The Value of Scarcity: Building Wealth through Trust, Values, and More

Why Scarcity Equals Value

Scarcity means value. In this era, what's scarce? Trust, values, tolerance, slow - paced living, and emotional value. And what's not scarce? All kinds of industrial products made on assembly lines.

Trust is scarce. It's the foundation of society and business. Once trust is completely lost in a certain field or environment, it'll fall into the law of the jungle, becoming a pure game of interests. At this time, trust doesn't seem to be directly related to personal character. Instead, the common understanding among people is broken.

Take the simple deal of "cash on delivery". Someone has to make the first move, and the one who moves first has to bear the cost. In an environment without restrictions, rules, or trust, no one wants to expose their weaknesses.

The Importance of Building an IP

Why build an IP? Because trust is scarce and valuable. Once your IP is well - established, some people will trust you almost unconditionally.

This trust also needs continuous building, just like an account. You have to keep depositing money into it. If you overdraw trust and fail to keep your promises, your IP will gradually collapse. People trust you and are willing to work with you or give you their money, but you break your promise or even run away. Then your IP is ruined.

The Scarcity of Values

Values are also scarce. Building an IP requires sharing your views, and views often represent certain values, the ideas you believe in. You can't just focus on making money. You must build a layer of spiritual value on top of making money or providing practical value.

People won't trust or follow a tool just because it's useful. They follow someone because of spiritual needs. This is the charm of an IP. Everyone can build an IP. The difference lies in the number of people you can influence.

For example, you used to only influence seven or eight, or a dozen friends around you. But after you start writing articles, posting videos, and running a community, you can influence hundreds, thousands, or even tens of thousands of people.

The Significance of Tolerance

Tolerance is both a value and a way of getting along between people. For example, your tolerance for different views, different people, events, behaviors, and mistakes, as well as your tolerance for people with different personalities, growth backgrounds, and views, all show tolerance.

In today's society, people are less tolerant than before. This is related to the economic situation and the increasing pressure. When you're rich or have no worries about food and clothing, you're more tolerant. You have no money problems, little stress, and enough time and patience to deal with trivial things or things you don't like.

But if you're under great pressure and short on time, you'll be annoyed by people or things that are irrelevant or even interfere with you and take up your time. Your tolerance will naturally decrease, and you may not even want to talk to irrelevant people.

This is why online comments are so aggressive these days. A small thing can become a hot topic on the Internet and cause a big stir. In fact, it's just a small dispute or conflict.

Slow - Paced Living and Emotional Value

Slow - paced living and emotional value can be discussed together. Life is very fast - paced now. Similar to the situation of tolerance, people are less tolerant because of high pressure and limited time.

The pace is so fast that people want to use one unit of time for several things. They can't stop, let alone do "useless things" like sleeping more, taking a walk, having a meal, chatting, or watching TV with family.

This fast - paced and time - scarce state makes us reduce things that are not very useful for making money or survival. But in fact, people really need these things. That's why some healing videos are so popular. Videos showing scenery, attractions, rural landscapes, traditional Chinese culture, and rural farm stays are said to heal the soul and let you experience a slow - paced life.

Of course, to live a slow - paced life, you need some capital. Either you have the ability to enjoy it, or your desires are low enough.

There are some popular words on the Internet, like "Buddha - like", "lying flat", "slow - paced", and "not competing". These words reflect people's tendency and needs.

When there's a demand that's not met, it becomes scarce, and scarcity means value. Value can bring profits. So many self - media bloggers and freelancers create relevant content around these scarce elements to attract traffic.

All the above are centered around "scarcity". Scarcity means there's a demand that's not satisfied.

Whether you're building a personal IP, making products, or creating content, you can incorporate elements like trust, values, tolerance, slow - paced living, and emotional value. After all, scarcity can be turned into wealth.

Daily Reading & Writing by Xiaolu 2025.05.11 [Day 615]