Why Impulsive Spurts Fizzle Fast: Dazhuang Hexagram’s "壮于趾，征凶" (Strength in the Toes, Advance Brings Misfortune)

Last year, a young guy told me he was planning to quit his job and move to Dali.

I asked him what he was going to do there.

He said he’d figure it out once he got there.

I asked how long his savings would last.

He said about three months.

I asked what he’d do after those three months.

He said he’d cross that bridge when he came to it.

I told him his plan was exactly what’s described in the Great Power (The Power of the Great) Hexagram.

For travel-related questions, the First Line of this hexagram might as well have been written just for him.

Thunder in the Heavens: Momentum Arrives First

The Great Power Hexagram has Zhen (The Arousing) above and Qian (The Creative) below — thunder in the heavens, and the strength of heaven beneath it.

Thunder roars loud, and heaven’s force is mighty. The whole hexagram gives an impression of “overflowing strength.”

But the most brilliant part of this hexagram is that it hits the brakes right from the start.

The Hexagram Judgment reads: Great Power, it is advantageous to be correct (Great Power, 利贞).

You have great strength, but only when guided by integrity does it serve you well.

The Xiang Commentary (Images) puts it even more plainly: The Junzi (Superior Person) does not tread on what is not in accordance with ritual.

You don’t step into anything that breaks the proper order of things.

See? A hexagram all about “vigor” and “abundance” opens with the line “don’t go rushing off.”

That’s the core of the Great Power Hexagram.

Having strength is a good thing. But wasting that strength on reckless impulses is the most common kind of mistake.

First Nine (Nine at the Beginning): 壮于趾，征凶，有孚

The Line Text for the First Nine of the Great Power Hexagram is: 壮于趾，征凶，有孚 (Strength in the toes; advancing brings misfortune; there is sincerity).

“Zhi” means toes. “Strength in the toes” means all your energy is in your feet, ready to bolt.

“Zheng” means to move forward. “Advancing brings misfortune” means pushing ahead will lead to trouble.

“You fu” means sincerity and trust — in this context, it means you genuinely believe you have a good reason for going.

The Xiang Commentary adds: “Strength in the toes — one’s sincerity runs out.”

That reason you’re clinging to won’t carry you very far.

This line hits the nail on the head.

People who say “let’s just go” always have plenty of reasons.

“I’ve had enough.” “I don’t want to live like this anymore.” “I want a different way of life.”

These reasons are real. But they won’t sustain you for three months.

That’s what the Great Power Hexagram teaches about travel and relocation: the energy in your feet alone isn’t enough to support a big move.

Why “Feet First, Brain Later” Usually Ends in a U-Turn

I’ve seen this cycle play out so many times.

Set out in March, come back in May, take off again in July.

Each departure feels more justified than the last, and each return leaves you quieter than before.

The reason is simple: a successful move needs three things, and your feet only account for one of them.

First, a landing spot.

How will you make a living where you’re going?

Not “the scenery is nice there” or “the cost of living is low.” You need a concrete source of income, a client, a place to actually stay.

When the First Nine of Great Power says “advancing brings misfortune,” that’s where the misfortune lies — having no solid place to land.

Second, a fallback plan.

Where can you retreat to if things don’t work out?

Having a fallback isn’t a sign of weakness. It’s what gives you the courage to move forward.

People with no safety net overthink every step and never make real progress.

Third, time.

How long are you giving yourself?

Three months isn’t a timeline — it’s an impulse.

If you’re serious about something, give yourself at least a year.

Of that year, the first three months are for settling in, the middle six are for trial and error, and only the last three show you whether it’s actually working.

When the First Nine of Great Power says “one’s sincerity runs out,” it’s because none of these three things are in place.

The First Three Months After You Arrive

Most people think the hardest part is deciding to leave.

Actually, the hardest part is the first three months after you get there.

There are three hurdles to get through in those months.

The first hurdle: the newness wears off after the first week.

The first few days, everything feels exciting. By day seven, you notice the food doesn’t suit you, you can barely understand the local dialect, and running errands is a hassle.

That’s when the thought pops up: Did I make a mistake coming here?

