Unless you are living under a rock,

you probably have heard about

the latest Korean survival drama

Squid Game.

It is all the craze right now all around

the world.

In fact, this morning I read that Squid Game

has broken record by being the first Korean

series to rank No. 1 in US Netflix’s Top Ten.

It is also No. 1 in 14 other countries

including Singapore where I lived.

So what’s Squid Game all about?

I try to explain under 100 words.

456 people who are heavily in debt

got invited to play in a mysterious

survival competition.

Competing in a series of traditional

children’s games, they put their lives

at risk to compete for a US$38.5M

prize money.

And when money and life are at stake,

you see the true colours of human beings.

Sweet.

I summarise the plot in 53 words.

Someone ought to give me a prize!

OK now that you are all caught up with the

basic plot, here are the five “Squid Game”

lessons that will help you win in real life.

Spoilers ahead so be warned.

Here goes.

Lesson one.

Who you know matters

A number of players survived because

they knew the games ahead of time

thanks to player 111 who had inside

information from the pink soldiers

in the game.

And why did the pink soldiers

make a deal with player 111?

This leads me to lesson number two.

Leverage on your strengths

Because he is a doctor and could help

them remove organs from the dead bodies

which will then be sold in the black market

for a lot of money.

Lesson three.

Find your allies

The main character Gi hun was smart enough

to rally players he could trust to look out

for one another.

They set up protection barriers and

took turns to be on guard duty.

As a result, they survived the brutal

night massacre led by the stronger players.

Unfortunately, those that were alone to

fend for themselves died in the carnage.

Lesson four.

Make friends with old people.

During the game of tug and war,

one team initially thought they are going

to lose because they had an old man in

their group.

But to their surprise, this old man – who

played a lot of tug and war during his

younger days – schooled them on the

strategy to win this game.

And thanks to the strategy, they beat

the stronger team.

So remember, wisdom eats strength

for breakfast!

Money can’t buy you happiness.

Player 001 (the old man) was in fact a

billionaire and host to the Squid Games.

In spite of his wealth, he wasn’t happy

and was dying from brain tumour.

Which is why he created this sick game to

“feel alive again” and relive his childhood

days of playing games with friends and

losing track of time.

Similarly, in spite of Player 456 winning the

US$38.5M prize money, he was still unhappy

because he found out that his mum - one of

the reasons he played the game for - had

died while he was in the games.

So yes, though money can buy you a lot of

comfort, it can’t buy you health, true

friendship and family love.

I am curious.

Out of the five life lessons, which one

resonates with you the most?

Mine has to be lesson five.

How about you?

Your #1 fan,

Eric Feng

P.S. On a lighter note, you will love

this week’s podcast if you plan to start

your own podcast.

My guest is Reggie Koh, the podcaster

behind Financial Coconut which boasts of

30K monthly downloads and 13K active

listeners, making his podcast in the

top 1% here in Singapore.

If you want to start your own podcast,

listen to this week’s podcast.

It comes with a two page starter guide.

Listen on Spotify

Listen on Apple podcast

Watch the video interview