Ways for Ordinary People to Achieve Social Mobility

Summary

1. Reading builds common sense — so you can recognize opportunities and resolve problems with the right playbooks.

2. Don’t force marriage as a ladder. Just avoid it being a drag, build solid foundations, and pass knowledge and experience to the next generation. As long as each generation moves forward, you’re winning.

3. If domestic competition in China gets too brutal, go overseas — especially where skilled/manual labor is scarce and labor costs are high, making RMB stretch several times further.

4. Stay positive and kind. Build a reputation for reliability, make lots of friends, and let people see you as someone good to work with. Opportunities will find you.

5. Practice value investing. Don’t chase short-term gains. Invest time in things that compound and can be passed down, so your family climbs higher every single day.

In short, as those “god-tier” web novels and Chinese traditions often say:
First comes fate, then luck, then feng shui.
Fourth is hidden virtue, fifth is reading.
Sixth is name, seventh is appearance, eighth is reverence for the divine.
Ninth is befriending benefactors, tenth is keeping healthy.

For ordinary people, the levers we can actually pull are: stay healthy, be kind, make friends widely, read and build a good reputation, and keep a humble敬畏 (reverence/awe).

Original: https://www.zhihu.com/question/578847091/answer/3048004104