Han Ji-Pyeong: What A High-Value Man Looks Like (Start-Up K-Drama Analysis)
An exploration into what makes Han Ji-Pyeong a high-value man, a respectable figure for men, and a great catch for any woman.
Start-Up is the newest K-Drama taking over fan’s screens in 2020, and one main reason for the show’s success is the popularity of one of the main protagonists of the show: Han Ji-Pyeong, a highly successful, self-made investor born out of trials and a difficult past. He is one of the two love interests of the female lead, Seo Dal-Mi, with Nam Do-San, the other potential love interest, playing a direct character foil to Han Ji-Pyeong’s character.
However, Han Ji-Pyeong’s character is popular among men as well due to two simple reason: He is a high-value man.
Social status (and therefore attractiveness) is determined by how you behave around other people, how other people behave around you, and how you treat yourself.
-Mark Manson (Models)
Men all over must strive to be better men, to be more high value, more alpha, more masculine. Why? There are many benefits to why being of higher value should be a goal for all men, such as the respect of other men and being more attractive to women. So how is Han Ji-Pyeong a high value man? Here are a few ways:
Confidence
It is easily seen how confident Han Ji-Pyeong is in himself. He has an aura that says to everyone that he is someone of importance. He knows that he is successful, he knows that he is intelligent, and he knows that he is the best of the best investors in the nation.
You see it in his posture, how he stands up straight with his shoulders back. With the way he angles his chin upwards. With how you almost never see him slouching forward, or how he pierces your eyes with his vision. How he speaks with authority and with clarity.
Confidence is knowing your value. Knowing the quality you can bring to one’s life or to the life of your community. Confidence is knowing you have what it takes to succeed and overcome challenges.
You respond to a challenge, instead of bracing for a catastrophe. You see the gold the dragon hoards, instead of shrinking in terror from the all-too-real fact of the dragon. You step forward to take your place in the dominance hierarchy, and occupy your territory, manifesting your willingness to defend, expand and transform it.
-Jordan Peterson (12 Rules For Life)
Confidence is internal, but it can be cultivated in all men. All the other high-value, alpha male qualities are built on the foundation of confidence. If you do not have self-belief, if you do not speak highly of yourself, if you do not act like you matter, then men will not respect your presence and women will overlook you as a potential partner. Build your confidence, and everything else comes after.
The crown. Place it above your head and you assume a different pose — tranquil yet radiating assurance.
-Robert Greene (The 48 Laws of Power)
Skill
Han Ji-Pyeong is not known as “the Gordon Ramsay of Investments” for nothing. He has spent his entire adolescence in building his knowledge of money, investing, and the trends of the market, ever since his days of struggling to stay afloat. His intellect and financial instincts has made him one of the most powerful and influential figures in the world of Sandbox, where he is surrounded by aspiring entrepreneurs almost as smart as he is.
To become more productive, become more competent. You have to master the primary skills needed to win in your primary fields of interest.
-Brendan Burchard (High Performance Habits)
His experience and expertise in business, investing, and overall running a successful enterprise is displayed by the advices he gives to Seo Dal-Mi’s entrepreneurial team, the smart investment moves he makes, and the intelligent life decisions he pushes through with.
Competence, expertise and skills in whatever field or endeavour you choose gives you a tangible reason to be confident within yourself. Skill-building is a skill in of itself, and the mastery of skills is what will help propel one to success in any field.
In essence, when you practice and develop any skill you transform yourself in the process. You reveal to yourself new capabilities that were previously latent, that are exposed as you progress.
-Robert Greene (Mastery)
One cannot be of high value if they have nothing to bring to the table, and the most effective and quickest way to show your value is by exhibiting your specialized knowledge and skills. The more skills you develop, the more excellent you will be in your environment, the more high value you will be, to both men and women.
Physical Appearance
Physical appearance does not just come from genetics, even though Han Ji-Pyeong has definitely won the genetic lottery in that department. It also comes from the body you have built, the clothes you wear, the posture you carry. A high value man always put emphasis on their physical appearance, to be as physically attractive as possible.
Han Ji-Pyeong walks around with his shoulders back and his head high. His body language, such as his slow movements, assertive hand gestures, and restrained facial expressions all point to high value. He does early morning jogs on his treadmill, eats properly, sleeps well and has flawless skin due to an excellent grooming routine
No one can afford to neglect the final domain in our journey to stillness. What we do with our bodies, What we put in our bodies.
-Ryan Holiday (Stillness is the Key)
We also see his skills in styling an outfit. Throughout the show, we see Han Ji-Pyeong wear multiple kinds of outfits, with clothing all fitting his body well and the colours all well coordinated. He wears suits, polos, jackets, blazers, and khakis. All pieces of clothing that makes him look extremely presentable and attractive to all that lays eyes on him.
We all deserve the physical vitality that can transform the quality of our lives. Your physical destiny is intimately related to your mental, emotional, financial, and relationship destinies.
-Tony Robbins (Awaken the Giant Within)
High value men know the importance of good presentation. A good physical appearance not only commands respect from other men, but attracts women to you. High value men must live a healthy lifestyle, have an attractive build, have good style, and a good, proper grooming regimen. Build your physical appearance, and those around you will place a higher value on you.
Leadership
Every great man knows how to lead, whether it is a team, an organization, a family, or themselves. Han Ji-Pyeong is no exception. Han Ji-Pyeong’s social skills and charisma has led him to manage a high performing team, with his excellent leadership skills driven by his social intelligence, strategic mind and tenacity.
