How do you stay motivated? A2A
I’m a recent A2A at a BB in nyc. Been grinding like crazy for 2 years to get the associate promote in August. When it finally hit, I didn’t feel as happy as I thought I would. Kind of in a limbo right now as I slowly realize the 80 hour weeks are not it anymore. In the last few weeks, I’ve lost so much motivation and drive, and I don’t even know why.
It is such a pain to get up for work every morning and im starting to wonder if this is active depression. Obviously these are signs that I need to find a new gig, but no matter how hard I try now I can’t get back into the grind mindset.
Just venting honestly and wondering if anyone else feels the same way?
Ignore title, vp1.
-congrats on A2A even though it’s almost guaranteed everywhere.
-probably signs of burnout and realization that banking isn’t for you, you’ll probably leave for corpdev, I’ve seen it happen over and over again.
Good luck.
Why don’t you just update your title then lol
Don’t know why you’re getting monkey shit, probably the prospect in IB. You’re right, was about to say this is the definition of burn out. My advise? Don’t fight it. There’s two kinds of burnouts, one where you’re working for something and it’s not panning out and the other one where you just realize this shit isn’t worth it. Don’t fight it, the world is your oyster, you’ve earned your stripes and payed your dues. Go do what truly makes you happy.
Sorry didnt catch you the first time. Mind repeating it?
Congrats on the promotion!
Motivation comes and goes and this job is very taxing and will grind you into the dirt.
Think about why you wanted to do this job in the first place. Was it financial? Do a spreadsheet and run the numbers - maybe it’s worth it for a few years to feed your retirement account, save up for a down payment, take advantage of compounding etc. Maybe delayed gratification makes sense and you should thug it out.
Or maybe you don’t know why you’re doing what you’re doing and truly don’t know what you want out of life and you’re stuck on a hamster wheel working 16 hour days to afford an apartment in the West Village and Via Carota on the weekends while you drink away the pain. How much damage do you think you will do to yourself if you stay on this path for one year, three years, five years?
If you’re top bucket and have good rapport with the group, maybe drop effort down to middle bucket and try to push work onto analysts. Polish your resume, know your worth, see what opportunities you can land and give yourself options. You only get one life, figure out what you want and how to get there.
Stay strong soldier 🫡
Same boat here, was top bucket as an analyst and went A2A. Towards the end of my analyst program was staffed on a bunch of live deals and was getting crushed. Now as things have slowed down due to some of my deals dying, I'm increasingly finding it difficult to stay motivated (likely due to a sense of grinding constantly with little meaningful impact + seeing how unsustainable the lifestyle is even as you move up the ladder). Most days I'm very unproductive, don't pay attention during meetings and just do the bare minimum to get by. Frankly kind of lost on where to go from here as I'm slowly getting disappointed in myself. Agree that finding a new job is likely the catalyst to get back into the right mindset but what even is the right role?
I’m in the same boat. Went A2A and am so unmotivated. I’m on all the deals that my Caps and seniors say “will make my career” and frankly I don’t care. I have everything in the world (money, “prestige”, good coworkers, seniors who mentored me and put me on the “right” accounts and are so committed to keeping me etc) and I’m literally so over it and idk what to do.
See a therapist, will be great for mental health. Maybe try to change it up - switch groups, try doing a year in mgmt (GS and UBS have this)
I think every BB gives A2A's 2 weeks off that are completely protected. Maybe take it early next year
Try to go to the firms investment arm (Barclays, GS, MS have this)
"I think every BB gives A2A's 2 weeks off that are completely protected." - shows me again how toxic M&A is if this is something to point out, lmao.
It’s not surprising. I’ve been there. I was an A2A and I was actually a happy analyst. Yes I worked hard but I got great exposure to transactions and was doing some genuinely interesting things, and hours notwithstanding, embraced the move to NY and all that brought with it and had a blast. Promoted after three years to associate (as was the norm) and hit a wall. Could barely function and was a shadow of my former performance.
In retrospect, I should have taken a long vacation but I didn’t do that, I got a job in private equity and spent a year doing that at a low key but boring firm, but I got my mind back. Decided I liked slcertain aspects of my old job and I found an associate gig at what people here call an “EB”. It was a great environment, I was well trained and those years were amazing (I burned out again as an VP and had to recharge but that’s another story).
My advice to you.
1. This is totally normal. You’ve been an intense environment for a couple years. You would be a freak for it not to happen
2. Ask yourself some fundamental questions? Do I like my job and environment? Am I just tired? Would I like my job better with a change of scenery? That guides what you do next
3. Take a proper vacation. Like 2-3 weeks. Live with the consequences (although ideally do this professionally). You need to clear your mind.
4. Don’t underestimate what you’ve learned and its value. People often take you for granted in your present environment and a new one where you have a clean slate can elevate your career
As a result today in my team, I force my A2As to take some proper time off in the promotion summer and encourage them to do something different - move to another office, take on a product focus, take on some form of new responsibility - so it actually feels like they got promoted. Otherwise it’s just too much of the same.
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