"Reflections on Brother Hui's Voice, Easing My Anxiety"

This article is Lu Canwei's 127th original piece.

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Yesterday I returned to Shenzhen from Chaoshan and ended up experiencing about 50 km of highway, which can only be described as terrifying. It was inconvenient to look at the screen on the road, so I listened to Huige's voice messages the whole way.

About 996

Huige mentioned a concept that I've been hearing a lot lately, which is selling time. Most people's work involves selling their own time; for example, if you work eight hours a day, it means the company is buying those eight hours from you. However, in reality, many people work more than eight hours, especially in the past two years where 996 and 007 have become commonplace. Many large companies openly adopt alternating work weeks, which I only encountered when I first started working.

So is 996 a so-called "blessing"? To say something politically incorrect, it depends on the person. For those who are not awakened, especially fresh graduates, they might actually want to seize the opportunity of 996. In my early career, my first company was relatively easygoing; I was working on traditional software, and after work, I would play DOTA with colleagues, and on weekends, we would play basketball. This is the reality for most people: without a good family background, attending an average school, and working at a very ordinary company, living a routine life.

After working for over a year, I had a chance encounter where I saw a colleague ordering a computer from 360buy (JD.com). I looked at my own work, which involved copying and pasting to fix bugs, and the more I fixed, the more bugs appeared. Often, fixing one bug required changes in many places, and an entire day would pass just like that. At that time, I could see my future reflected in my colleague's life, but I was only 18 years old.

I made my first significant life decision then: I secretly booked a one-way ticket to Shanghai because I believed the internet was the future. If I were to write a book, I would definitely say this to make myself seem visionary, independent, and self-reliant, as I thought this would sell better.

But the reality was that I felt the internet was somewhat different, though I couldn't articulate why. I didn't know what I would do there, but I thought Shanghai would be a good choice. For someone from Guangdong, watching Shanghai on TV since childhood made it seem desirable. This is somewhat similar to how people outside Guangdong want to visit Hong Kong, while Guangdong people think Hong Kong is just like that, nothing special. The one-way ticket was purely because I couldn't afford a return ticket, as most of my income was sent home. As for why I kept it from my family, it was because no one in my family understood the internet; asking them would be pointless as they would definitely oppose it. After all, going to a place without direct relatives and being unfamiliar with the area, I wouldn't want that if I were my parents.

I share this lengthy experience because we are all ordinary people, and there is no one around us whose understanding can point us in the right direction, nor do we realize the importance of education. Take my family's understanding, for example; they believe that doing physical business is the future and that studying is of little use. After all, in my parents' generation, the proportion of people who became wealthy through knowledge was low. It was just that later, my parents had bad luck, and I lost the opportunity to be a rich second generation starting from middle school.

Returning to the topic of 996, when your own understanding is insufficient and the people around you cannot elevate your understanding, how can you run faster than others who are at the same starting line? The only way seems to be for a heartless boss to whip you to run four more hours every day. By the end of the year, you would have gained half a year's worth of experience compared to others. Two years of experience can be counted as three years when competing with others at the same starting line, giving you at least a slight advantage.

Of course, I am not saying that 996 is a "blessing" or a good thing. If you are indulging in trivial pleasures (like gaming or scrolling through Douyin), honestly, it would be better to create some social value through 996. However, this is the least efficient and lowest form of doing things; it's still better than doing nothing at all. Spending that time on reading, learning, or exercising is far better.

About Side Hustles

So if not 996, how can we make good use of our time or earn income outside of our salaries, which is what people commonly refer to as side hustles?

Huige believes that income should be divided into three parts: one part is salary income, another part is interest income, and the last part is investment income. These correspond to covering basic daily expenses, improving quality of life and continuing to invest in interests, and achieving financial freedom through investment income.

However, he did not mention side hustles but instead used another term: interests. Everyone's interests are different, and in the era of paid knowledge, interests can also generate income. For example, if you enjoy photography, helping others take photos or teaching photography skills can be ways to earn income.

But if we define a side hustle as something that generates income, then it should not primarily involve selling your own time, as your main job already sells your time. If your side hustle also sells your time at a high rate, why not turn your side hustle into your main job and find a new side hustle?

The key to making this choice is whether your main job is your primary path. If it is, then it is advisable not to switch to a different side hustle, as over time, your main job may lose its competitiveness.

In the case where your main job is your primary path, the definition of a side hustle should be to create opportunities to sell your time multiple times, meaning one-time investment with minimal marginal cost. For example, with the current popularity of short videos, if you invest time to shoot one video, it can be viewed by many people, and the viewership will continue to grow in the future, but your investment is only made once.

Writing is similar; I remember writing an article at the end of 2019, and even now, people still like that article. Writing a book, creating a course, or building a community are all similar; of course, you can also write a program and sell it in the app market, which is also a one-time investment with multiple sales.

If your main job is your primary path, then your side hustle should enhance the competitiveness of your main job, rather than competing for your time.

About Cognitive Upgrade

Now many people are talking about cognitive upgrades and the unity of knowledge and action. "Cognition" has gradually become a term of disdain, with some people seeking superiority by claiming their understanding is higher than yours. This is somewhat like the disdain associated with educational qualifications, where master's degrees look down on bachelor's degrees, first-tier universities look down on second-tier universities, and everyone collectively looks down on vocational schools, while vocational schools disdain those who did not attend college.

Huige has a viewpoint that I find very insightful. He says that when looking at educational qualifications, one should first look at the lowest degree from the school, rather than the highest degree, and then look up layer by layer. Suddenly, it seems very reasonable; if someone attended a good school from a young age, and the people around them are all elites, then that person is likely also an elite.

