Say Less, Earn 1 Million More

The Source of Imagination and the Need for Observation

Imagination comes from reality. It's super hard to create out of thin air a person or thing that doesn't exist at all, that you've never seen or heard of, and have no impression of. Most of the time, our imagination is just an adjustment and adaptation based on reality. So, we should observe more and judge less.

Some novels that seem to be about mythology are actually depicting the officialdom and the power game. We often see the shadow of one story in another. That familiar feeling, and the birth of new things, usually come from inheriting and improving old things.

The Phenomenon of Innovation and the Importance of Not Underestimating

If there's a sudden "explosion" of innovation in a certain field and a bunch of products come out one after another, as time goes by, you'll find they're getting more and more similar. They have similar functions and solve similar problems. But they also have their own focuses, targeting different groups of people and paying attention to different things. We can sum up some rules from them. Once we master these rules, we can understand different things better.

But here's something really important: never say easily, "Isn't this just so - and - so?" This kind of statement will seriously hold you back and make you stop progressing. Because once you say it, it means you look down on this product or thing, thinking it's just a copy or imitation of something before. Then you won't study it deeply or really care about it. As a result, you might miss a lot of opportunities, like observing, understanding, learning from, imitating, or even surpassing it.

Maybe by the time you realize it, it has grown into a huge success and is completely different from the beginning. What you saw at first might be just its 1.0 version, but when you pay attention again, it has evolved to 5.0, going through three, four, or even countless iterations and completely changing. Maybe, except for the name, 80% to 90% of the content of the first version and the current one has changed.

If you think in the way of "Isn't this just so - and - so theory?", you can find similar counterparts for 99% of the things in the world. Whether in terms of rules or structure, they often have something in common. Even if something brand - new appears, after a year or two, or three to five years, a lot of similar things are likely to emerge.

Thinking from a Business Perspective

If you're in business or want to make money, you can't just think from the perspective of technology or innovation. You should focus more on: Can it really meet the users' needs? Or is it just a self - entertained product, a false need, or just a temporary illusion? What's its real competitiveness? What kind of barriers can it build? Where is the growth point? What are its advantages when facing competition from peers? Is it in traffic, channels, emotional value, differentiation, delivery, emotion, innovation points, technology, cost, or cost - performance?

Different Views, Different Outcomes

The same thing can have completely different conclusions and content when viewed from different angles. For example, after the emergence of AI, many people say, "This is just a shell, no real technical content." But actually, some people have earned hundreds of thousands or even millions a year from such "shell" websites, and started businesses, formed teams, and opened companies.

While you're still studying technical details, arguing about the level of technology, or imitating and innovating, others have already taken the lead. While you're still struggling with others' innovation points, technical content, or the difficulty of innovation, others have gone far ahead. This is actually a common problem for many technicians, programmers, and even many people in the workplace.

The Ability to Make Money

When you really start to study how to make money, create your own products, and promote them, you'll find how amazing those people are who can make products and sell them. Even if the product seems ordinary, as long as it can make money and people are willing to pay for it, it's a real skill.

As consumers, viewers, or users, we can pick faults when experiencing products, tools, or commodities, or when watching dramas, movies, or TV shows. But if you turn into a creator, entrepreneur, or producer, making products, writing novels, or making movies, you'll find you might not even reach one - tenth of others' level.

So, if you really want to transform into a producer, creator, or innovator, you need to use a brand - new perspective, mindset, and thinking to look at the same things and try to be as inclusive as possible.

Daily Reading & Writing by Xiaolu 2025.07.23 [Day 688]