A 985 graduate with a master’s degree has been unemployed for 200 days; after 10 years of working, he has only 20,000 in savings: It’s not work that will kill you, but the choices you make”

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Repost: 6 ]3 t. }: W0 ~" k% C Le, who is 35 years old this year, used to work as a new media manager at a well-known pharmaceutical company; by the time he got in touch with me, he had already been unemployed at home for over 200 days. Le Ge heard that I had recently left my job to start my own business, and since he had been reading my articles and trusted me, he approached me on his own initiative, wanting to talk to me and ask for some advice. 4 c/c! k(k; g: o C When I met Le Ge at the agreed-upon restaurant, I could hardly believe it – the man who used to weigh over 180 pounds now weighed only around 150 pounds. His clothes were clearly loose, and his overall appearance didn’t look good either. At first, I thought he had some illness, but it was Le Ge who took the initiative to explain his situation, and only then did I understand why he had become like that. To be honest, Le Ge had decent qualifications initially; 10 years ago he graduated with a master’s degree from the School of Journalism at a 985 university in Beijing. Upon graduation, Le Ge ended up working in the marketing department of a well-known pharmaceutical company, where he was responsible for new media initiatives. Later, by sheer coincidence, when Le Ge was posting updates on the company’s WeChat account, he accidentally mixed up the descriptions of two products. Who would have thought that the group’s leadership would see those tweets? Already dissatisfied with the marketing department, they became extremely angry and used this as an excuse to start reorganizing it. Le Ge, who was in the spotlight, was the first to be streamlined. Le Ge, who received N+1 months’ worth of compensation, was optimistic at first; he thought that with 10 years of experience in the new media industry, his knowledge of Weibo, WeChat, Douyin, and even various social communities, along with his extensive network of contacts, would make it easy for him to find a new job. Even if he can’t find a good job right away, he can start his own media business and is sure to be able to support himself. 1 _- Q, t$ S0 f7 L. G/ F Le Ge started looking for a job after “taking a break” for over a month, only to find that things weren’t as optimistic as he had thought. On the one hand, the industry is in a downturn; several major internet companies have just undergone rounds of staff cuts. Moreover, Le Ge doesn’t have many notable marketing success stories to his name, so compared to those born in the 1990s who are actively entering the new media sector, his value for money is quite low. On the other hand, the self-media sector, once full of confidence, has also not performed as well as expected; building something from scratch is far more difficult than imagined. Le Ge created a finance-related account; in his first post he asked industry experts to share it, and the number of views reached 5,000. But after that, the view count dropped to just a few hundred, let alone generating any profits. ' What’s more crucial is that Le Ge has always been very extravagant in his spending since he started working; after 10 years of working, he still only has 20,000 in savings. Without the N+1 compensation, he might not have been able to get through these over 6 months. Not only does he have to pay rent, but he also has to contribute to various social insurance schemes and housing funds; coupled with his living expenses, he no longer has much money left. # h. I” C% r/ o- `8 i1 b: f* P Le Ge lowered his head and said something in silence, which made me feel very sad as well: I’ll soon not be able to afford food anymore. But I can’t keep asking my parents for money at the age of 35; I shouldn’t make them worry at such an age... 6 |+ k! P' w6 s That night I thought for a long time, and I also spent a lot of time analyzing Le Ge’s situation. I realized that many people face similar problems to Le Ge’s – they put in a lot of effort, but still seem unable to earn much money, and they’re often the first to be “replaced” when a crisis arises. : C& G( x3 ]+ e. B& l- n7 z It’s not that they don’t try; it’s that they have \"chosen\" the wrong direction in which to exert their efforts. I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but it’s not our work that kills us; it’s our choices. The era of accumulating experience is over; it is your position that determines your pricing. Renowned consulting expert Liu Run once shared a perspective: many of us have the misconception that it is our \"abilities\" that determine our value in the talent market. In fact, what determines our value is not our abilities, but our position. The pricing for each position is carefully calculated by the company; it is clear how much value such a position can generate and what salary it deserves. 