A Letter to a Chimp

Dear My Little Chimp,

Slow down, child. I know you are just starting that BB investment banking job and are looking to move into private equity, or you just started that biz dev role and are studying for the GMAT so you can get into B-school, but first, you have a lot of work to do.

You’re off on a fun adventure, though it may not seem like it every single day. You’re being paid to learn various skills that will continue to make you money and provide a certain level of security for the remainder of your life. You may find some days you’re the ball, but other days you’re the Louisville Slugger. Some days you’re the windshield. Some days you’re the bug. Ride the waves.

If you can last through the late hours, challenging personalities, lack of sleep, and self-inflicted poor nutrition (because, let’s be real, you can choose to eat healthy foods and drink in moderation), many doors will open to you. And these doors are not limited to suit-wearing jobs in New York City. You’re showing the world that you can compete professionally with the big dogs. You’re not in triple-A anymore.

So you want to develop your professional skills, do you? Well the best time to start was yesterday, but don’t expect that tomorrow you’re a God in constructing lbo models and designing proprietary trading algorithms. Do you walk home from your first visit to the gym in months and become furious when you don’t have a six-pack? No, Braverman’s hard body took years to develop. Step by step. So keep up your commitment to personal development, but remember: things take time.

Staying caught in the weeds will only make you frustrated if you’re trying to go fast. The last thing that you, Mr. Future-Hedge-Fund-Manager-of-the-Year, want to do is to change the template of these PPT slides from Sky Blue to Lark Blue. So take a deep breath, and knock that sucker off your to-do list as fast as humanly possible. Learn how to be efficient with the tasks you don’t like to do so you can focus on the big things, the things that matter to you. Keep your head up and your eyes on the prize.

Patience is perhaps your greatest asset that you don’t know you possess in abundance, my little chimp. Know the difference between what you can control and what you cannot. You will amaze yourself by how stoic and even-tempered you will become.

From day one, all your contemporaries will be chirping about their next this, the future that, the upcoming big break. Resist this urge. If you want to move on soon, then take the necessary steps other monkeys have outlined before you, but please, understand that walking slowly is not always a sign of infirmity. In fact, it is a sign of confidence.

Yours truly,

A Monkey That Was Once In Your Shoes

Mod Note (Andy): Throwback Thursday - this post originally went up 9/17/13