Leaders are never good enough. A leader must be constantly improving and learning since, in any leadership job, new and unexpected challenges arise all the time and, as one continues to lead, the number of people being led increases, projects multiply in number and scope, and the overall strategic impact of the missions being led also expands.
-Jocko Willink (Leadership Strategy and Tactics)
He is highly respected within the investing community, and his sharp criticisms, honesty, and blunt candour commands the respect of those that give him their ear. It is easy to see that he cares, not only about his professional team, but also for Seo Dal-Mi’s start-up team, giving them encouragement, advice, and hard but constructive criticism, which is what someone with leadership qualities would do.
High value men all know how to lead through the power of their personality and their skill in handling people. They also are excellent at coming up with plans for the team to execute. They put the team first and set the tone for everyone around them through the high standards they place on themselves.
In addition to maintaining discipline and stability within your crew, to be a truly effective leader you also have to be able to motivate people with encouragement.
-Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson (Hustle Harder, Hustle Smarter)
Like Han Ji-Pyeong, you must place a high standard on yourself and those you associate with, and always give back to those you lead. This will command the respect of those that look to you to lead the way. Learn to lead yourself, then you can lead others.
Self-Reliance
Having been orphaned and being left to fend for himself, Han Ji-Pyeong had no choice but to develop his sense of independence, autonomy, and self-reliance. Not doing so could have meant death for him. He carries this sense of urgency to the present, relying on himself first before relying on anyone else.
Cleaners trust few people; they’d almost always rather follow their gut instinct and fix the situation later if they’re wrong, than trust someone else and kick themselves for not listening to that voice inside.
-Tim Grover (Relentless)
Using his street smarts, resilience, and resourcefulness, Han Ji-Pyeong was able to cultivate his sense of self-reliance, forging an identity of being able to solve his own problems and live without being dependent on anyone.
You will find that you don’t need to trust others as much as you need to trust yourself to make the right choices.
-Don Miguel Ruiz (The Four Agreements)
Man or woman, you will be attractive if you are self-sufficient and can rely on yourself. Your ability to survive on your own and your self-reliance will draw those who lack the same level of perseverance to you. It is a basic survival skill: using your own physical, mental and emotional resources to get through the hard times, especially when there is no one else to turn to.
Become your own source of strength, just like Han Ji-Pyeong does. Learn to rely and trust on yourself and your own instincts first, be self-reliant, and you will become a high value man.
Purpose
The core of your life is your purpose. Everything in your life, from your diet to your career, must be aligned with your purpose if you are to act with coherence and integrity in the world.
-David Deida (The Way of the Superior Man)
Han Ji-Pyeong is a classic example of a career-driven, high status, high quality, high value man. In the beginning of his investment journey, his main purpose in life was simply survival. However, it eventually evolved to pursuing further improvement in whatever he does, particularly his finances, as well as giving back to his community in the form of mentorship at the start-up hub, Sandbox.
Ambitious and driven, he is also a fierce competitor, wanting to succeed over anyone who would look to take his crown as the best investor in the business. His passion for his work and perseverance through anything on his way to success is always on full display by his aura of aggressive self-growth.
A man is defined by his purpose. It is his purpose that gains the respect of his fellow men and attracts the women around him. Everything a man does in his life revolves around his purpose. It can be seen that Han Ji-Pyeong follows his purpose everyday, by striving to build his financial security and being the best in his field.
A sense of purpose is crucial to feel fulfilled in life. Every man must find his purpose and live by it. Ambition, determination, drive, and fervency all comes from that internal purpose, that reason for being. Becoming high value means following your defined purpose every single day.
Knowing your purpose and fulfilling it is easier and more fruitful when you use your time and energy wisely every day.
-Jay Shetty (Think Like A Monk)
Emotional Control
Your greatest challenge will be having your thoughtful higher-level you manage your emotional lower-level you.
-Ray Dalio (Principles)
Han Ji-Pyeong is very restrained when it comes to showing emotion. Even when he raises his voice, it is controlled and restrained, with purpose and for effect. He makes calculated decisions based on logic and gut instinct build from years of experience and expertise, rather than making rash decisions born out of emotions.
A leader must be calm but not robotic. It is normal — and necessary — to show emotion. The team must understand that their leader cares about them and their well-being. But, a leader must control his or her emotions. If not, hoe can they expect to control anything else?
-Jocko Willink (Extreme Ownership)
It can be seen that Han Ji-Pyeong is only vulnerable around those he trusts. Other than that, his emotions are hidden beneath his stoic exterior. Having control over your emotional responses demonstrates high value and commands respect, as people view wearing your emotions on your sleeve and showing emotions to all people as pathetic and low value.
Han Ji-Pyeong is an excellent example of controlling your emotional responses. He is selective of who he reveals his intense emotions too and when to reveal them. All people, not just men, must have a standard in deciding who to reveal their deep emotions to.
High value men do not act solely upon the emotions of the moment. Every move is calculated rationally to the best of their ability. Emotional control demonstrates strength and high character, which all high value men must aspire to.
Tell the world what you intend to do, but first show it.
-Napoleon Hill (Think and Grow Rich)
Any man can be high value just like Han Ji-Pyeong. You just need to be willing to put in the work. Building yourself to become the best man you can be will lead to a more fulfilled life. It will gain the respect of men and attract more women to you. You will be looked up to, relied upon, emulated, and revered.
Men are made to progress and grow. That is the essence of masculinity and being a man: conquering challenges and becoming more competent in life. Identify what you must work on, attack your goals, and pursue your better self. We all must start somewhere, and we can all become better. We just have to start. Become like Han Ji-Pyeong in the K-Drama ‘Start-Up’: a high-value man.
