Wealth is a tricky concept. On the one hand, wealth provides us with a sense of security. If we are in trouble, or if we want to retire, having wealth can help give us peace of mind. On the other hand, wealth is also the source of great insecurity. Everyone wants wealth, so everyone competes for wealth.

In other words, having wealth brings us security; building wealth, on the other hand, is the source of our main troubles in life.

Given how complex and competitive building wealth is, how do we navigate it? What principles can we apply from Sun Tzu on building wealth?

After studying Sun Tzu for over twenty years, I've come to realize there are seven key rules that can be applied to building wealth. These rules are

1. Treat wealth as a means, not an end.
2. Ensure you are protected before taking action.
3. Move into unoccupied areas where you can dominate.
4. Prioritize other people's resources over your own whenever possible.
5. Pay a premium for good information.
6. Prefer quick, secure, yet modest gains over long, risky, but huge gains.
7. Conceal your moves.

Let's look at each rule in greater detail.

Rule 1: Treat wealth as a means - not an end. 
For Sun Tzu, wealth, in and of itself, has no inherent value. Rather, it is a means to cultivating a sense of peace and security (an). As such, how much wealth you should have depends on what it takes for you to feel at peace and secure. The less you require in order to have a sense of an, the less wealth you need to acquire.

This is why understanding your purpose is key, since it provides you clarity in determining what will allow you to cultivate an in your life. 

Rule 2: Ensure you're protected before acting.
All wealth-building endeavors involve risk. The key is making sure you are protected in both time and money in case a particular endeavor fails. For Sun Tzu, this is critical. As he tells us, "The skilled warriors of the past first focused on not allowing [the enemy] to win, waiting for the enemy to allow [them] to win." In other words, protect yourself first, then try to win.

When it comes to building wealth, the principle is the same. Before taking on any endeavor for gaining money, always make sure that failure would not leave you in a worse position than you were before. Never over-invest money you don't have. Never borrow money unless you have a solid strategy for how you will be able to pay it back, regardless of whether the venture is successful or not.

Rule 3: Move into unoccupied areas in which you can dominate. 
The secret to building wealth is controlling "grounds" (Di) - that is, fields, markets, idea-spaces, projects, departments, etc. - where you can easily dominate. For Sun Tzu, you never want to compete for a ground that is already dominated by some other competitor. As he tells us, "The skilled warrior sends soldiers, but does not send them to soldiers."

In trying to build wealth, focus on areas where you can easily dominate. Look at your strengths - your skills, your personal traits, your knowledge, your resources. What can you dominate in? In which areas do you have proven skills? Once you dominate one area, you can now move onto a bigger area to dominate.

The key is never to find yourself competing for a market, job position, industry, etc. that some other person has dominated first. Wealth, for Sun Tzu, is built through the gradual control of these "grounds" - not through competing for one big ground.

Rule 4: Prioritize other people's resources over your own whenever possible. 
For Sun Tzu, acquiring or using your own resources (money, time, equipment, effort, etc.) to build or secure wealth is not as valuable as using someone else's. As he writes, "One unit of the enemy's food is worth twenty units of our food. One picul of [the enemy's] fodder is worth twenty picul of our own."

Before you think about risking your own money or equipment or time to build wealth, try first asking whether there is a way for you to use someone else's. Is there a way to get something for free or at a huge discount by getting it used? Is there a connection or friend that may be able to help? Is it more cost-effective to rent equipment? Is there a way to let insurance cover a portion or all of the risk? What can I steal from the Internet or history to help me?

Don't always assume you have to do it yourself. Other people's resources - if you have access to them - are also part of your wealth.

Rule 5: Pay a premium for good information.
For Sun Tzu, the general or ruler should always be willing to pay a premium for access to reliable intelligence. As he writes, "One refusing to pay a hundred pieces of gold and thus does not know the enemy's situation is the height of inhumanity." 

You must prioritize information and learning in every wealth-building endeavor. It pays to know as much as you can not only protect against the risk, but be prepared to jump on opportunities that arise.  

