Click 'Read Original' for details. Recently, a few former colleagues and good friends met and talked about one of our mutual friends, Zhang San, who we heard had recently changed jobs again. Zhang San is an ambitious and thoughtful senior marketer, considered a master in the FMCG marketing world. He started early, working at big companies like PepsiCo, Uni-President, and Jianlibao. Later, he left big companies and jumped to three or four private enterprises, but never quite adapted. Eventually, he started his own company, but it failed, and he became increasingly disheartened. Now he's back in the game, serving as the marketing director at a Hunan-based food company that makes duck neck snacks. Analyzing Zhang San closely, it's not that he's incompetent, but that he's been stuck in the marketing circle. He's a veteran in the beverage industry, and many marketers in that field were once his subordinates. He's become a fossil, having reached his limit with no room for further growth. People are like this: if you stay with the same old crowd, you may not notice your progress is limited because you might still be ahead of them. But when you realize you've stopped growing in this circle, what should you do? My view is that you should jump out—out of that circle. Of course, changing jobs is one option, but it's not the best way to upgrade yourself. Changing jobs is not as good as changing circles. Changing circles is a method few think of or implement. Humans are emotional creatures; we don't like new friends much, preferring old ones. That's why there are so many alumni associations, veterans' reunions, colleague gatherings, and hometown associations. In fact, changing circles is a secret to success for many. Why? Because:

  1. Changing circles essentially means changing your mindset. A circle is often a group united by a certain mindset, which invisibly governs each individual. As long as you're in that circle, it's hard to break free from its thinking. In direct sales circles, everyone is filled with the idea that "direct sales is king." They tell everyone the "pipeline story," persuading you to choose building a pipeline over carrying water. They talk about how direct sales is a necessary lifestyle for the future. For many Chinese lacking independent thinking, this is a compelling pitch. Once you join such a team, your thinking becomes almost uniformly "direct sales." Similarly, if your circle is a drinking circle, you'll extol the benefits of drinking, such as being bold, loyal, good at communication, socializing, bragging, and entertainment. You might cite the "Seven Sages of the Bamboo Grove" with their "loose hair and naked drinking" culture, or Li Bai's "Bring in the Wine" with lines like "Do you not see the Yellow River's waters come from heaven, rushing to the sea, never to return? Do you not see the bright mirrors in high halls, grieving over white hair, at dawn like black silk, by evening turned to snow? While life is full of joy, enjoy it!" The circle's language, topics, and hobbies all shape the uniformity of its members' thoughts. When you change circles, you change your mindset. Moving from a drinking circle to a tea-drinking circle, you'll find discussions about health and fitness through tea, from Shennong testing herbs to Lu Yu's "Classic of Tea," to modern agricultural tea cultivation for wealth and how to conduct oneself. In a golf circle, conversations revolve more around investment, financing, cooperation, IPOs, stocks, real estate, and tourism.
  2. Changing circles means entering a new field. Every field has its limits and ceilings. When you're like Zhang San, you should consider whether it's time to change circles. But changing circles isn't as simple as changing jobs; it's like changing industries or levels. Many people don't advocate changing industries, and usually, I don't either. Changing industries carries risks, but with preparation, those risks can be mitigated. Many business owners have switched from manufacturing to investing, completely unrelated to their original industries, yet they've found new growth. The former circle discusses products, channels, prices, costs, teams, and markets, while the latter focuses on industries, sectors, companies, and teams, studying whether an industry is sunset or sunrise, short-term or medium-term, short-line or long-line investment. Investing and manufacturing are different fields, but the principles are similar: one makes money from products, the other from vision.
  3. Changing circles essentially means changing your lifestyle. I wouldn't say lifestyle is decisive for success, but it plays a significant role. We often hear: where your time goes, there your career goes; where your career goes, there your success or failure lies, and there your life lies. If your time, especially outside the eight working hours, is spent on mahjong, video games, or shopping, achieving great things will be difficult. Conversely, if you change your lifestyle and spend that time on fitness or reading, your life could take a major turn. But these circles have different lifestyles: readers have theirs, fitness enthusiasts have theirs, mahjong players have theirs, and gamers have theirs. So, we can say lifestyle determines your circle, or your circle determines your lifestyle.
  4. Changing circles leads to faster progress. Observe your friends and acquaintances: those who progress slowly almost always live in the same circle, repeating the same topics, even speaking in insider jargon. Last year, on a business trip to Nanning, I took a Didi ride from Wuxu Airport to Guangxi University. The driver was a man in his sixties, and from my years of reading people, I could tell he was a retired cadre. After we started chatting, I asked, "I've been traveling for over 20 years, and this is the first time I've had the luck to have a driver your age!" The old master, a seasoned "old hand," said, "I could tell at a glance you're not a local, but someone who travels often." He said he could tell from my accent and attire. Impressive! Admirable! The older the ginger, the spicier. Curious why he was driving Didi at his age, he explained that the car was registered under his second son, who had passed the civil service exam in a county under Nanning and rarely had time to come back. The old man, retired and idle, first went to the senior activity center, but got tired of hearing old folks talk about their children or small pension increases. So he stopped going. Bored at home, he saw his son's car registered for Didi and decided to drive around for fun, not caring about earnings since he didn't need the money. He discovered it's a young person's world, and chatting with them is delightful and educational. He felt he was making great progress, something he never enjoyed in his government job! Changing your circle is like changing your work style, lifestyle, and mindset—it's like changing your world! Give it a try. Source: China Marketing Communication Network From August 22-24, the "2018 China FMCG Digital Innovation Conference (2018FDIC)" will be held in Shanghai, hosted by the China FMCG Industry Association and organized by New Distribution, with the theme "Finding New Engines for Growth." The three-day conference will focus on two main themes: marketing and supply chain, with six parallel forums on brand, distribution, communication, B2B, intra-city logistics, and innovative retail. We will invite industry leaders, CEOs, and brand executives to deeply interpret the trends and drivers of digital transformation in the FMCG industry. We will bring together over 500 FMCG enterprise executives, 200+ B2B industry CEOs, and 1,000+ major FMCG distributors to discuss how the industry can leverage digital tools to achieve renewed high-speed growth in the digital era. This conference will bridge brand owners, distributors, retail enterprises, and marketing agencies, helping FMCG manufacturers access the latest information, learn best practices, and master more transformation skills. Proposed Invited Companies Conference Time: August 22-24, 2018 Conference Venue: Shanghai Baohua Marriott Hotel Conference Content: August 22: All-day registration; 14:00-17:30 Parallel forum on distributor intra-city logistics; 18:30-21:00 New Distribution Night Gala Dinner August 23: Theme: Marketing Digital Innovation; 9:00-12:00 Main forum on marketing digital innovation; 14:00-17:30 Parallel forums on brand, distribution, and communication August 24: Theme: FMCG Supply Chain Digital Upgrade; All-day FMCG supply chain conference Registration: Registration is now open. Long-press the QR code below or click 'Read Original' to register. Limited-time group discounts are available! Registration Consultation: Ticket inquiries: Media cooperation inquiries: Highlights of New Distribution's Previous Conferences: Click the links below to review the highlights of the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th FMCG + Internet Conferences. -END-