learning from successful people without copying them
Sometimes I feel that personal growth isn't about suddenly learning something new, but rather about gradually changing the way you see the world as you experience more and more.
In the past, when I saw someone succeed, I'd easily think:
"He must be right."
When I saw someone fail, I'd just as quickly assume:
"Everything he said was wrong."
When I saw someone make a lot of money, I'd assume they had some replicable method worth copying.
And when I saw someone struggling, I'd readily dismiss everything they'd done before.
But now, I increasingly realize:
True growth may actually come from learning not to jump to conclusions so quickly.
You begin to pause, look at the facts behind events, distinguish between opinions and facts, understand people's choices, and allow for the possibility that someone can be both right and wrong at the same time.
Then, you take only what truly serves you.
This, perhaps, is what I mean by judgment.
A recent example: Robert Kiyosaki’s $1.2 Billion Debt
Recently, I’ve seen many discussions about Robert Kiyosaki, author of *Rich Dad Poor Dad*.
The most eye-catching headlines read:
"The man who taught others how to get rich is himself $1.2 billion in debt."
If this were me in the past, my immediate reaction might have been simple:
"If someone who teaches financial literacy is personally carrying $1.2 billion in debt, is he a fraud?"
That kind of reaction is natural.
We’re used to judging people by their outcomes.
But this time, I stopped myself.
I began to ask:
- What if this debt is related to real estate investments?
- What if the borrowed money was used to purchase income-generating assets?
- What if these debts aren’t simply personal consumer liabilities, but leveraged through various business entities and joint ventures?
Then, perhaps the real question we should be asking isn’t:
"Is he a fraud?"
but rather:
"How exactly does this structure of assets, debt, cash flow, and leverage actually work?"
Recent reports confirm that the so-called $1.2 billion doesn’t mean Kiyosaki personally owes $1.2 billion. Instead, it relates primarily to his portfolio of real estate investments—around 1,500 apartments—held jointly with partners.
This doesn’t mean his investment approach is risk-free.
On the contrary, high leverage means higher risk.
If the assets generate enough income to cover financing costs and continue appreciating in value, debt can become a powerful tool.
But if:
• Interest rates rise;
• Property values decline;
• Rental income drops;
• Vacancy rates increase;
• Cash flow deteriorates;
then the very leverage that once amplified returns could instead magnify losses.
Therefore:
Debt alone doesn’t tell us whether someone is rich or poor, nor does it prove whether an investment philosophy is right or wrong.
What really matters is:
- What assets did the debt buy?
- How much cash flow do those assets generate?
- Can that cash flow cover costs?
- Are the risks within acceptable limits?
Only then do we have a complete picture.
Revisiting *Rich Dad Poor Dad*
I don’t believe every idea in *Rich Dad Poor Dad* applies to everyone.
For instance, notions like "everyone should start a business" or "wealth comes through corporations and leverage" aren’t truths I’d accept as absolute.
Yet I still acknowledge:
This book genuinely changed one of my core beliefs.
That belief is:
Assets and liabilities are two entirely different concepts.
In the past, we often equated "being able to afford" with "owning."
- Buying an expensive car made us feel as though we had acquired an asset.
- Purchasing a house beyond our financial means might even make us believe we were building wealth.
But if these things keep draining money from your pocket instead of generating income for you, then from a cash flow perspective, they may not actually be assets that help accumulate wealth.
This book made me realize for the first time:
- High income does not equal great wealth.
-
What truly matters is what your income ultimately becomes.
That single idea alone has already been incredibly valuable to me.
So when I recently read news about the author himself falling into massive debt, I don't need to dismiss the book because of it.
Because:
One person's business failure doesn't automatically prove every point he once made was wrong.
Similarly, one person's tremendous success doesn't prove every word he said was correct.
I've also begun rethinking the concept of "success."
Previously, we tended to assume:
To gain wealth, you must start a business.
But now I increasingly believe this view is too absolute.
Take Lisa Su, for example.
