Shui Muran said: “Once a person becomes enlightened, making money becomes as simple as drinking water. But all epiphanies, while appearing instantaneous, are actually the result of accumulated quantitative changes.”
When a person wants to extend the boundaries of wealth, they must maintain learning and strive to broaden the boundaries of cognition.
04
In recent years, I increasingly agree with Buffett’s saying: “Surround yourself with wise people and learn together.”
Actually, I don’t particularly enjoy dealing with people.
But to operate my public account well, I actively sought advice from various experts. Their valuable suggestions and guidance truly opened my horizons.
This gave me a profound realization: when you work hard to make money, you choose to actively engage in upward social networking, which is also a process of cognitive upgrade.
People who truly want to make money actively connect with all kinds of people, leveraging others’ strength to pivot their own lives.
Problems you can’t figure out, others have answers for; opportunities you can’t see, others will point out to you.
On the Douban topic “Workplace Matters,” netizen @Ami shared her experience.
Shortly after graduating from university, she joined a chain clothing store as a store manager.
As a newcomer to society, she worked very hard, but no matter how much effort she put in, her performance couldn’t improve, consistently ranking at the bottom of the company.
A colleague who joined at the same time quickly became the company’s sales champion.
Both were working diligently, so why couldn’t she see results while her colleague was thriving?
Ami couldn’t figure it out, so she actively connected with her colleague and asked for advice.
The colleague didn’t hold back and pointed out bluntly: her store operation model was too singular.
The colleague also guided her: on one hand, she should do market research and create her own style.
On the other hand, she should learn story marketing to evoke customers’ emotional resonance and purchasing enthusiasm.
In short, use differentiation to attract traffic and emotional value to guide purchases.
Ami immediately made a series of adjustments according to her colleague’s suggestions, and sales indeed improved significantly.
I wonder if you’ve noticed that the wealthier people are, the more connections they have; the more connections they have, the more information and resources they possess.
Society is the sum of relationships.
A person who wants to become wealthy will desperately interact with various people, and these people’s insights and information will subtly enhance your cognition.
Those who can weave dense relationship networks often have more money-making information and channels.
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I think many people have wondered: how can I improve my cognitive level?
All wisdom is understood in the dust of life.
The best method is to work desperately hard to make money.
In the process of desperately making money, you constantly solve problems, continuously learn, and continuously meet people—all of these are practices that enhance cognition.
Cognition determines wealth, and wealth feeds back into cognition.
From having nothing to something, from something to more—the better a person becomes at making money, the deeper their understanding of the world often becomes.