⭕🔺🔲 5 “Squid Game” lessons to help you win in real life
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.
