Success

What kind of people are more likely to succeed?

All outstanding people share one common trait: they all play the long game. They never seek quick wins or aim for a single decisive victory. Instead, they advance step by step, ensuring each move is correct, accumulating small wins into major successes.

With the right direction, slow progress is fast progress. Find a slight advantage, leverage time as your tool, and create a positive feedback loop through repetition. The only possible outcome is victory.

Skilled chess players don’t rely on brilliant moves. They aim for a 51% win rate in each move, steadily building their advantage. Often, the winner is simply the one who outlasts the others.

As the teacher said: "If we want to cross the river but don’t solve the problem of building a bridge or finding a boat, crossing the river is just empty talk. The process is the cause; the goal is the effect."

The dumbest human behavior is fixating on the goal while fantasizing it will materialize. True masters aren’t born geniuses—they are the ones who are diligent and steady.

Long-termism has two advantages: high certainty and strong cumulative potential.

The weakness of the weak is believing whatever they see; the strength of the strong is achieving whatever they believe.

To achieve certain results in uncertain fields, there’s only one trick: extend the timeline.

All failures stem from one reason: short-term pleasure leads to long-term suffering.
The weak seek revenge, the strong forgive, and the wise ignore.

Progress steadily, and success will come unexpectedly. The smaller the return-on-investment ratio in a field, the less competition there is. Those who endure the longest are the ones most likely to achieve worldly success.

Why does success require long-termism? Because everyone faces four realities: limited time, limited energy, limited cognition, and limited resources.

Every shortcut has a price. All wealth in life is accumulated over time. Focus on one field, delve deep into one industry, dominate a niche, and become a leader—then you are the king.

Zhang Lei of Hillhouse Capital said: "Long-termism is not a methodology but a value. The river does not compete for speed; it competes for endless flow."

The ordinary person’s path to success isn’t about predicting future changes but using consistency to counter them. Fools try to predict what will change; the wise know what will remain unchanged in the next decade.

Ren Zhengfei of Huawei, despite the golden decade of real estate, stuck to telecommunications. By concentrating resources and avoiding distractions, he surpassed 99% of real estate tycoons.

The flight of a great roc isn’t due to a single feather; the speed of a swift horse isn’t from a single leg.

Short-term pleasure numbs you; long-term persistence builds you.

Slow and steady wins the race; haste leads to disaster.

All seemingly overnight successes are the result of years of accumulation. Time is fair—it won’t fail those who truly seek success, only those who give up too soon.

Wealth doesn’t come to the impatient; fortune doesn’t favor the crooked.

Stick with one person, and you’ll become great; master one thing, and you’ll become wealthy. Success is about taking one thing to its extreme.

Su Shi wrote in "On Governance": "Tackle the hardest challenges to achieve the farthest goals."

The path of short-termism is wide at first but narrow later; the path of long-termism is narrow at first but wide later.

Light rain soaks clothes; small indulgences ruin fortunes.

Short-term gains bring small satisfactions; delayed gratification brings great rewards.
Adversity is life’s highest school—miracles often emerge from hardship.

Liu Zhenyun wrote in "One Word Is Worth Ten Thousand": "Those who earn by the hour are laborers; by the month, workers; by the year, managers. Those who wait three years are bosses; ten years, generals; thirty years, revolutionaries."

You can manipulate markets and deceive minds, but you can’t alter time. Time reveals all truths. The more time passes, the more valuable things become.

Character is destiny. For ordinary people to succeed, they must possess five traits: don’t predict changes; increase your value; endure short-term losses; have long-term confidence; and short-term patience.

Finally, a piece of advice for brothers dollar-cost averaging into BTC: look at the 10-year horizon, not the minor ups and downs of today.