2 T! t: \& r/ q: C So, your salary is primarily determined by the requirements of the position, with your personal qualifications being a secondary factor. + N/ O( Y/ k( x$ p3 a1 K9 U This conclusion has two aspects: 4 K1 Y3 t' Z4 E4 P5 ?+ N5 f y The first aspect is the literal meaning – namely, how much compensation a position can offer, with the key factor being the amount of value it can generate. % X. r" n0 _1 r# J It’s simple: the more scarce a position is, the greater its responsibilities, the higher the demands placed on it, and the more output it requires, the higher the salary for that position will be. # u, q& U& M1 \% K* h5 A# X( Every job is important, but obviously not to the same extent. For example, in the new media industry, authors earn much higher salaries than editors and operations staff, as these are the core roles in the industry. For example, in some restaurants, the head chefs can even share profits with the restaurant owners, because losing a good chef can lead to the failure of the entire restaurant. For example, programmers in internet companies often earn more than those in product or operations roles at the same level, due to the higher entry requirements. But Le Ge has always worked in the new media sector within pharmaceutical companies, and this role holds far less value for the company compared to pharmaceutical research and development, production, and sales; it’s even less important than the work done by professionals in new media companies. Although each position has its own value, the extent of that value clearly varies. When a company wants to optimize its workforce, it may not even hesitate to sacrifice positions with relatively lower value. It may sound harsh, but this is the real business world. ' v4 |7 s4 ]" a4 j The second layer holds a hidden meaning: the older your experience, the more dangerous you become. Many people hold the mistaken belief that greater seniority means greater value. The truth is, the older you are, the more dangerous you become. ! O* S; h’ d: q” m” ?, \9 G The higher an employee’s seniority, the higher their salary will be, gradually approaching the salary ceiling for that position. # Y }0 m2 x6 M5 d- s0 U$ n9 h z7 X But strictly speaking, what the company really needs is that position, not you as a person. 0 X m y9 G# V& |% B ; H. `& i$ h7 u& u' n! s8 O When younger employees who are more qualified for the same position exist and earn less than him, if the older employee cannot move on to higher-level positions and compete for them, he is likely to be replaced by the company. 7 {) ?; x' T- H6 z1 d' v5 y" T To move forward against the current, one must keep moving; otherwise, progress will stop. If the person behind you in line is just as competent and costs much less, then who else would you choose instead of them? ! {2 U9 y" f1 ~ Avoid clustering in the competitive markets where top performers operate: such red oceans are stained with the blood of losers. 8 r7 T9 h. c# T( Y! ~ Human society is essentially a competitive one; for ordinary people, whether it’s choosing a career or starting a business, if they want to obtain better resources, they must succeed in various competitions. To win the competition better, we need to figure out two issues. The first question is whether the industry you are entering is a red ocean or a blue ocean, and whether your work involves competing with experts to gain a foothold in it. Many people don’t know much about a particular industry or job; they simply jump in just because they see many others doing it. There is a story about the differences in doing business between Chinese people and Jews: F% @# h) j }0 `: ~ When a Jew succeeded in running a gas station on a certain street, other Jews started to engage in different types of businesses, opening restaurants, pawnshops, and tailoring shops, thereby helping to prosper the entire street. 