When I was in banking, I lost nearly £17,000 spread betting on the Goldman Sachs SEC trial. I lost another gut wrenching chunk of money in Vegas playing poker with the big boys. Sucks right? But "life is long, I'll win it back".

And so I went on, and yes, from time to time I also made healthy profits spread betting and gambling, if ever there was a difference. From time to time, I still dabble. The truth is I'd been gambling all the way through my late teens and through university, in fact more than half the draw to banking was the 'make a fast buck' appeal of it. The rush of free money, of free surplus, of sudden rockstar freedom.

Small Victory this evening:

Spent weekend creating then revising the n^nth revision for a deal teed up in our pipeline. Finally happy with revisions this morning, shower then eat lunch, try to revise again. Can't. Ok ready to send up the ladder? I think so, email this version out to senior associate.
-- the wait--
might as well go to the driving range while i can and the weather is good, i'll be back at the computer or in the office this evening/night.
-- first contact--
check email: "Thanks, looking at it now"
:sigh: at least i have hit half the bucket already.
-- the onslaught --
check email: "Add (minor adjustment) see ya tomorrow"

VICTORY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Sunday evening safe, TV time fools.

Anybody else have one of these moments you can remember?

WHY BOTHER BEING GOOD?

Everyday the newspaper tells the same depressing stories. Youth crime, corporate tax-avoidance, dishonest lawyers, selfish bankers, mass genocide, needless wars, countless violent acts of extreme hatred, rape, oppression and corruption, right down to the cheating footballer’s wife, as told in the lying gossip magazine.

I don’t read the tabloids too much. I’ve come to realise that when people hear over and over, day after day, about bad things, it seems that they start to think that they are justified in being a little less noble themselves. ‘That’s just the world we live in’ – ‘everyone’s taking drugs’, ‘everyone cheats’, ‘everyone gossips’. The media makes celebrities of the worst of us, and subsequently, over time, people feel excused to drift into moral grey areas, asking ‘Why bother being good when everyone else is bad?’. Well if we can’t answer that question, we’re heading for a very dark world indeed, and so that’s the question I want to answer in this article. Why bother being good?

Moderator note (Andy): This success-story update was posted in the orignal thread ("Walk-in "cold call" question") by DJBanker. SirTradesaLot and I thought it should be added to the homepage for those who never saw it.

Hello Monkeys, I am sure some of you are curious as to my recent developments, and there have been a few. So let's begin:

When I originally posted my question, I was very new to the concept of walking in, as I'm sure some of you can relate to. I received great feedback and advice which not only allowed me to craft my own strategy, but boosted my confidence as well. I knocked on quite a few doors; had a regimented schedule. Landed a few interviews, some informational while others employment related. Gained exposure to a variety of niches and roles along the way. Intellectually stimulated, emotionally challenged and painfully anxious at times would be how I describe my state.

However, I did manage to learn about some interesting positions - one as Portfolio/Trading Analyst had 3 rounds of interviews, with no offer at the end. Second role in Advisor Distribution at a BB was a go but an issue occurred last minute and the offer was revoked - this was through networking. Third, in PWM at a boutique through old fashioned email resume and a similar role at a BB through networking. Finally, a role in Hedge Fund and PE due diligence.

I promised a few people some long overdue wisdom, but haven't had the motivation lately to actually write something up. But after reading this post, I'm inspired to write a foil piece that details my [rather unorthodox] path to manhood and the perspective on life that it's caused me to have.

I assume right away that most people will not agree with a lot of it, possibly take offense to some of it, and it may ultimately depress a few readers as well. But I'm only here to impart my wisdom on the kids who may have some misguided beliefs about the way the real world works, and hopefully at least one person can take something away from this that helps them see their own lives a bit clearer.

So below is my list of things I've either done or wish I'd done by the time I was "grown up," which for me I think happened around age 20-21. I'd like to think that's earlier than most, but there's good reason for it and it will be included in my list. Here goes:

1. Question Every Authority, Even Your Parents

This site has really been an amazing help along my career path and I felt that it was necessary to try and give back to the community and hopefully give some hope to the fellow non targets out there that are trying to break in. I also wanted to thank everyone on this site who have been extremely helpful in the job search, specifically IlliniProgrammer and PeterGibbons as well as all those who contribute to the forums.

I am originally from a small town in the midwest and really had no clue about IB or consulting until after my first year of college. I chose to attend a lower ranked state school because I received a full scholarship and my middle class family could not afford some of the pricier, "better" schools that I was accepted to.

I knew coming from a nontarget that I would have to go above and beyond in order to differentiate myself so I sought out a boutique investment banking internship during the school year, got involved doing research with my department, and also had a F200 engineering internship my sophomore summer.

Going into recruiting Junior year, I thought I had networked enough, but what I soon learned was that there is no such thing as networking enough when you are coming from a nontarget.

Throughout the past few years I've noticed that some of my closest relationships have deteriorated as it became more clear that I was on a fast-track in Finance while others were languishing with bad grades and not-so-prestigious (or non-existent) internships.

I knew something to this effect would occur - but not as dramatically as I predicted. I've approached this rather objectively and tried to find solutions (modesty to the extreme) ... but who else has experienced this? What was the outcome? Did you find more healthy relationships post-undergrad - or do you regret not opening up more/adapting to other people's personalities?

This is kind of touchy/feely...but I would bet a lot of people on this forum have gone through this.

Mod note (Andy): "Blast from the past - Best of WSO" - while Eddie is away this month in his place we'll be posting up some of the most popular posts from the past. This was originally posted on 3/2/12

In the past few months, I've been approached on a few occasions by college-aged folks asking the typical question: how to succeed on the street from a less-than-stellar undergrad background. It's given me the opportunity to look back on my admittedly short career (6ys since grad) and reflect a bit. What have I done right? Where did I trip up? What would I change? Success in business certainly ain't rocket science... If you ask me, anyone with a decent math and writing skills can kill it on the street, regardless of your collegiate background. 

That said, here's my take. You can find my general career path if you search posts, but to rehash: went to a city school (think SUNY/CUNY), paid about 5k a year in tuition, graduated with 17k in student loans and started in the back office of a middle market bank. Busted ass and ended up in banking. Hopefully I'll get the VP nod next year. Here's how I did it, in no particular order.

WSO, They say not to give up and that you'll succeeded, but how much sh*t do you have to go through? How many times do you have to fail in order to succeed?

Need motivation monkeys, dont post YouTube videos of athletes or pornstars...I need real stories.

Mod (Andy) note: See great responses below by UFOinsider & rufiolove

How badly do you want to succeed? Do you actually live, breathe, think, and sleep for success ... or are you simply mouthing the words, going through the motions, living a very lie?

This is pretty powerful. I don't like talking about my personal background here, but I found so much of what the narrator said resonating strongly with me. It is an attitude that has literally kept me alive.