Hexagram Treading (Lü) Nine at the Beginning: Why Those Who Earn Their First Pot of Gold Cleanly Go Further

Have you ever noticed this pattern?

Some people start making money really aggressively. They chase whatever pays fast, whatever turns a profit—never mind if it’s against the rules, or if it weighs on their conscience. After three to five years, they’ve saved up a tidy sum and look like they’re on top of the world.

But fast-forward ten years, and many of them are gone. Some lost everything, some ran into trouble, some just vanished without a trace. The few who are still around? They’re walking on eggshells, lying awake at night.

On the flip side, the people who seemed "clumsy" at the start—no speculation, no shortcuts, just steady, honest work, earning every penny bit by bit—they end up on more and more solid ground. They might not have as much money, but they sleep well, feel at peace, and pass their livelihood down through the generations.

Why is that?

The first line of the Hexagram Treading (Lü) in the I Ching (Book of Changes) speaks directly to this. It says: "素履之往，独行愿也。" (Sù lǚ zhī wǎng, dú xíng yuàn yě — "Going forward in plain shoes, one walks alone in accordance with one’s will.")

Plain Shoes — Walking in Simple, Unadorned Footwear

What does "plain shoes (sù lǚ)" mean?

"Sù" means white, unadorned, plain. "Lǚ" means shoes, and here it carries the sense of "walking, putting into practice."

"Plain shoes" means walking in simple, unadorned footwear. By extension, it means starting out simply, cleanly, without flashy tricks—sticking to the right path as you move forward.

The Hexagram Judgment for Treading says: "Treading on the tiger’s tail, it does not bite you. Success." You step on a tiger’s tail, but the tiger doesn’t attack. Why? Because you walk correctly, uprightly, and with proper restraint.

The Nine at the Beginning is the first step of Treading. How you take that first step determines whether the rest of your journey goes well.

The Nine at the Beginning is a Yang Line in a Yang position—low in rank, but upright. What does "upright" mean? It means it follows the right path, the path it’s meant to walk. It doesn’t stoop to crooked ways or cheap tricks just because it’s in a low position. It just puts on a pair of plain white shoes and walks steadily forward.

Applied to making money, this means: Your first pot of gold has to be earned cleanly.

What counts as "clean"? It doesn’t mean you can’t make money—it means the way you earn it has to be aboveboard, the source has to be clear, it has to sit right with your conscience, and you never cross the line.

You might say: "In today’s world, who cares about clean or dirty? If you make money, you’ve got skill."

In the short term, that might seem true. But stretch the timeline out, and it’s not.

Wen Laoshi often says: Every penny you earn is a reflection of your understanding; every penny you lose is a gap in your understanding. There’s a second half to that: The way you make money is the same way you’ll lose it.

Money you make from speculation, you’ll sooner or later lose to speculation. Money you make from luck, you’ll sooner or later lose to bad luck. Money you make from crooked schemes, sooner or later those schemes will catch up with you.

This isn’t mysticism. It’s a pattern.

Walking Alone in Accordance With One’s Will — The Right Path Demands Enduring Loneliness

The Xiang Commentary on the Nine at the Beginning says: "素履之往，独行愿也。" (Sù lǚ zhī wǎng, dú xíng yuàn yě — "Going forward in plain shoes, one walks alone in accordance with one’s will.")

What does that mean? If you walk the right path, the plain and simple path, you’re bound to be lonely. Most people don’t take that road.

Everyone else is chasing fast money, while you’re plugging away steadily. Everyone else is cutting corners, while you’re saving penny by penny. Everyone else is taking shortcuts, while you’re taking the long way around.

People around you will call you foolish, slow, out of touch. You’ll watch others get rich one by one, and you’ll start to waver—Am I really wrong? Should I be just like them?

That’s what "walking alone in accordance with one’s will" means: Walking the right path is your own choice, and you have to stand by it on your own.

No one will walk with you, no one will understand you, some will even mock you. But you know you’re on the right path, so you keep going even by yourself.

Why do so few people walk the right path? Because it’s hard. Not only does money come slow, but you have to bear loneliness, temptation, and the misunderstanding of others.

Taking the crooked path is so easy. Cut a corner, and boom—you’re ahead. In the short term, it’s fast and satisfying.

But here’s the thing: shortcuts usually have potholes, and easy paths usually have traps. It feels great when you’re speeding along, but you’ll know the pain when you fall.

Wen Laoshi once said: The fastest path in the world isn’t a shortcut—it’s the right path. The right path looks slow, but it’s steady, it’s safe, and you can keep walking it forever. Shortcuts look fast, but they’re short, they’re risky, and they end at a cliff.

