At a drinking party

A big shot in Singapore🇸🇬 crypto circle asked me:
What is the essence of making money?
Me: Smiling and shaking my head.
The A9 boss said:
When you truly understand the following words, you're not far from A8.
1️⃣ Making money with physical effort: Be honest
Essence: Direct exchange of time and sweat.
Interpretation:
The core competitiveness at this stage is "reliability."
Physical labor has a low barrier to entry. To stand out, you don't need fancy skills—just be more diligent, more earnest, avoid laziness, and stay straightforward.
Keywords: diligence, focus, no complaints.
2️⃣ Making money with mental effort: Be flexible
Essence: Selling solutions and cognitive differences.
Interpretation:
Physical effort is "following the routine,"
Mental effort must "break the norm."
Thinking patterns are the enemy.
Stay open-minded and adaptable,
Only then can you solve complex problems and create unique value.
Keywords: learning, innovation, breaking routines.
3️⃣ Making money with capital: Be ruthless
Essence: Leveraging the power of capital.
Interpretation:
The capital market is ruthless; opportunities are fleeting.
"Ruthless" doesn't mean unscrupulous,
But making decisive moves after rational analysis.
Dare to hold large positions, and dare to cut losses.
Indecisiveness is the beginning of losses.
Keywords: risk control, courage, delayed gratification.
4️⃣ Making money with resources: Be smooth
Essence: Acting as a hub and connector of value.
Interpretation:
The core of resource integration is people.
"Smoothness" is high emotional intelligence.
Find a balance among various interests,
Mobilize resources without offending anyone.
Build a solid business ecosystem.
Keywords: emotional intelligence, vision, mutual benefit.
5️⃣ Making money with people: Be generous
Essence: Achieving yourself through others' success.
Interpretation:
When you become a manager,
personal ability boundaries are no longer important.
What matters is:
How many talents you can gather.
Being generous means
Sharing profits, sharing power, sharing reputation.
Only by making the team profitable can you earn more.
Keywords: delegation, trust, shared benefits.
The upgrade path of earning levels:
Beginner: Rely on hands — compete with hard work.
Intermediate: Rely on the brain — compete with wisdom.
Advanced: Rely on capital and resources — compete with courage and vision.
First, see clearly which stage you're at.
Then deliberately train the corresponding mindset.
Levels are not given by others.
They are the result of cognitive upgrades.