She wasn't the founder of AMD, yet through her professional expertise, leadership, long-term value creation, and equity incentives, she became one of the most prominent corporate leaders in the global tech industry.
Or Ida Liu at HSBC, and Shou Zi Chew, CEO of TikTok—neither followed the traditional path of starting from scratch.
They remind us of another truth:
Even without being a company founder, someone can achieve remarkable career success and wealth through their professional skills, management abilities, judgment, and long-term value creation.
Now I'm less and less convinced by the idea of a "single, correct path to success."
- Entrepreneurship is one path.
- Becoming an outstanding professional manager is another.
- Becoming a true expert in a particular field is another.
- Investing is another.
- Creating your own content, brand, and digital assets can also be a valid path.
What really matters may not be:
"I must become my own boss."
But rather:
"Can I consistently create value and gradually transform my labor and capabilities into my own assets?"
We don't need to become anyone.
We live in an age full of "success models."
Open your phone and you'll see:
Some people succeeded in entrepreneurship;
Others made huge profits through investing;
Some became CEOs;
Others traveled the world;
Some own luxury mansions;
Others built their own brands.
The more we see, the easier it is to develop a false impression:
"Why can others do everything, while I seem to accomplish nothing?"
But we often forget:
What we see are others' highlight moments, which we compare against our ordinary daily lives.
That's an extremely unfair comparison.
More importantly:
We simply don't need to become someone else.
- I can learn the mindset of assets and liabilities from Kiyosaki.
- Learn professionalism and long-term thinking from Lisa Su.
- Learn management and value creation from excellent corporate executives.
- Learn risk awareness from skilled investors.
- Learn expression and personal branding from talented creators.
But I don't have to become any of them.
True learning is "selectively taking what's useful."
I'm increasingly drawn to a certain way of learning:
Not idolizing, nor rejecting.
When encountering an idea:
First, listen.
Then reflect:
Is it true?
Ask:
Why?
Continue analyzing:
What are its premises?
And go further:
Is this method right for me?
In the end:
Can I make it my own?
What's useful, keep.
What's not accepted, let go.
What's uncertain, hold on to temporarily.
Only what has been truly tested and verified through personal experience gradually becomes part of my own understanding.
At that point, knowledge is no longer just "I've read it."
Instead, it begins to influence my judgment and actions.
That’s why I now increasingly trust my own judgment.
Life doesn’t offer a person who is always right.
There’s no single book that can answer all your questions for the next few decades.
And there’s certainly no one-size-fits-all method that works for everyone.
All we can do is keep learning, keep practicing, and keep adjusting.
What seems right today, we can reevaluate tomorrow.
People we once believed in, we can reassess.
People we once dismissed, we can come to understand again.
This isn't indecisiveness.
On the contrary—
It’s a sign that someone is beginning to develop independent judgment.
Don’t turn others’ strengths into your shadows.
Finally, I want to tell myself more and more clearly:
Believe in yourself， Build your own personal asset system slowly.
Not because we’re already excellent enough,
but because we have the ability to become better through learning, practice, and time.
- The areas where others excel, we can learn from.
- The paths they’ve walked, we can draw inspiration from.
- Their failures can serve as warnings for us.
- Their successes can be our reference points.
But don’t let others’ brilliance make you doubt yourself:
“I’m not good enough.”
“I’m not as smart as them.”
“I don’t have their money.”
“I haven’t achieved their success.”
What we should really do is transform others’ strengths into nourishment for ourselves.
Learn a little today.
Practice a little tomorrow.
Adjust a little the day after.
After a year, you’ll find yourself changed significantly.
After ten years, you might realize:
Ten years from now, you might realize:
The people you once envied, you didn't become like them.
They merely offered you some inspiration along the way.
What truly stays with you until the end is what you’ve accumulated step by step—
your judgment, your abilities, your experience, and your assets.
So growth isn’t about becoming someone else.
Growth is about becoming more and more yourself.
And true wealth may not be having a life others envy.
It might be the day when you possess enough judgment, capability, and resources to calmly decide:
How do I want to live?
