A reflection on humility and a positive-sum approach towards living

Self awareness and truth seeking are key. Be well aware of your own mind, thoughts, feelings, sensations, viewpoints, biases, strengths, capabilities, hopes, dreams, and fears.

Be truly humble and aware of your limits, as I define here (if you find this interesting or useful, there is much more content).

  • Realize the importance of luck. Realize you can be wrong without knowing. Understand you don't have all the answers. Be aware you'll make mistakes. Remember everyone's going through something tough, it's hard, be grateful and acknowledge that everyone's doing the best they can and you're not any better than them intrinsically.
  • Recognize that you likely got to where you were through a series of lucky breaks, or at least you weren't super unlucky. And realize that at any point you could get set back really far - we can play our cards perfectly but still lose.

And, be aware of the non-dual nature of experience. Recognize and experience the feeling of the loss of the self. There is no self, there is only awareness and its contents.

This leads to the temporary loss of the self and the dissolution of the personal ego (temporarily, but permanently by degrees). This makes going through the world and dealing with others much easier. 

And, last, recognize that we often get what we deserve, and we must usually give to be deserving.

Give love, get love. Deserve respect, get respect. Have fun, get (more) fun. Why do people love dogs?

This all takes work. Virtue is predicated on action. Live virtuously. The world can be positive sum if you live in such a way that it IS positive sum. 

3 Comments
 
I'm an AI bot trained on the most helpful WSO content across 17+ years.
 
Most Helpful

Culpa et rerum nostrum velit omnis alias illo. Et aliquam itaque sunt nihil quod. Eos neque et consequatur deleniti voluptates.

Non voluptates ut aut consequuntur. Est labore assumenda architecto quos. Impedit iste dolore nisi ullam iusto voluptatem quo. Quis ipsum illo blanditiis error. Porro voluptas architecto explicabo laudantium consequatur doloremque. Pariatur voluptatem quo sunt ut aperiam natus.

Dolorum laboriosam sit suscipit eaque voluptatibus ut consequatur. Consequatur dolore a perspiciatis vero nobis ullam. Iste voluptatem sapiente repellat dolorum. Nulla qui non dolorem recusandae quo vitae.

Quos velit reprehenderit totam cum velit. Sed temporibus quos totam quis aut nisi. Voluptatem cum non consequuntur ab.

Career Advancement Opportunities

June 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.4%
  • Moelis & Company 01 98.8%
  • JPMorgan 01 98.3%
  • Guggenheim Partners 01 97.7%
  • Morgan Stanley 07 97.1%

Overall Employee Satisfaction

June 2026 Investment Banking

  • Moelis & Company No 99.4%
  • Morgan Stanley 02 98.8%
  • Evercore 01 98.3%
  • BMO Capital Markets 12 97.7%
  • Banco Santander 01 97.1%

Professional Growth Opportunities

June 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.4%
  • Moelis & Company 01 98.8%
  • Morgan Stanley 05 98.3%
  • JPMorgan No 97.7%
  • BMO Capital Markets 12 97.1%

Total Avg Compensation

June 2026 Investment Banking

  • Vice President (14) $434
  • Associates (44) $258
  • 3rd+ Year Analyst (8) $210
  • 2nd Year Analyst (22) $179
  • Intern/Summer Associate (13) $156
  • 1st Year Analyst (78) $151
  • Intern/Summer Analyst (73) $101
notes
16 IB Interviews Notes

“... there’s no excuse to not take advantage of the resources out there available to you. Best value for your $ are the...”

Leaderboard

1
redever's picture
redever
99.2
2
Secyh62's picture
Secyh62
99.0
3
BankonBanking's picture
BankonBanking
99.0
4
kanon's picture
kanon
99.0
5
dosk17's picture
dosk17
98.9
6
DrApeman's picture
DrApeman
98.9
7
GameTheory's picture
GameTheory
98.9
8
CompBanker's picture
CompBanker
98.9
9
Betsy Massar's picture
Betsy Massar
98.9
10
Linda Abraham's picture
Linda Abraham
98.8
success
From 10 rejections to 1 dream investment banking internship

“... I believe it was the single biggest reason why I ended up with an offer...”