Thoughts on Breaking Free from the Bottom-Level Environment#
Those who have spent a long time in the lower levels share a common trait: "Those who laugh have nothing, those who hate have something." You find yourself in such an environment, seemingly vibrant and bustling, but in reality, others are only drawn to your material possessions.
The Falsehood of Socializing#
- With Material: A circle of sycophants appears around you, elevating you to the skies.
- Without Material: These opportunists scatter like birds and beasts, forgetting you in the rivers and lakes.
Much of the socializing at the bottom level is actually meaningless, and the long-term value you can gain approaches zero. Therefore, you should break free from this environment as soon as possible, start to strictly filter the people and things in your life, and build your own system as much as you can.
Stay Away from Negative People#
- Fair-weather Friends: Those who invite you to indulge in excess and engage in idle chatter should be cut off.
- Unprincipled Relatives: Those who are used to undermining and denying you should be distanced from.
The greatest harm of the bottom-level environment is that it wears down your fighting spirit, prevents you from making money, forces you to live in poverty and anxiety, and tramples on your self-confidence.
Escape the Bottom-Level Environment#
When you are in it, you will find that no one truly cares about you. Those who genuinely care about you will consider your interests. Therefore, you can only escape, boldly stepping over the barriers of the bottom level, crossing the chasms, and reaching a place that can truly nourish you, where you can meet like-minded individuals who encourage each other.
Reshaping Cognition#
- Poverty of the Heart vs. Poverty of Money: A person's financial poverty is not scary; what is scary is a poverty of the heart. Those who see the world without hope and have no understanding of the rules and truths of society find it hard to get by.
- The Norm for Ordinary People: A lack of guidance in life, combined with a lack of self-educational ability, leads most people to go with the flow.
Steps to Change the Status Quo#
- Read more, watch fewer videos.
- Share learning experiences more, gossip about celebrities less.
- Exercise actively, avoid laziness and complacency.
Reflecting on the Environment#
The first step for ordinary people to gain insight is to start reflecting on their environment, realizing that they should not mix with low-energy people, things, or situations, and recognizing that they should take responsibility for their lives.
Reject Improper Planning#
Your parents may have lived ordinary lives, but their understanding may not support you in living a prosperous life; instead, it may replicate the previous generation's poverty.
Pursuing Independence and Abundance#
- Cognitive Reshaping: True good relationships are about mutual giving and reciprocal benefits.
- Bottom-Level People: The lower the level, the more they enjoy making things difficult for each other, releasing malice to shift their inner pain.
Counterattack and Distance#
If you encounter such people in life, counterattack if necessary, and immediately distance yourself afterward; avoiding excessive entanglement is the best strategy.
Upward Socializing#
Downward socializing is useless; only by maintaining clarity and completing the construction of an independent personality can you socialize upward, continuously renewing your knowledge base, thus having the opportunity to break free from the bottom-level environment.
Conclusion#
The money you can earn in your lifetime comes from collaborating and winning with the strong, not from relying on the entanglement with the weak. Money and happiness will only flow upward, while suffering and hardship will only flow to the impoverished and low-lying areas. Anything that consumes you is a poison that needs to be eliminated promptly.
You must first live out your own desires, achieve cognitive elevation, to see the world clearly. Strive to stand up for yourself, seek independence in spirit and wealth, to avoid being destroyed by inferior human nature and assimilated by the utterly boring mediocrity. Living out your abundant self is the entire meaning of effort.