If you want to go far, don’t pick the fast way—pick the steady way.

Why the "Quality" of Your First Pot of Gold Matters

A lot of people think money is just money—how can it have different "quality"? A hundred dollars has the same buying power no matter how you earned it.

That’s true, and it’s not true.

Money’s buying power is the same, but what lies behind the money isn’t.

When you earn your first pot of gold through your own skill and hard work, you gain more than just money—you gain ability, experience, connections, reputation, confidence, and an understanding of how business works.

Those things stay with you for life. The next time you make money, it’ll be faster, easier, and more stable. Because you’ve built a "foundation."

But if your first pot of gold comes from speculation, luck, or exploiting loopholes, all you’ve gained is money. No skill, no experience, no reputation, no understanding of how things work. What happens next time? You’ll try to make money the same way, but luck won’t always be on your side, and loopholes don’t stay open forever.

That’s why you’ll find that money made by luck is sooner or later lost by lack of skill. Your ability doesn’t match your wealth.

That’s the deeper meaning of "plain shoes": The way you start out sets the tone for who you are. If your foundation is upright, no matter how far you go, you won’t stray. If your foundation is crooked, no matter how hard you try to fix it later, you can’t undo it.

It’s like building a house. If the foundation is crooked, no matter how pretty the upper floors are, it’ll collapse sooner or later.

Three "Starting Mindset Principles" From the Nine at the Beginning

So if you’re in the early stages, working to build your first pot of gold, what can the Nine at the Beginning of Treading teach you?

Three points for your consideration.

First: Choose a path that builds on itself.

What does "builds on itself" mean? It means what you do today helps you tomorrow; what you do this year still works next year; what you build over ten years is still valuable ten years from now.

For example: learning a craft, going deep in an industry, building expertise in a field, growing your personal brand. These are all things that accumulate.

What doesn’t accumulate? Making fast money from information gaps, exploiting policy loopholes, profiteering from speculation. Those paths pay off once, but they don’t go far if you keep doing them—and they can disappear overnight.

Choose a path that builds on itself: it’s slow at first, but gets faster and faster. Choose a path that doesn’t accumulate: it’s fast at first, but gets narrower and narrower.

Second: Hold your bottom line, never cross the red line.

Making money comes with a lot of temptation. Today someone tells you about a great project—invest 10k, make 100k. Tomorrow someone slips you an "inside tip" that’ll make you rich. The day after, someone points out a gray area with no oversight and huge profits.

These all look like opportunities, but most of them are traps. Even the rare ones that actually make you money will leave you feeling uneasy. And once you get used to fast, easy money, you’ll never want to earn it the steady, honest way again.

That’s the old saying: "It’s easy to go from thrift to luxury, hard to go from luxury to thrift." Once you break your bottom line once, there’ll be a second time, a third time. In the end, you won’t even recognize yourself.

So right from the start, draw your bottom line clearly. Know in your heart what money you can make, and what money you can’t. Hold that line, and you’ll be able to go the distance.

Third: Embrace "slowness."

Another meaning of "plain shoes" is slowness. Simple shoes don’t let you run fast; the right path doesn’t let you rush.

But don’t be in a hurry. Slowness has its benefits. On a slow path, you can see the scenery clearly, build up experience, and lay a solid foundation. Once that foundation is strong, speeding up later will take you farther than people who sprinted from the start.

A lot of people love comparing themselves to others—My classmate already makes a million a year. My friend who started a business with me already took his company public. The more you compare, the more anxious you get, and the more you want to take shortcuts.

But here’s the truth: everyone has their own rhythm. Some people succeed early, some late. Early success doesn’t guarantee a long journey; late success doesn’t mean it won’t go well. As long as you’re moving forward step by step at your own pace, that’s enough.

The Nine at the Beginning of Treading is the first step in life, the first step in your career, the first step in building wealth.

How you take that step matters enormously. It might look like just one step, but it sets the direction and tone for your entire journey.

If your first step is upright, even if you go slow later, you won’t go far wrong. If your first step is crooked, no matter how hard you try later, it’s hard to get back on track.

Just as the Nine at the Beginning says: "素履之往，独行愿也。"

Wear a pair of plain shoes. Walk a clean path.

Maybe no one will walk with you. Maybe no one will understand you. Maybe you’ll feel lonely.

But trust this—this road, slow and long as it is, leads to a place of peace, stability, and restful sleep.

And those paths that look faster? They usually lead somewhere you don’t want to go.

Which road you choose is up to you.