I Ching Reading: Don’t Rush for Big Money After Climbing Out of a Slump — Six at the Beginning Says Steadiness Equals Victory

This thing is perfectly explained by the first line of the Hexagram Reading / Interpretation in the I Ching (Book of Changes).

Wonder if you’ve ever had this kind of experience—

You’ve been tight on cash for ages,

finally things ease up a little,

you’ve just got a bit of extra money in hand,

and your mind starts wandering.

A friend says there’s a project with great returns, wanna jump in together?

A relative says they made a ton trading some crypto, wanna follow suit?

Even you’re thinking to yourself—

Hey, this money’s already profit anyway,

might as well take another gamble,

maybe it’ll double.

What happens in the end?

You gamble and gamble,

blow all the money again,

and end up worse off than before.

Why does this happen?

Because you don’t get one simple truth—

When you’ve just climbed out of a pit,

don’t start thinking about running right away.

Get your feet steady first.

There’s a hexagram in the I Ching called Deliverance (雷水解),

which specifically talks about the state of difficulties being resolved and emerging from hardship.

Its first line is the Six at the Beginning (初六),

and its Line Text / Yao Ci is just two characters: 无咎 (No blame).

No issues, no big mistakes, no disasters, just getting by okay.

You might say,

That’s it? That’s way too ordinary.

Don’t underestimate these two words.

When you’ve just climbed out of a pit,

being able to achieve No blame

is the biggest win of all.

Why It’s Easiest to Fall Back Right After Turning Things Around

The Six at the Beginning of Deliverance is the first line of Kan / The Abysmal,

which means—

You’ve just come out of the hardest part,

but you’re still in the peril of Kan, not fully out yet.

It’s like when you’ve just climbed out of a pit:

one leg’s out, one leg’s still in.

If you get cocky and mess around at this point,

it’s super easy to fall back in.

Why do so many people’s Wealth luck turn bad right after it gets better?

Three lessons.

First: forgetting the pain once the wound heals.

As soon as you make a little money,

you forget how hard it was when you had none.

You spend recklessly, invest everywhere, mess around blindly,

and end up blowing all the money again.

People just never learn—

when things are tough, you tell yourself you’ll be frugal later,

but the second things get better, you get carried away.

Second: rushing to recoup losses.

You lost money before,

now you’ve made a little,

so you want to earn back all the past losses fast.

You up the stakes, take reckless risks,

and end up sinking deeper and deeper.

The “recoup losses” mindset is the most harmful—

it makes you lose your reason,

you gamble when you shouldn’t,

you invest when you shouldn’t.

Third: not knowing when to stop.

Make 10k, you want 100k;

make 100k, you want a million.

Never satisfied, always chasing and messing around,

sooner or later you’ll crash and burn, losing everything.

The hardest thing after making money

isn’t making more—

it’s stopping, and holding onto what you have.

“At the Boundary of Firm and Yielding, There Is No Blame by Right”

The I Ching explains this line by saying,

“At the boundary of firm and yielding, there is no blame by right (刚柔之际，义无咎也).”

What does that mean?

At the turning point where firm and yielding alternate,

logically speaking, there won’t be major problems.

The “boundary of firm and yielding”

is that turning point where bad luck turns good, poverty turns to wealth, loss turns to profit.

Why is the turning point the most fragile?

Because you’ve just come out of hard times,

you haven’t built the habits of good times yet;

your abilities, awareness, and mindset

are still stuck at the old level;

money comes too suddenly, and you can’t handle it.

How do you make your Wealth luck actually turn around for good?

Three key points.

First: go with the flow, not against it.

Better Wealth luck is a good thing,

but even good things need to unfold naturally.

Don’t rush, don’t act recklessly, don’t fight the current.

Earn the money you’re supposed to earn,

stay away from money you’re not supposed to make;

spend the money you’re supposed to spend,

save the money you’re not supposed to waste.

Go with the flow, and your Wealth luck will last.

Second: advance steadily, not recklessly.

When you’ve just got a bit of money, steady yourself first.

Don’t rush to invest, don’t rush to expand,

don’t chase quick money.

Lay a solid foundation,

improve your abilities,

upgrade your awareness—

then money will naturally grow more and more.

If your foundation is shaky,

money comes fast and goes fast too.

Third: stay upright, don’t go astray.

When Wealth luck improves, temptations multiply.

People ask you to partner up, people pitch you investments,

people recommend “get rich quick” schemes.

At times like this, hold onto your original heart, hold your bottom line,

stick to what you’re best at.

Don’t try to make every kind of money,

don’t jump into every trap that comes your way.

Stay upright, and your Wealth luck will last long.

What to Do When Wealth Luck Is Bad

Step one: cut losses first.

If you’re still in the pit, still losing money, still on a downward slope,

stop first, stop messing around.

Stop the losses, plug the holes,

don’t let the situation get worse.

Cutting losses is the biggest win.

Step two: steady yourself next.

When you’ve just climbed out of the pit,

don’t rush to charge upward.

Get your daily life stable first,

steady your income,

hold onto the money you have.

No blame (无咎)—no issues, no big mistakes, no losing money—

that’s already a good thing.

Stay steady for a while,

lay a solid foundation,

then talk about growth.

Step three: develop last.

When you’re truly steady, your foundation is solid, your abilities are up to par,

then move up step by step, expand step by step.

Progressing this way is steady, long-lasting, and won’t make you fall back.

The Six at the Beginning of Deliverance tells you—

Going from hardship to ease, from loss to profit, from poverty to wealth,

take it slow, don’t rush.

A Final Word

Wealth luck? You can’t rush it.

When you’ve just climbed out of the pit,

don’t rush to charge upward.

Get your feet steady first, hold on first, don’t make big mistakes first.

No blame (无咎) means no issues;

no issues means you win.

“At the boundary of firm and yielding, there is no blame by right (刚柔之际，义无咎也)”—

the turning point of Wealth luck is the most fragile.

Act in line with the times, don’t act recklessly,

and if your direction is right, things won’t go bad.

Only when you stay steady

can your Wealth luck truly turn around;

if you can’t stay steady,

no matter how much you earn, you’ll lose it all back.

So yeah,

when you’ve just got a bit of extra money in hand,

don’t start thinking about making a fortune right away.

Ask yourself first—

Remember the reminder from the first line of Deliverance: when you’ve just come out of hardship, don’t rush to go all out; get your feet steady first.

The wisdom of this first line of Deliverance, put simply, is—when times are hard, choosing the right direction matters more than pushing through blindly.

Am I staying steady?