Success cannot be achieved solely through hard work

In the popular TV series "Game of Thrones," there is a character named Varys. As a child, Varys was a slave, but he later gained his freedom with nothing to his name. He and his friend Illyrio survived by stealing. Initially, they targeted the nobility's jewelry and sold it in the market, but they soon realized that selling stolen goods was challenging.

Therefore, they devised a plan: Varys would be responsible for the thefts, while Illyrio would claim to be able to recover the lost jewels for the nobility. As their operation progressed, they became successful. Thieves from all over the city came to Varys to sell their stolen goods, while the nobility sought Illyrio's assistance in recovering their stolen jewelry.

They understood the value of information and the low risk involved. They earned a substantial amount of money by taking a cut from both ends. They used this money to educate enslaved children, taught them how to read, and infiltrated the castles of the nobility to intercept their correspondence. Soon, they became the foremost intelligence brokers in the entire continent.

Varys' journey to success reflects the scarcity of three resources: capital, information, and influence.

Capital is the most visible resource.

There is an online game that demonstrates this. It assumes there are 100 individuals, each starting with 100 yuan. In each round, everyone randomly gives one yuan to another person. Assuming a person starts playing at 18 with an initial capital of 100 yuan, plays once a day, and continues until retirement at 65, the game's rules ensure "the probability of acquiring wealth is random."

After running the game 17,000 times with fair rules, the results remained harsh.

Capital appreciates faster than labor value, which is both reasonable and unreasonable. You work hard for more than a decade, burnout from overworking, finally manage to earn a monthly salary of 50,000 yuan, muster the courage to visit a sales office twice a day, and then the real estate agent tells you that the property you had your eye on has increased by 50,000 yuan in just one month.

Buying a house is referred to as "getting on the train." The first property purchased by the working class is called the "train property." This metaphor is quite vivid. It portrays a group of people chasing after a car, and once you get on that car, you can sit or lie down inside and move faster than those running outside.

Information is the most covert resource.

How do you determine the value of information? The simplest method is to assess how many people know it. Those who make big money rely on "asymmetric information," uncovering what others don't know. However, when ordinary people start a business, they mostly rely on "public information," information that is known to everyone and thus loses its value.

Influence is the resource that disregards one's background. During the early stages of the internet's popularity, many believed that the barriers to information between people would be shattered. Some industries even reached the edge. Nowadays, tourism, for example, no longer requires tour guides as long as you don't go to extremely remote places. You can simply search for travel guides online.

However, the internet is flooded with an overwhelming amount of information, and it becomes difficult to discern what's worth paying attention to. At this point, those who have the ability to grab people's attention possess the third core resource: influence. In 2011, Nobel laureate in economics Herbert Simon also pointed out that in the next 30 years, whoever captures the public's attention will control future wealth.

Today, online celebrities can receive thousands of dollars in gifts by singing a song at home, all thanks to the value brought by attention.

So, can poverty be changed? The answer is: yes.

In times of peace, slow social mobility is the norm. In other words, ascending the social ladder is like a relay race. If you want to surpass others' speed and reach the front, you must take a riskier shortcut.

You are likely to experience more failures than the average person. But if you are prepared for failure, I have two pieces of advice for you:

First, choose to engage in activities that grant access to core resources or have the potential to control them in the future. Don't be frugal with small amounts of money, but be cautious with significant decisions. Spend your limited funds in the most competitive areas.

Second, don't wait until everything is perfect before taking action. In "The Great Gatsby," Gatsby rescues a drunken millionaire during a storm, leading to his own success. Seize the opportunity when it arises. Often, opportunities are waiting for the "most suitable person" rather than the best person.