The Fastest Way for the Poor to Get Rich: Abstinence

Your level of awareness determines the height of your life.
Have you noticed this? The more ordinary people struggle, the more likely they are to fall into the vortex of desires. To put it bluntly, it’s not that you’re not trying hard enough, but you simply can’t resist temptation.
You want to rise up, but you live like an "addict"—to love, shopping, and social media—unable to quit.
The truth is, for ordinary people, the first step in turning their life around isn’t about making money; it’s about abstaining from desires.

1. Emotional Desires: Put Love on Hold for Now

To be honest, most people’s emotional state isn’t about love—it’s about draining energy.
Scroll through your feed, and you’ll see countless "relationship experts" and influencers. Read the comments, and you’ll see words like “clingy, manipulative, rebound,” and “sidekick.”
Love has turned into a game—a cycle of playing with emotions, testing, waiting passively, and ultimately feeling exhausted.
Let’s be clear: ordinary people should not be investing too much in emotional desires—especially if they don’t have stable income, clear goals, or self-awareness.
Why do the wealthy often marry later, or sometimes choose not to marry at all? Because they know that "stable relationships" are never built on emotional attachment but on independence and maturity.
If you want to turn your life around, put your relationships aside for now. Focus on living your own life. You'll realize that the peace of being undisturbed is a rare and precious form of self-discipline.

2. Consumer Desires: Delay Gratification

Stop fooling yourself—you’re not "rewarding yourself," you’re "borrowing from the future."
In recent years, "downshifting" consumer habits has become more than a trend—it’s a reality. You see more and more convenience stores selling $1 sandwiches, livestreams pushing $5 lipsticks, and even Starbucks running promotions like "second cup half off."
But oddly enough, even with lower prices, many young people still live paycheck to paycheck. The reason is simple: too many desires.
It’s not that people can’t afford basic necessities; it’s that they’re trapped in the "instant gratification" trap.
E-commerce platforms recommend limited edition items, friends post about trendy vacation rentals, and short videos promote the latest fashion. You don't even have time to think whether you need these things; you just buy out of habit.
The result? Money is gone, items go unused, and anxiety only grows. It’s not that you don’t earn enough, it’s that you can’t hold onto your money.

3. Sharing Desires: Speak Less, Let the World Be Quiet

The most addictive thing for modern people isn’t spending money or falling in love—it’s "expressing ourselves."
You post something on social media, waiting for likes; you share an opinion in a group chat, hoping for validation; you scroll through videos, itching to leave a comment to prove your existence.
Simply put, we all crave to be seen.
The biggest trap for ordinary people is "constantly proving themselves," trying to dominate the conversation, but forgetting that the world only cares about results—not words.
The place where desires are most powerful isn’t in food or possessions, but in our mouths. To turn your life around, the first step is to be quiet, focus on doing the work, and not be led astray by vanity.
As Lu Xun once said, "Silence... in silence, you either explode or disappear." The only choice ordinary people have is to accumulate their silence, then burst forth when the time is right.
True freedom lies in controlling your own desires.
This age is full of voices encouraging you to indulge, seek pleasure, and live for the moment.
But "abstinence" isn’t asking you to live like a monk—it’s about pulling your energy from a chaotic life and focusing every ounce of it where it truly matters.