Staying Alert is Staying Alive

I recently come across an article in a local mainstream media with this BIG title. Staying Alert is Staying Alive. Like the words are trying to describe itself although that article was meant for self defense against street criminals…but is that less applicable to other things in life?
Staying alert on your:

Income
Expenses & Purchases
Savings & Investment
Financial [...]

Save $10, Earn $3.50?

Hard work = high return?
Long hours = high recognition?

Is that a simple equation? If yes, then our Malaysian Child Prodigy would not have got it wrong. That aside, we would normally think that getting a stable job with a stable income and everything would be stable. This is what normally be fed to us when [...]