Recently, I saw a video comparing private schools and regular public schools in the UK. The teachers found that private schools had strict rules about students' hair length, walking posture, clothing, etc. Students were not allowed to drink alcohol before the age of 18, and gambling was strictly prohibited. Even if a family had a lot of money, students could not own their own cars. They also regularly invited celebrities to give speeches and required students to attend various evening events to cultivate confidence and social skills.

In contrast, children in public schools got out early, and with nothing to do after school, they would gather to play video games at home.

Huige mentioned that a person's first three job experiences can basically define that person, unless they encounter significant setbacks or harsh realities that lead to awakening; otherwise, you can generally judge what level of person they are. I thought about it and found it to be true. Comparing my own experiences with years of recruitment experience, indeed, if someone starts from a good school and has good early job experiences, their level is likely to be significantly better than other candidates.

However, most of the people I recruit are not from this category; rather, they are those who may not have had great experiences before but are found to be hidden gems during interviews. There are times when I make mistakes, but most of the time, I am correct. Why do I not hire those elites? Because they are too expensive for a startup...

Cognition is a very vague concept; it can be your knowledge, your experience, your vision, your mindset, etc. I think it resembles a unit of measurement or level for a person. Since it is a level, we can imagine it like a game. How do you generally level up in a game? By defeating monsters.

How can we defeat monsters? The first way is the foolish method, which is to continuously defeat small monsters to increase your experience points and level, such as daily writing. The so-called 10,000-hour rule is similar; it involves persistently doing something. For example, if you level up your skills to the maximum, you can solo a boss. You can either grind small monsters at the village entrance or wait until you are max level and use your fists to make the boss kneel and sing "Conquer."

Essentially, this is about defeating bosses through skills (professional skills: such as development ability, operational ability, product ability) or through your foundational abilities (such as writing ability, speaking ability, social ability, thinking ability), continuously improving.

You might say that the above path is too slow and wonder if there are other methods. There are. Strengthen your equipment, such as adding various buffs to your weapons, turning them into powerful tools. Even if your own abilities are lacking, the weapon's enhancements can be significant, allowing you to solo bosses. Here, the weapon represents your learning ability (such as reading, methodology, and information gaps).

You might also argue that this is still slow; for example, adding buffs might lead to losing the weapon (like reading many useless books or collecting a pile of information that cannot be summarized). Then, there’s only one path left for you: spending money. You can pay for cheats (seek guidance from experts, learn from masters), or you can buy treasure chests (courses organized by others, paid communities with quality information). Of course, you might get banned (finding fake experts and being scammed) or the treasure chest might yield useless items (like low-value courses or low-quality communities).

Regarding Relationships

Hui Ge has a viewpoint: rather than wasting time trying to fit in with the wrong people, it’s better to spend more time finding the right ones. Here, relationships refer to various types, such as partners, collaborators, and businesses.

If one company aims to sell 100,000 units of a product and another aims to sell 20 million units in a year, which one would you prefer to join?

The establishment of goals reflects the development of a company. It’s possible that the goal may not be achieved, but the pursuit of that goal will certainly make the company better, at least higher than one that only aims to sell 100,000 units.

The same goes for people; those with goals see things from a different perspective than those without. In any relationship—be it intimate, colleague, or partnership—if the heights everyone is pursuing differ, separation is only a matter of time.

When I started my business years ago, my partner's values were very different from mine, leading to many behaviors I couldn’t agree with later on. It’s not about who is right or wrong; it’s about differing perspectives. In the workplace, I have also dismissed many unsuitable people. Initially, I spent a lot of time trying to train and adjust them, and my leaders often advised me to give them more chances, saying a mature company wouldn’t mind nurturing an extra person.

Later, I realized this viewpoint was wrong—particularly absurdly so. After many of my own views changed, I found that one of the hardest things in the world is to change someone else's thinking, because I am that way myself. Many issues have been raised to me repeatedly by others, and I still cannot change my perspective. This is why many people say to look for internal causes; only when one is willing to change can real change occur.

Throughout our lives, we will meet many people. While we filter others, they are also filtering us. Even if a relationship seems suitable now, it may not be in one or two years. People grow, but at different rates. Once the gap becomes too large, there’s no need to maintain the relationship, just like Bill Gates choosing to separate after 27 years of marriage despite the significant sunk cost.

Is staying in a comfort zone necessarily bad? Not at all; for some, it might be happiness. Don’t impose your views on others, nor should you impose others' views on yourself.

There’s a story about a rich man who saw a fisherman sunbathing by the sea and said, “Fisherman, you shouldn’t be doing this. You should go fishing, earn more money, buy more boats, and then hire people to help you fish.” The fisherman replied, “And then what?” The rich man said, “Then you can relax and sunbathe by the sea.” The fisherman replied, “Aren’t I doing that already?”

When a relationship begins, one should also anticipate its end. Take entrepreneurship as an example; many who start a business don’t clarify equity distribution or exit mechanisms before diving in, leading to chaotic outcomes. Many people I know who have started businesses, including myself, have made this mistake, resulting in unhappy endings, without exception.

In conclusion

Some truths may seem like motivational quotes to some, while others see them as growth. Just like in movies, some view them as comedies, while others see them as tragedies. Different people draw different conclusions. We can express our opinions but should not belittle others' viewpoints. One of humanity's favorite pastimes is to force others to accept their views to gain a sense of superiority and accomplishment, which fundamentally stems from selfish genes at play.

The voice mentioned in the text is from Hui Ge's paid platform. If interested, you can scan the QR code below to join; the pinned post contains a collection of voice highlights for a preview, with a three-day no-questions-asked refund policy.

Of course, you can also follow Hui Ge's public account, which contains a wealth of valuable information.

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