Anyone else suffer from the Rat Race?

In high school, I focused all my entire time and energy into getting good grades, SAT, ECs etc. with my focus on getting into an Ivy. I ended up getting into an Ivy.

Once at an Ivy, I focused all my attention on getting good grades as well as getting into IB. I got into a great bank.

Once at a bank, everyone focuses all their attention to getting into PE.

And once at PE, they focus on getting into a top MBA or lateraling into another PE fund.

And once they're at a PE fund, they grind for the next promotion or next target/metric always. 

It never ends, it seems like. As someone who wants to achieve success in life, this feeling will never go away for me until I'm worth like 100 million or something, tbh. Anyone else feel this way?

8 Comments
 

Welcome my friend to the human condition. I think practitioners in this industry feel it more acutely as we're very driven and trying to maximise some objective function. But the objective functions never end.

Within and outside of finance, this is part of life. Take some time out. Travel. Take up some hobby. Reflect on why we're here and what the point of it all is. And focus on happiness (family, partying, religion, sport, whatever that is for you). It's extremely liberating when that realisation kicks in.

 
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The trouble with the rat race is, even if you win, you’re still a fucking rat.

 

completely lol its a question i think about time to time. as the guy mentioned above, being happy in the present and not thinking of it like that and enjoying the moment is prolly the best

 

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