How to be satisfied

Hello everyone, 

This will sound retarded af and I'm aware of that, but there's no one in my life I can speak about these things. 

I'm an incoming A1 at a weaker EB (not PJT /EVR/CVP), and getting into IB, let alone a BB/EB has been my ambition since I found out about the industry when I was 17. I would have jumped at the opportunity to even start working at a MM shop since I don't come from money nor do I have any connections, but now that it's already done, I can't just be happy with me having "made it" and breaking into the industry. I constantly keep thinking about why Im not at a better bank or even joined an MF out of undergrad, and I'm aware how ridiculous this type of thinking / comparison is. 

Curious to know if anyone else has experienced such thoughts

12 Comments
 

I'm aware of that and was looking for insight on how to abandon that type of mindset - if your point is "figure it out yourself", why even bother commenting? 

 

In 10 years I doubt this matters and 99% chance you won’t still be in IB then 

 

bro u'll make 200k out of college and will have decent/ok shots at MFs and def UMMs. Just enjoy life and if it really hurts, just lateral. most of the shitposters dont have jobs on here.

 
Most Helpful

Try to understand what‘s causing this feeling of inadequacy and why you feel like you should‘ve done better. You first have to understand and label this inner conflict before trying to accept and eventually resolve it.

Common examples why you could feel this way are: the fear of falling behind and being excluded by your peers, the fear of not being enough for a potential partner/spouse, or not meeting the expectations of your parents. Just to name a few.

Note that most if not all of these fears are based on primal behavioural patterns and usually are irrational. Don‘t just ignore these signs and try „to lateral somewhere else“. You‘ll only delay facing this conflict.
While a healthy drive to achieve more is essential in pushing yourself, do it because you want to not because you feel pressured to achieve more.

Final note: be aware in this Type A personality environment you‘ll always find someone telling you to suck it up and just try harder. While this works for some, I don‘t think this will solve your problems down the road.

In case no one told you: You are doing really well - best of luck!

 

Thank you very much for taking the time to share your thoughts, especially the internal labelling & attribution point is very helpful! 

I think it's probably also related to being used during adolescence to be successful and smart, and therefore building part of my identity on being smart and successful, which obv doesn't work that well since there's always a smarter, more successful fish out there.

 

Intern in IB-M&A

Thank you very much for taking the time to share your thoughts, especially the internal labelling & attribution point is very helpful! 

I think it's probably also related to being used during adolescence to be successful and smart, and therefore building part of my identity on being smart and successful, which obv doesn't work that well since there's always a smarter, more successful fish out there.

Wait til you find out about the fish that is 10x dumber than you but vastly more successful. That is what broke me back in the day: a dude that basically mentally retarded walking away with a $50m paycheck at age 32 because he somehow was involved with a company he didn't even understand.

 

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