How to Raise Children

It’s actually simple: you exercise regularly, you read consistently, you stay curious, you take on meaningful challenges, you maintain emotional stability, you aren’t afraid of failure, and you live by clear principles…

Your children will follow your lead.

The Impossible Triangle

Economics has a famous principle—the Mundell Impossible Trinity.

But this triangle appears everywhere in daily life: high pay, low workload, short commute; or high returns, low risk, fast results.

Simply put: you can’t capture all key benefits at once.

To avoid being deceived, remember one phrase: “There’s no free lunch.” Its underlying truth is that no single person gets all the advantages.

Perspective

I recently read Professor Zheng Yuhuang’s new book Reading Changes Destiny (Tsinghua University Press). One line near the end struck me deeply: “If you’ve never seen the world, how can you change it?”

Our decisions, actions, and thinking depend not only on knowledge—but even more so on perspective. Without exposure, better choices and actions are impossible. So: talk with people who’ve done more, go places you haven’t been.

Professor Zheng—a rural boy who became a top-tier university professor—credits his growth to ever-widening horizons. In the book’s closing, he shares six paired concepts for young people:

  • Perspective & Vision
  • Courage & Boldness
  • Competence & Wisdom
  • Connection & Resources
  • Effort & Persistence
  • Ideal & Mission

Judgment

The quality of your judgment reflects the depth and breadth of your cognition—and cognition, in turn, depends on the diversity and rigor of your information sources.

Yet countless people live inside narrow information bubbles and rely on singular causal logic. As a result, most of their judgments drift off course—because much of what they see is curated for them, not by them.

That’s why so many people struggle with sound judgment.

So what do we do? Diversify our inputs—and resist rushing to definitive conclusions about complex issues.

Focus

One of the most vital skills for adults is focus.

How do we train it? Through deliberate practice: reading, writing, or deep work—all demand sustained attention. A simple formula helps sharpen it:

Focus = Motivation + Capacity − Distractions

  • Motivation: I want to do this well (driven by purpose, meaning)
  • Capacity: I can do this well (built via meditation, physical health, emotional balance, effective methods)
  • Distractions: Nothing interrupts me while doing this (attention optimization—single-tasking only)

This is the “345” framework for focus:

  • Three Mindsets
  • Four Trainings
  • Five Principles

Motivation Layer

  • Altruistic mindset: Assign purpose and meaning to the task
  • Enjoyment mindset: Find genuine interest—even small joys—in the work
  • Habit mindset: Internalize the behavior until it runs on autopilot

Capacity Layer

  • Meditation training: Walking meditation, running meditation, breath-focused meditation—to cultivate calm
  • Physical training: Regular movement and strength work
  • Sleep training: Consistent, restorative sleep hygiene
  • Nutrition training: Mindful, balanced eating for stable energy

Distraction-Defense Layer

  • Singularity Principle: Do only one thing at a time. There’s always one most important task—drop the “both/and” illusion.
  • Enclosure Principle: Create a physically and psychologically bounded space.
  • Silence Principle: Turn off notifications; enable airplane mode.
  • Quiet Principle: Choose a low-stimulus environment.
  • Time-Bound Principle: Use techniques like Pomodoro—assign strict time limits to create urgency and completion momentum.

Life Is the Sum of Experiences

What is life? I came across a line that resonated deeply: “Life is the sum of experiences.”

I fully agree.

So go out—see people, see places, especially experience your firsts: first solo trip, first public talk, first time teaching someone else. These imprint vivid, rich memories—and give life its fullness.

Who Makes the Best Collaborators?

I hosted two friends visiting from out of town—they’re civil engineers.

What stunned me: due to market conditions, they now hold 500 apartments in a third-tier city—but each is worth ¥200,000 less than purchase price. They’re trying to sell, but nothing moves.

The real estate crisis—and its risks—is likely deeper than most imagine.

One friend reflected: “After meeting hundreds of people, who’s best to partner with?”
His answer: People who speak softly—and pause before speaking. They weigh every word. Working with them feels grounded and reliable.

I joked: “Are you complimenting me?”
He said: “Yes.”
I asked why.
He replied: “People who speak loudly and fill silence with empty talk? They’re usually clueless. Partners like that cause constant problems—because they *are clueless.”*

Turns out, speaking softly isn’t just polite—it’s a quiet signal of thoughtfulness.

Notes from This Week’s Live Training

This week, I delivered live training to 100 educators enrolled in our “Education Broadcaster Bootcamp.” Here are key takeaways:

  • 99% of so-called “innovation” is self-indulgent noise. Meanwhile, 99% of common problems already have proven, mature solutions—you just haven’t found them yet.
  • For most people, micro-innovation—small, consistent iterations—is far more valuable. Over time, those tiny improvements compound into transformative change.

Seven Keys to Converting in Live Streams:

  1. A sticky, memorable hook (“ad copy line”)
  2. Clear articulation of pain points
  3. Sharp value proposition
  4. High-perceived-value bonus gifts
  5. Risk-reversal guarantee
  6. Credible authority endorsement
  7. Precise audience targeting
  • 99% of knowledge-based products sell through live streams. If you’re an educator aiming to earn income this way, live streaming isn’t optional—it’s essential. Master it relentlessly.
    Why? Because live streams uniquely host two simultaneous fields:
  • A traffic field (discovery, reach)

  • A sales field (conversion, trust-building)
    No other channel delivers both at once.

  • A great education broadcaster must fluidly shift between teacher and salesperson.
    A good teacher isn’t necessarily a good broadcaster—but a good broadcaster must be both a skilled teacher and a persuasive salesperson.

  • Mindset matters most:
    • When no one’s watching? Treat it as rehearsal.
    • Stay in learning mode—not performance mode.
    • Honor both roles: educator and seller.
    • Ignore trolls. Their noise doesn’t reflect reality.
  • Content design comes first. Then delivery—on two levels:
    • Expression (the “ex”): Saying things clearly—this tests logical clarity.
    • Impact (the “press”): Making ideas land meaningfully—this tests empathy and infectiousness.
      Only when both layers align does communication become truly effective.

  • For new broadcasters: Obey, execute, persist. Don’t reinvent. Just follow the system—consistently.

  • Education broadcasting is arguably the most accessible leverage point for ordinary people.

  • A critical success factor in business? Finding your venture ally: someone who brings you in, walks beside you, and grows with you.

  • Most success is probabilistic. So choose high-probability paths—not moonshots.

  • Business has no finish line—but starting is the only non-negotiable step.

Concrete steps:

  1. Pick one entry point—e.g., math education broadcasting
  2. Stick with it long enough to earn your first ¥1 million
  3. Then deepen your understanding—not just of teaching, but of commerce itself—before upgrading your model toward higher-leverage monetization
  • When is an account “up and running”? Watch three metrics:
    • Instant traffic push (algorithmic discovery)
    • Sustained traffic push (consistent visibility)
    • Precise traffic push (right users, right intent)
  • Sign of a successful launch: In organic (non-paid) flow, you achieve:
    • Large concurrent viewership
    • High average watch time
    • Healthy session duration
  • Every strategy in the live stream serves one goal: keeping people watching.

So what should you iterate daily?

  • What keeps people staying?
  • Which lines are redundant? Which pauses feel awkward?
  • Where does attention drop—and why?