Friendly reminder: Click the blue text above “FMCG Distributor Professional Consulting” to learn more about marketing and distributor internal management.

What is the greatest pain in life? Many might list: no money, no power, no love, no friends, betrayal, etc. As the ancients said, the three great pains of life are: losing one's father in childhood, losing one's spouse in middle age, and losing one's child in old age. Xiao Shenyang said, the most painful thing is dying with money unspent, while Zhao Benshan said, the most painful thing is being alive without money. A netizen said: the greatest pain is watching time slip away, unable to "rise" until even erections become a problem... These are indeed pains and misfortunes, but I think the greatest pain, as Socrates said, is "knowing yourself," meaning the pain of not correctly understanding oneself. So for marketers, what is the greatest pain? I believe it is having ideals but no way to achieve them.

Those without ideals or goals rarely feel pain, and if they do, it's only for a brief moment. Like the cold-drill bird, when winter comes and it's too cold to survive, it feels miserable for a while, but when winter passes and the sun shines, the chill fades, and the vow to "build a nest tomorrow" is driven away by the warm sunlight. Those with ideals often have some dissatisfaction, often with the status quo, the environment, their living conditions, and similar groups around them. For marketers, this is a driving force, a somewhat chaotic motivation. But for most people, achieving the Buddhist state of "emptiness" without desires is difficult; we can only strive to avoid extreme emotions and achieve some inner peace.

Actually, having pain is also a good thing, as it drives us to strive and struggle. But ultimately, we must resolve the root cause of this pain, which is to find a way to "know oneself" and "realize one's self-worth."

Ideals Lacking Goals

When we were children, if someone asked, "What do you want to be when you grow up?" we would answer according to books: a scientist or a teacher. Now it seems funny. Perhaps the questioner was just casual, not really asking about your ideals; and when answering, we didn't think of it as a real ideal because these ideals were meaningless to us at that time. Ideals without goals are vague and hard to achieve, meaning they lack controllability.

Goal management expert Roy Spence helped companies like Southwest Airlines, BMW, the University of Texas, and Walmart achieve greatness by adhering to one principle: goals. But goals are not empty; a true goal must reach the hearts of every member of your company. For example, Southwest's goal is "to have the freedom to fly," or Walmart's "to save customers money so they can live better."

Goals are not necessarily clear from the start, nor are they grand and majestic from the beginning. They progress as you continuously achieve and adjust. Otherwise, you'll just guard your "ideal kingdom" and become increasingly miserable.

Many people have grand ideals, but why do most fail to achieve them? Not only because of ability or conditions, but also because of a lack of stage-by-stage achievable goals. A vague ideal is a general direction, under which there must be goals and paths that get closer. Of course, it's important to have the courage to try, to find a way through action. "Utopia" is a fantasy, but through "trying," adjusting direction and goals, "Utopia" can become reality.

Talents Not Used

Most people who complain about unused talents often fail to understand themselves correctly and haven't found their "niche." In today's increasingly specialized world, trying to be a jack-of-all-trades results in being a master of none. Everyone excels at something, not just one thing, but a category of things.

Many have told me not to trust experts, trainers, or consulting firms, saying they just "bluff" and have no real skills. Of course, there are some "bluffing" experts and masters, and I believe there are more than a few. But at the same time, it's dangerous to think that all experts, training, and consulting are useless. Problems arise in all industries; does that mean all companies are bluffing and should be banned? Obviously, we can't fall into the trap of "once bitten, twice shy." What I want to say is: whether training or consulting, there is always a reasonable part. If it brings momentum and development to a company at a certain stage, that's a contribution. If you expect a training session or consulting to solve all your company's problems, that shows a problem in the company's understanding. Simply put: people, money, and resources are not in the hands of a third party, so how can they solve all the company's problems?

Some might say, "If they're so good, why don't they start their own company instead of doing training or consulting?" This sounds "devastating" but is actually illogical. I could ask you: since you can see they are "fake experts" and "bluffers," why can't you become a true "expert" in your company or persuade the company to follow your plans and methods? Think differently: first, seeing a problem doesn't mean you can solve it alone; it requires the industry, company, or team. Second, some people don't like doing business, but that doesn't mean they can't. Mao Zedong never fired a gun, but that doesn't mean he couldn't fight. Third, if there are better things to do, why squeeze across a single-plank bridge?

So, it's important to recognize your interests and strengths, and continuously strengthen these abilities. Brands have "styles" and personalities; be a marketer and marketing manager with "style" and "personality."

Finding Ways and Means

With ideals, goals, and knowing what you like and are good at, the next step is to find ways and means. A few days ago, a friend told me he had decided to start his own business. Initially, we talked several times, and he always said his industry was special, unlike others, mainly because customers were hard to collect payments from, standards were not uniform, and customer evaluations were too subjective. He even gave an example: when collecting payments, he saw someone from another company "begging" the customer to pay. His point was that it was too difficult and he couldn't do it. I asked, "Why is that?" He retorted, "Tell me, if the customer doesn't pay, what do you do? How can you collect it?"

Thinking back, it was a bit awkward because he almost argued with another friend over this. The reason was that everyone thought his argument was untenable. Not being able to collect money is the main reason for starting a business, which is puzzling.

Fortunately, this friend has now come around. Find a way, that's it. If a customer doesn't pay, first, it's because they are not satisfied with what you've done; it has no value. Second, some payment personnel don't want to pay, and you haven't met their "gray" requirements... Is it complicated? It doesn't seem so. If you did a bad job, not paying is justified; you need to improve. If it's the second reason, there might be a third, so think about it yourself.

There's always a solution. Many may remember marketer Mr. Yu Lei's experience interviewing at Coca-Cola. The interviewer asked him: "If you go to a small shop to stock products and they don't want your product, what do you do?" Yu Lei listed many methods, but the interviewer kept saying, "They don't want it, they don't want it, they don't want it..." Yu Lei said, "I couldn't help it and said, 'Then offer them a cigarette.'" The interviewer smiled and said, "You'll always find a way."

Plans can't keep up with changes. Strategies and tactics to achieve goals must adapt to circumstances, and goals will be revised due to development and marketing environment changes; they are never fixed.

Waiting is the least cost-effective. While waiting, you lose confidence and opportunities, and eventually, you lose even the vague goal, and the energy to try and find solutions is exhausted.