6 V* i9 j3 p3 Q; `" n When a Chinese person succeeds in opening a gas station on a certain street, other Chinese businessmen will also open gas stations there, and in the end only a small number of the most tenacious businesses will be able to survive… Competition isn’t necessarily bad, but if you’re not strong enough, it’s better not to enter a competitive market full of skilled competitors. After all, the reason that such markets are considered ‘red’ is that they are stained red with the blood of those who fail. * b5 C. a’ L1 h, H The renowned marketing expert Xiaoma Song once said, “In fact, the key to doing business isn’t how strong you are, but rather how weak your competitors are.” ” Finding a blue ocean is a process of reducing competitive intensity; don’t always try to compete with experts for the same market. + |f(x: O+ w; O+ I; T): One tends to go to crowded places, where there’s a high risk of being crushed by people with stronger physiques, or else one ends up settling at an average level, resulting in a mediocre outcome. / V% t5 M/ v4 P* ^6 N) R, U7 Q 8 \' I" Q/ Z9 A6 a( I6 i' @. Q7 R This is also why I advised Le Ge not to create a finance-related social media account – it’s extremely difficult for a layperson to try to compete with experts in such a highly competitive market. 4 H- Q& ?5 x' b The second question is whether the market you are entering is a fragmented market or a dominant market. + m6 \/ L5 @9 N5 Y7 U+ |, s When choosing a career or starting a business, we rarely consider whether the market we are about to enter is a fragmented one or a dominant market. ' J) N, t1 s* Q+ q' p5 k A so-called decentralized market is one in which it’s difficult for a single company to dominate; such markets are often naturally hierarchical. Regardless of your price point or educational background, as long as you perform well, you can find a place to operate there, such as in the food service industry. The so-called leading markets are those in which there is a concentration effect within an industry, with all resources and users flowing toward the top players. The internet industry is a typical leading market in this regard; the search, social networking, and e-commerce companies that truly hold a dominant position are just three. 6 j) t! w3 {: \9 C) g- v | Including the management of WeChat Official Accounts, Weibo, and Douyin at present, there is an increasing trend toward institutionalization; resources and users are becoming more concentrated in the hands of the leading players, making it increasingly difficult for ordinary users to break through. For example, according to data from the China Industry Information Network, out of over 20 million official accounts across the country, only 0.1% are able to generate profits on a consistent basis; these accounts alone have nearly 800 million active users. 3 X$ X: K4 l4 ]7 b7 B When choosing a career or starting a business, we often don’t consciously consider these issues, but entering leading markets versus fragmented markets yields different results. The leading market is pyramid-shaped; only those who can reach the top of this pyramid are the ones who reap the greatest profits. This means you have to keep fighting and leveling up throughout the process, yet it remains very difficult to reach the top ； A decentralized market is a stepped-market; each level can support a large number of people. You don’t necessarily have to compete with everyone to live a good life. ( K; V+ j% u( L2 @# z For example, Teacher Liu Run once shared an example: $ v% a6 D7 a* | The renowned young artist Sun Hao was the youngest artist to hold a solo exhibition at the National Art Museum of China. His work titled \"Manjianghong\" was sold at a high price of 747,500 yuan during Christie’s spring auction in 2016. H( T+ P: w, f8 @. a( ~* r" I But Sun Hao actually has great talent in both music and painting; he too faced a dilemma when making that choice back then. 1 T \. ^7 In the end, he still chose painting, because he believed that the field of music was like a pyramid – only a few people could reach its peak. ; Y- Z* P, R1 M5 b5 C$ Z. But in the field of painting, it’s like a trapezoidal platform: there are painters who charge 5w per square foot, as well as those who charge 50w per square foot. At each stage, it’s possible to support a group of people, and the chances of success are clearly higher. A slight difference in thinking can lead to vastly different outcomes. * D% Y’ w; {+ w, P The level of comfort determines your limits: if you feel safe, it means you’re not driving fast enough. C. D# W5 }” R* p1 m% w* B Le Ge’s biggest problem is that he has enjoyed too much comfort over these 10 years – he neither learns nor grows, losing his drive to strive for more; he is satisfied with a life of low expenses, few responsibilities, and being close to home, ignoring the potential threats hidden in this job. However, growth is a process full of hardships. If you always remain in a comfortable state, it means your life lacks challenges and risks, and therefore you cannot grow. ' l& Q" h7 y Y Just as one racer said: “If you feel safe, then you’re definitely not driving fast enough.” ” Temporary comfort does not mean that you have avoided risks; rather, it means that you are accumulating them. What’s even more frightening is that a comfortable life is