Breaking the Myth: Stop Thinking About Making Money with a "Linear Mindset"
If you feel stuck on the path to wealth growth, it's highly likely you started in the wrong direction.
Many people are caught in a conventional thinking trap: First learn -> then improve -> and only then can you make money.
This "linear thinking" stems from our educational environment from childhood—it emphasizes that hard work and study are prerequisites for reward. Society constantly reinforces this notion. However, this model is more suited to cultivating excellent "employees" and "cogs" on an assembly line, rather than independent creators.
In fact, if you are eager to increase your income, the most direct and effective method is not endless "self-improvement," but immediately going to solve a specific problem for others.
Core Principle: Directly solve problems for others. If you can't do it directly, most of your profits will be taken by intermediaries.
The "problem" you solve has an unmet "need" of a specific group of people behind it, and need is gold. In this process, you may find that you lack a certain skill, and then you go to learn it. This is "problem-based" learning. The skills you acquire this way can be directly converted into income.
Core Concept: Turn Your "Pain Point" into a "Selling Point"
Many people feel lost when starting out: "I don't know what I should do or what I should learn."
The answer is actually in your own life. You might as well start by looking for problems within yourself or around you. The core business of a successful "solopreneur" often originates from the founder's own experiences—successfully turning their own pain points into unique selling points.
You can reflect from the following perspectives:
- Look back at the past: What memorable troubles and pains have you experienced?
- Examine the present: What are you doing now? What is the most difficult and troublesome part of it?
- Uncover creativity: Most people often overlook the goldmine right under their noses, not realizing that the experiences that made them struggle are precisely the source of business ideas.
For example:
Almost everyone has had emotional confusion, such as:
- Not knowing how to communicate effectively with a partner.
- Wanting to improve personal image and fashion sense, but not knowing where to start.
When you realize that besides you, there are thousands of people experiencing the same struggles, an opportunity arises.
Embrace the Market: Eternal Pain Points and Continuous Opportunities
You might say: "These areas have been done by others for a long time, the market is saturated, I have no chance."
But in fact, there are some "eternal pain points" in the market that are widespread and will continue to appear, such as:
- Health anxiety
- Emotional relationships
- Financial growth
- Self-improvement
These needs will not disappear as a generation grows up; they will only appear in different forms at different stages of life. Taking the "emotional market" mentioned above as an example, the form of solutions is constantly evolving:
- Past: People shared experiences by publishing books.
- Later: Offline courses and training appeared.
- Now: Some people even use AI to create virtual companionship or solutions.
Therefore, the market for providing solutions around these "eternal pain points" is constantly existing. What you need to do is find your own unique entry point.
Action Guide: The Pain Point Conversion Model
Remember, every tricky problem you solve is a potential product waiting to be packaged. You can refer to the following model to turn your pain points into selling points:
- Step 1: Identify the Problem
- Find a problem that has been troubling you for a long time.
- If you can't think of one, examine what you are currently doing and find the part that has been holding you back and draining your energy.
- Step 2: Validate the Need
- Think about whether this problem only troubles you or if it is a common social phenomenon.
- Go to social media, forums, and interest groups to see how many people are discussing similar issues.
- Step 3: Devise a Solution
- How did you solve this problem initially? Or, what is your ideal solution?
- Transform your experience, methods, or ideas into a process or product prototype that can be understood and replicated by others.
- Step 4: Package the Product
- Name your solution and give it a clear value proposition.
- It can be a series of articles, a video tutorial, a paid community, a consulting service, or a physical product.
- Step 5: Test and Iterate
- Offer your solution to a small group of people to collect real feedback.
- Continuously optimize and iterate your product based on feedback to make it better at creating value for users.
Through this process, you can systematically transform the "pain" of your personal experience into a "product" that can create value for others, thus starting your personal business journey.