Having understood the author's purpose of writing "Insider Buy Superstocks"【During the dormant period of the stock market, I found a haven for "flow" in my heart】. and combining it with Naval's definition of wealth, I finally realized that a continuous stream of wealth is far more reassuring than a one-time high income.
A blogger once shared his personal journey:
---"It took me a full fifteen years to figure out three things from 'having money' to 'being valuable'.
Wealth has three stages: primary, intermediate, and advanced.
Most people get stuck at the second stage, while truly smart people have long moved on to the third stage."---
Stage One: Having Money - Buy What You Want When You Want
Many people strive their entire lives but may never truly stand firm at this stage.
However, the problem is that money in hand depreciates over time.
Stage Two: Pursuing Returns - Making Money Work for You
People start investing in stocks, funds, and studying asset allocation.But the longer they stay at this stage, the more anxious they become:
They fear a pullback when the market rises and missing out when it falls. Every day, they are in a battle with the market and their own emotions.
Stage Three: True Wealth - Sustainable Cash Flow
What does Warren Buffett value most when buying stocks?
It's not how many times the stock price might increase in the future, but rather: What is the dividend yield? Will it continue to pay dividends? Can it generate cash flow perpetually?
Those who have truly achieved financial freedom rarely do so by taking big risks.
Instead, they gradually accumulate cash flow assets, trading time for space, and eventually allowing passive income to exceed active expenses.
When our understanding reaches its peak, what we truly desire is a sense of certainty in life.
For ordinary people, the most basic security is the monthly retirement pension and the lifetime annuity income.
Cognitive Upgrade (Creating a Gap)
Many people get stuck at the second stage not because they don't work hard,
but because they fail to realize one thing:
Making money and building assets are two completely different things.
The former relies on time, while the latter depends on a system.
Naval's definition of wealth
Wealth is not the numbers in your bank account or the cash in your wallet.
It is those things that can help you earn money even when you are asleep, as well as those assets that consistently generate returns.
It includes:
- The companies you own that can continuously generate profits
- The dividends and appreciation from the quality stocks you invest in
- The long-term royalties from the best-selling books you create
- The subscription income from the software products you develop
How can ordinary people establish their own "after-sleep income" system?
You can ask yourself three questions:
- Can you share your professional skills through writing, creating courses or providing consulting to those in need?This way, you can earn extra income beyond your regular job.
- Are you willing to learn basic financial management knowledge and invest a portion of your savings in quality index funds or growth-oriented companies?Let your funds serve you.
- Have you deliberately established your own "asset mindset" ？Not just focusing on salary, but rather considering: Can this activity continue to generate income while I'm sleeping?
Our goal should be: Through continuous learning and practice, gradually establish your own, diverse and sustainable wealth system.
If we had approached the problem from the perspective of the third stage of cognition earlier
Imagine this:
If we had started working, investing and living with the mindset of the third stage from the very beginning -
- Would we be able to plan ahead and avoid many detours?
- Would we be able to avoid many unnecessary pitfalls?
First and foremost, we need to complete the transformation at the cognitive level: from "selling time" to "accumulating assets".
Naval's brilliance lies in his proposal of a completely new way of thinking:
We can start by focusing on the most minute things around us and consciously cultivate the "asset thinking mode".
And the author of "Insider Buy Superstocks", Jesse, made money in the stock market, but he realized that it wasn't its continuous cash flow, so he turned to writing books and opened a second income curve for the income.
Create a system that allows you to make money even when you are sleeping, let personal assets continuously increase, and establish a sustainable personal asset system.
Now, I would like you to seriously consider this question:
Which of your current skills, assets, or methods are currently generating cash flow for you?
If none of them are, today is the perfect time for you to start building your "wealth system".
---Extended Reading and Resources---
What taught me was "how to select stocks, read charts, and execute trades"
What taught me was "how to view wealth itself"
The Almanack of Naval Ravikant
[A curated list of tools and books that have genuinely helped me on my journey. If you find them useful, they might help you too.]
[My reading list] & [My everyday toolkit]