Rule 6: Prefer quick, secure, yet modest gains over long, risky, but huge gains.
For Sun Tzu, the biggest calamity in war is fighting a long, drawn-out war, regardless of the potential benefits. A long, drawn-out war sucks resources, costs lives, and opens a nation up to being attacked by neighboring countries. In life, this same principle applies. What you are after is a quick victory, one that doesn’t cost you much in time, effort, or money, but that can give you decent profits.

For example, if you have to choose between job #1, which pay a lot, but comes with insane work hours and huge responsibilities and lots of restrictions in terms of decision making, and job #2, which pays less than than job #1, but offers you a lot more time and space to make decisions, job #2 would be the better choice. Though it’s less money, job #2 offers greater freedom and more time.

Likewise, if you have to choose between client #1, who is willing to pay a substantial amount of money, but who comes with a lot of headaches and requires a lot of attention, and client #2, who pays less than client#1, but who is very easy to manage and requires little attention, then client #2 would be the better choice. Client #2 offers more time and freedom to acquire more clients like him. 

Rule 7: Conceal your moves. 
For Sun Tzu, concealment (cang) is the heart of security. You are best protected when you are the most concealed.

As you are building your wealth, it is important never reveal exactly what you are doing. Doing so will only undermine your positioning. Rather, conceal your intentions and moves. Don't share your plans. Take small steps and occupy areas that are unoccupied (see Rule 3).

As you gradually start to dominate in different fields or markets or project areas, you'll start to gradually build influence, and gradually the wealth will come. 

"What enables the enlightened rulers and good generals to conquer the enemy at every move and achieve extraordinary success is foreknowledge."
- Sun Tzu

We are taught today that success is a matter of willpower – of persistence, of grit, of continuing when failing.

For Sun Tzu, however, the most critical factor in your success is the quality of your information. The more you know about the area you’re trying to win in, the more aware you are of the opportunities – the strengths to avoid, the weaknesses to exploit, the options for mobility.

Want to land that new job? Research the company! Find out who their distributors and competitors are, their unique advantage, markets they are trying to break into.

Want to date that girl? Find out what her interests are. What does she like to do for fun? Which countries has she traveled to? What TV shows does she like?

Want to start a business? Find out as much as you can about your customers. What quality of product do they want? What inside jokes do they use? What’s going to make them talk about your new product?

Want to invest in a company? Find out as much as you can from their financial statements, their management, their competitive advantage.

Intelligence marks the critical difference between playing to compete and playing to win. You can be confident, persistent, charming all you want, but those qualities just help you to compete.

​To win, you need to know where, when, and how to make moves. That requires intelligence.

“In this way, the skilled warrior stands on undefeated ground, and does not miss the enemy's defeat. Therefore, the winning army first wins, and later seeks to do battle. The defeated army first battles, and later seeks to win.”
– Sun Tzu

This is one of the most important quotes from Sun Tzu that I can recommend. So many times, we think only about competing. About taking action, about starting, about moving forward.

But probably one of the most important questions you can ask yourself before starting an endeavor is: What are the conditions that would lead to success? 

For example, let’s say you are a singer-songwriter and you want to create a popular, high-selling album.

You could start by just writing songs and building an album from there. But that is just taking action. It doesn’t at all guarantee that you’ll have a popular, high-selling album.

Instead, you have to ask yourself: “What conditions will lead to a successful album?”

One condition is an audience – a large group of people who would be interested in buying what you have to sell. Another condition is promotion, in particular, word of mouth. Another condition is a place – a store, a website – to sell your album.

As a strategy, then, one thing you can do is to start by building an audience. You can start creating little videos of songs you can sing to get people interested.

Then, as you start building an audience, you can start writing little songs of your own. See which songs get the most interest, use feedback to improve the songs, and then put an improved version of that song on the album.

Next, find a place where you can sell your album, preferably somewhere that makes sampling and buying the album easy and gives you a good royalty.

Lastly, develop a promotional strategy. With your audience, think about what concept or idea will make your audience not only be interested in buying your album, but in sharing it with other people.

Once you have these conditions in place, then you can start developing the album, getting album artwork, doing press releases, booking shows, and more heavily promoting the album.

This is, of course, an overly simplified strategy, but hopefully the point is clear: find out what conditions need to be in your favor in order to win, and then seek to obtain those conditions first. Then you can take direct action towards winning.