In his 2024 “Raymond Hou’s User Manual,” Raymond deliberately introduces himself not with a single job title but with a set of identity labels: writer, operator, educator, creator, remote worker, digital nomad, gamer, and considerate companion in life. The core of this self-positioning is a methodology, not a list of career achievements.1 Raymond treats himself as a “product,” using writing to organize his background and path, define boundaries, and iterate once a year. The user manual is an entry point for collaborators and readers.
Why identity labels instead of adjectives
Raymond explicitly distinguishes “adjective labels” from “identity labels,” and prefers the latter. He cites the idea of “Remove Label” to explain this choice: identity labels can positively drive a person because the brain tends to avoid cognitive dissonance. When someone treats “writer” as an identity, they keep doing things consistent with it. Adjective labels (such as “successful” or “extroverted”), by contrast, can become judgments imposed by others and create pressure. In a reflection on turning 30, he also said that during school and work he was caught in “the pressure created by identity labels” and uncontrollable opportunities, often falling into a burnout cycle.2 Raymond therefore turns identity from “being defined” into “self-directed”: use a label to practice a life one wants, rather than be categorized by others.
The layers of seven identities
These identities are not parallel labels; they have clear divisions of function and sequence.
- Writer: The essential identity Raymond claims for himself. He began writing on social media in 2014, moved to Medium in 2017 and became a Productivity Top Writer, then moved to self-hosted WordPress in 2020, where he continues to publish. He compares his approach to writing to Haruki Murakami’s approach to running, seeing it as a way to become quiet and process experience. For its development, see Writing.
- Operator: After leaving employment in 2020, he and Yuzu co-ran the “Raymond Thirty” and 「柚智夫妻」 brands, operating courses, newsletters, and a paid community as a company of one. This thread is discussed in From Freelancer to Business Operator and The Self-Employed Era (2020–).
- Educator: He has taught or spoken more than 500 times, created the Chinese-language Notion online course with the largest number of learners, and developed course series on AI applications, automation, and other topics.
- Creator: Output beyond writing, including YouTube videos (such as documenting the smart-home renovation beginning in 2022) and various digital products.
- Remote worker and digital nomad: Raymond began as a freelance instructor and remote contractor during university. Since 2025, he has frequently traveled while working, with trips to India, Japan, New Zealand, and other places. Related context is discussed in Remote Work.
- Gamer: This echoes his experience earning his first pot of gold through online games in junior high and is also an interest he openly claims.
- Companion in life: A relational self-positioning that emphasizes long-term relationships with Yuzu and with readers and learners over short-term traffic.
The common pursuit behind these identities
Although the identities are diverse, Raymond connects them with one ordering of values: freedom of attention > freedom of time > financial freedom. In his account, multiple identities are not a scattered collection of side hustles but different aspects of one person practicing “turning passion into expertise and selling one unit of time many times” in different settings. This central theme is discussed in Super Individual and The Worse the Environment, the More Valuable the Individual. He also uses identity labels to respond to common misunderstandings about him: he would rather be called a content creator than a “successful entrepreneur,” because the original purpose of creating was to help himself; making money is a result, not an end.
Flexibility between introversion and extroversion
Raymond does not accept a binary classification as “extroverted” or “introverted.” Asked whether he is an extrovert or an introverted worker, he says it “depends on the people”: with familiar people on the same wavelength, he can be like a crazy kid, but otherwise he prefers focusing in his own small space. Putting on noise-canceling headphones signals that he is concentrating. This flexibility resonates with his self-description as a “rational optimist”; related beliefs are discussed in A Rational Optimist and Maintaining Motivation for Introverted Workers. In his framework, identity is not a fixed personality category but a tool continually adjusted to context and stage of life.
Iteration and chronology
This set of identity labels changes with life stage. Raymond says explicitly that the user manual “is updated every year,” giving him a chance to talk with himself and examine “what changed and why.” The seven identities in the 2024 edition are a snapshot of his evolution from a freelance instructor as a student, through an internet career in Beijing, to an operator of a company of one. After he entered the AI agent collaboration stage in 2026, the identity set expanded; later developments are discussed in The Super Individual and AI Agent Era (2024–2026).
Sources cited
Footnotes
-
Hou Zhixun, “Raymond Hou’s User Manual,” WordPress, 2024-10-02. View original ↩
-
Hou Zhixun, “What I Learned About Turning 30 Over the Past Decade,” WordPress, 2024-09-17. View original ↩