The Lonely Path to Greatness...
I recently stumbled upon a “letter to self” by Ray Allen. In it, he talks about some of the sacrifices required to achieve success. From skipping out on partying, to not spending time with friends and family, and the amount of work required to stay on top. While reading, I kept thinking that this sounds an awful lot like the life of an investment banker. Even as a University student, I feel like I can relate to this. Many times I’ve had to tell friends no because of work, meetings, and studying.
I feel like some may understand this;
But in order to achieve your dreams, you will become a different kind of person. You’ll become a bit obsessive about your routine. This will come at a heavy cost to some of your friends and family. Most nights, you won’t go out. Your friends will ask why. You won’t drink alcohol, ever. People will look at you funny. When you get to the NBA, you won’t always play cards with the boys. Some people will assume you’re not being a good teammate. You’ll even have to put your family on the back-burner for your job.
I also thought this was an interesting statement…
Do you want to fit in, or do you want to embark on the lonely pursuit of greatness?
Can any of you in IBD relate to this? What’s your opinion on Allens path to success?
Reference: Ray Allens Letter To Self
LOL
I am pretty sure all the college athletes and pros in every sport have their fair share of fun. You have to bust your ass, but to describe it as some monk-like existence to achieve greatness is a joke.
And this really only applied to professional sports. In banking, your social skills are extremely important. You are definitely going out, drinking, meeting people. There is a family/relationship impact for sure, but it isn't because you are locked in a closet studying forever. It is because you slowly turn into an utter degenerate and normal people can't believe this is what you get paid for.
Repeat after me - Business Insider is crap.
Agree on the statement about Business Insider but I think it was just used as a platform to post the letter. Also the letter definitely seems like an extreme case, but I feel like its relatable due to the personal sacrifices, not the whole drinking and socializing thing.
Yeah, I mean there is a measure of sacrifice to success, but I think this letter is a little overdramatic, kind of like the inflation of hours worked.
You will miss dinners, fun events, holidays, etc. But it won't be an endless series of disappointments. And the flip side is you'll make more than most Americans and have plenty of opportunities to enjoy yourself.
Agreed. Allen almost sounds like that one guy who takes everything a little too far...
To even begin to compare the work you have to put in to break into IB to achieving the pinnacle of success in sports, the arts, academia, entrepreneurship, etc. takes an incredible amount of hubris and naivety. An investment banker cannot even begin to comprehend, for instance, the insanity Michael Jordan embraced to become who he is or the 1 in 100 million ingenuity Stanley Kubrick needed to create some of the greatest motherfucking films the world has ever seen. Investment banking does not even come close.
There's no question you need to make some sacrifices to break into IB, but judging by most people I've met and worked with, most kids who make it in had the types of backgrounds (wealthy family, family members with experience in the industry, private school, top undergrad, good genes, etc.) that made it not very difficult for them to break through. Overall, bankers' jobs suck, they get very little recognition for what they do, the outside world largely doesn't understand what they do and thinks they're crooks, and odds are, you're not going to survive in the industry for more than 5 years. Take it for what it is: a grueling, soul-sucking job that happens to pay extraordinarily well for a job straight out of college and provides great career advancement opportunities.
Having said all of this, I agree Ray Allen is being a little melodramatic in his letter. Yet, there's no question he had to work extremely hard and make lots of sacrifices to get to where he is today.
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