the easiest environment for things to develop gradually, unnoticed; a peaceful life allows potential crises to hide beneath the surface, and by the time a major change occurs, it’s already too late to alter one’s life path. 6 L+ ~* Z# L* `' s7 K* G It’s just as Su Shi said: “The greatest problem in the world is when things appear peaceful and without trouble, yet there are actually hidden dangers.” ”$ u; L5 Z) |: K. J! Y9 N9 A few days ago, I was walking with my colleagues around the company campus and stopped at a convenience store to buy some water. There is a self-checkout machine at the entrance of the convenience store, and four older cashiers are teaching customers how to use it. When I came out, I told my colleague that I suddenly remembered what that female toll collector had said after her job at the highway toll station was eliminated: “I’m 36 years old now; I’ve spent all my youth working as a toll collector. Now I don’t know how to do anything, no one likes us, and there’s nothing left for me to learn.” Isn’t what these cashiers are doing nothing more than teaching these customers to get by without them, helping convenience stores replace themselves with machines? Isn’t that a bit ironic? It is evident to everyone that human society is on the verge of change at present. ) T! E9 G. f0 y% W On the one hand, technological progress is accelerating, giving humans greater power to transform the world; more and more traditional industries are being disrupted. Technologies such as autonomous driving, 5G, and artificial intelligence, which used to appear only in movies, are becoming increasingly common in reality ； On the other hand, traditional stories and rules are losing their validity, with trade protectionism, anti-globalization, and nihilism becoming increasingly prevalent. * N8 ?8 F) ]5 \, Y% | In the future, “stability” might be a luxury you won’t be able to afford. : L3 t) P; t( q7 @/ Choosing comfort and refusing to grow is nothing other than a form of slow suicide. " C* i; `: W1 y9 k ) o6 C6 p/ m9 ~5 {4 ]7 g How to make better life choices and stop working blindly? 1) Develop a career plan by asking yourself three questions. The reason we feel lost is that, in the hustle and bustle of life, we often fail to create a proper career plan, losing the anchor that is our sense of self, and forgetting what we have, what we want, and what we are willing to give up. " U( P! P7 `1 z4 Z. Q When you go with the current, you can’t predict where the floodwaters will carry you. 0 {5 G: n5 ]6 ^2 a) } j E( }$ f So you need to ask yourself these three questions regularly: “What do I have, what do I want, and what can I give up?” Plan a roadmap for your growth and a path to follow, so as not to get lost. 2) Look upstream in the value chain. In every industry, only a small number of positions hold the most value – such as authors in the field of social media accounts, chefs in the food service industry, or fund managers in the financial sector... / @7 ?. P4 B1 _, you need to determine whether your position is one that truly adds value to that industry. These types of positions are not only those that offer the best compensation in their respective industries, but they also provide the greatest opportunities for growth. 4 @6 k& a4 A3 t* R( w 3) When you are in a level 5 position, try to do as much work as possible that is typical of a level 6 role. As Teacher Liu Run said, a vice president in a company will, regardless of anything else, earn more than an ordinary clerk in that same company; rank is a very important factor that influences salary. Therefore, you should show as much of your potential for development as possible; when you are at level 5, try to take on some tasks that are suitable for level 6. Allay the boss’s concerns – once this position becomes available, you will be the first choice. This upward path is the boss’s recognition of your abilities. # ^" t4 m; t; Q7 ?* j( _ 4) Find one’s own learning anchor, and then learn by surrounding oneself with those who can serve as examples. In the process of growing up, the most important way to learn is not through reading, but rather by observing and imitating the people around us. This is also the fastest way to learn*, yet it is easily overlooked by us. 4 N$ S( i4 R; c You should take the person who exhibits the highest level of value in whatever is within your sight as your target, and by focusing on them closely, observe their ways of working and their thinking patterns, while also learning from their path to success. When your level is close to his, then set another learning goal. Don’t think it’s shameful; apprentices in the past all observed their masters in this way. 5) Determine whether the market you are entering is a