The Simple Yet Powerful Rule of Input and Output - 2025-03-09

There's a fundamental rule that applies to many areas of life: if you want to gain more, your input must be greater than your output. If you want to reduce something, your output should exceed your input.


This principle is easy to understand and can be applied to a wide range of situations:

1. Weight Management

If you want to lose weight, you need to burn more calories (output) than you consume (input). This means eating less, exercising more, or both. However, be mindful of health conditions like low blood sugar—always consult a doctor before making drastic changes.

2. Wealth Accumulation

If you want to grow your wealth, you must earn more than you spend. Even if you make millions, spending billions will leave you broke. Smart financial management follows the input-output rule—save and invest wisely!


The Classic Water Tank Problem - from your Primary 5 math olympia

This rule even applies to math! Consider a water tank being filled by a pipe that takes 18 hours to fill it completely, while a pump can drain it in 20 hours. If both are working at the same time, how long will it take to fill the tank?

To solve this, we calculate how much water comes in and goes out in one hour:

  • Water in: 1/18 of the tank per hour

  • Water out: 1/20 of the tank per hour

The net filling rate per hour is:
 1/18 - 1/20 = 1/180

This means the tank will take 180 hours to fill up completely when both the pipe and the pump are working together. Final Thoughts

While this input-output rule is widely applicable, always consider context and side effects before applying it blindly. Some situations require balance rather than extremes. But overall, keeping this simple concept in mind can help you make smarter decisions in many areas of life!

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