High Finance Driving Existential Crisis

Currently grappling with the sad reality that the work we do in our IB/HF/PE careers won't matter in a few centuries' time. After all, even if you close a deal that makes the front page of the Journal, it will inevitably be lost in the sands of time. Incredibly unmotivating. I understand that us industry players grind because we get paid fat, but our work isn't truly enduring. E.G., if you amass generational wealth--great, but it will likely get squandered / diluted / disappear in a few generations, making your original efforts hardly worth it. I'm definitely coming across overly pessimistic but would love to hear others' thoughts on the long-term motivating factors that get you up in the morning & how you think about your legacy a hundred years from now (if you do). 

7 Comments
 

You're so right. I wish I was an accountant...then my life would finally have meaning.

 
Most Helpful

You've just got to realise it's a job and nothing else. it's not supposed to give you meaning, but give you wealth to do what you want now or in the future. 

Nothing in life has value in itself. You ascribe value to it. 

You can watch this video: 

I suggest taking some time to relax and just think about life. what is life? what makes you happy? what do you value? 

You can go for a walk, chill gym, lay in bed, but basically anything that doesn't have a screen in front of you or what demands your attention. You don't need an immediate answer and it might take some time, but getting started on this process will be mind opening. After having your initial views, go try and find some answers. the key here is "try" - you can't find all the answers in the universe, but it might put you on some paths that you might value or find joy in. Religion/church? working out? charity? family (dont have one for the sake of having one though)

you'll figure it out, just give it time 

 

U don’t. U just live ur life and enjoy every bit of it cuz u don’t really know how long u are going live anyway. In a century nobody would even give a fu$k about u so forget it and live. Humans don’t live that long anyway, might as well make it worth it.

 

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