dominant market or a fragmented market. In dominant and fragmented markets, the competitive pressures we face and the future prospects are completely different; therefore, we should consider carefully the characteristics of that industry before entering it. If this industry is one where only the best succeed, then it belongs to the category of leading markets; for example, in the field of pianos, there are very few musicians we can cite as examples ； If in this industry it isn’t the winners who suffer, and players at various levels all have room to survive, then it is a fragmented market with much less competition; for example, there are far more well-known painters than musicians. ; B5 H/ b6 I. R 6) Don’t easily enter the Red Sea to compete with experts for resources. 4 I, s: i, c! Competition itself isn’t scary, but excessive competition can cause excessive losses for ordinary people. - n6 n9 m# {' l* U f But where do our competitors come from? We cannot simply focus on the obvious competitors; instead, we must start from our core goals and determine who’s actions affect them. As Adidas CEO Rosed said, “We focus only on consumers; therefore, not only Nike and Anta are our competitors, but Uniqlo and other brands as well are our competitors, because once consumers buy their products, they won’t buy ours anymore.” ”5 M- C6 b0 p8 J- B/ ] Starting from this concept, you will realize that many people who are not traditionally considered competitors are actually your competitors. For example, the competitors of a fast-food restaurant may include various convenience stores, and you should take these competitive factors into account when running your business. * a# b7 s" o5 D 7) Comfort is a precursor to \"death\". Fang Hongbo, the chairman of Mei, once said that \"destruction and disruption are characteristics of the Internet era,\" and therefore \"balance means stagnation, and stagnation means death.\" 5 _( Z |. N" s- C3 o; v2 v0 b In this era of change and disruption, the more comfortable your life is, the greater the risk of unseen dangers existing, so you must be vigilant about the calm that precedes a storm. Most importantly, never stop learning*. # f8 W& } u& ^# U- ~$ \) P7 l' } 8）Realizing one’s own mediocrity can make the world seem much clearer.0 F, {: d, D+ w% C" ?5 p7 E * @2 J# M" M& d9 \ The meaning of this advice is not to make you underestimate yourself, but rather to encourage you to accept the fact that you are an ordinary person. 7 W) z8 C, y. w) y- r8 a4 r Because I’ve found that many people, when making decisions, start from the assumption that “I’m a genius” or “I’m better than those around me”. 3 T5 `8 h; l6 A This approach is extremely dangerous; it leads to blind optimism, a refusal to learn, a closed-minded attitude, and irrational thinking… In short, it’s an arrogance that prevents one from feeling concern until it’s too late. But if you have the opportunity to study the paths of growth of many successful people, you will find that even those who are extremely successful often possess a hint of inferiority complex in their personality. 6 R) A5 D2 F6 n1 O0 R" `* n+ g Many people might think they are more talented and genius than those around them, but in reality, if you’re over 15 and no one around you has recognized your talent, it’s likely because you really aren’t that talented, not because others are blind. So what if that’s the case? Just like Tao Yang, Guo Degang’s disciple, who was known from a young age as a prodigy in Peking opera; yet Guo Degang told him that there have been many people throughout history labeled as drama prodigies, but none of them became successful actors. So Tao Yang ultimately decided to combine cross-talk with singing, and for this reason, Guo Degang was criticized by many viewers. But it turned out that this decision was indeed right. 1 w4 O+ u5 U9 i$ { 5 z2 t5 a! i1 %> I& A1 J0 u Every individual has to work hard and train diligently, forging a path forward step by step; their starting point is usually \"I’m not good enough\" rather than \"I’m already good enough.\" 8 N$ q% c* }9 W+ _6 e; ^9 w8 }( c; {( K Just as a teacher in the field of investing advised me: in our line of work, recognizing one’s own mediocrity can make the world seem much clearer. * Q8 l9 f/ E* x' I This advice is applicable in all industries. That is all my thoughts on the topic of life choices. If you happen to agree with what I’ve said, then I’d like to share another quote from Charlie Munger: The two most useful ancient principles in business and science are, first, to find a simple and fundamental principle, and second, to act in strict accordance with that principle throughout one’s life. Friends, keep it up. + K4 Z4 E- e4 Z1 T; z Text: Advancing Ah Xiu