That’s the “misfortune” the First Nine of Great Power talks about. It’s not that you picked the wrong place — it’s that your reason for coming isn’t strong enough to get you past this hurdle.

The second hurdle: you can’t find a rhythm in the first month.

Back home, you knew exactly what to do at every hour. In a new place, everything is blank.

That blankness makes people panic.

So the most important thing to do in the first month isn’t chasing opportunities — it’s building a routine. What time you wake up, where you eat, how many times a week you go to certain places.

Once you have a routine, you feel grounded.

The third hurdle: crunching the numbers at the three-month mark.

How much money have you spent? How much have you earned? How much is left?

You have to do this math, and you have to be brutally honest about it.

I’ve seen so many people skip this, coast on vibes for eight months, and then have to turn back when they finally run out of money.

Once you get past this third hurdle, you’ve truly settled in.

When Is It Okay to Go?

I usually tell people they need to pass through three “gates.”

First gate: the money gate.

Do you have enough savings to last you twelve months?

Note: not “enough to live comfortably” — “enough to scrape by.” Those are two very different things.

“Enough to live comfortably” is based on your current lifestyle. “Enough to scrape by” is based on the cheapest possible way of living.

Second gate: the work gate.

Where will your first paycheck come from when you get there?

Not “I should be able to find something” — something with a name already attached.

A client, a contract, a confirmed job offer, a partnership you’ve already discussed.

Even if it’s small, as long as it’s concrete, you’re not going empty-handed.

Third gate: the people gate.

Is there someone there who can help you out?

Just one person is enough.

Not some fancy “benefactor” — just someone who can show you the ropes. Someone who knows which street has cheap apartments, which steps are easy to mess up, which hospital to go to when you’re sick.

If you’ve passed two of these three gates, you can go.

If you’ve only passed one, hold off — prepare for another three months first.

If you’ve passed none, that’s not moving — that’s running away.

The Difference Between Running Away and Moving Forward

Running away has its reasons too, and they can feel very convincing.

But people who are running away have one tell: even in a new place, they’re still solving the same old problems.

Move to a new city, and you still have the same bad temper.

Switch to a new job, and you still fall into the same old rhythm.

Meet a new group of people, and you still interact the same way.

I knew someone who moved to four different cities in three years.

Every time, he’d say “this place just isn’t right for me.”

When he called me after the fourth move, I said, “You’re carrying too much luggage.”

He asked what luggage I meant.

I said, “Yourself.”

The Great Power Hexagram says “do not tread on what is not in accordance with ritual” — and “ritual” here means proper order.

If your priorities are out of order, you’ll end up in the same spot no matter where you go.

A Simple Exercise to Try

If you’re thinking of moving right now, do one thing first.

Take a piece of paper and write three lines.

Line one: What am I trying to achieve by leaving?

Line two: What’s the worst that could happen if I stay?

Line three: What’s the worst that could happen if I leave?

Read them over and compare.

If the answer to line one could be solved even in the scenario from line two, you don’t need to leave.

If the answer to line one can only be solved by leaving, then you should go.

This exercise takes twenty minutes.

Twenty minutes that can save you three months of back-and-forth.

What Happened Next

The young guy who wanted to move to Dali didn’t end up going.

He did something else instead: he took two months off and spent six weeks in Dali.

During those six weeks, he stayed at a guesthouse, helped the owner with work, chatted with locals, and crunched all the numbers.

When he came back, he told me: running a guesthouse there, you only get eight months of business a year, four months are dead. Rent is cheap, but renovations are expensive, and it’s hard to find staff.

He said, “I’m not going.”

I asked him what made him change his mind.

He said, “After six weeks there, I realized it’s not Dali I like — it’s ‘not having to go to work.’”

That realization was worth a lot.

That’s exactly what the First Line of the Great Power Hexagram is talking about when it comes to travel and relocation.

壮于趾，征凶 (Strength in the toes; advancing brings misfortune).

If all your strength is in your feet, you’ll just end up walking in circles.

A real move means figuring out your landing spot, your fallback plan, and your timeline first — then lifting your feet.

Your feet should be the last thing to move. Not the first.