How do you stay motivated?

Your reputation is easy to lose and almost impossible to get back. Esp once you start working, taking a day off or coming across as lazy just one time is enough to change others' perception of you.

I like to win and hate to see myself in an inferior position to my peers.

Basically, I want and need to be #1.

A rather depressing goal seeing as you cannot always be first, and forces you into a perpetual rat race.

I wouldn't say it's money... money is actually a poor way to motivate yourself once you reach a certain income level (diminishing returns and all).

I think reputation, as nystateofmind mentioned, is a good one. Beyond just what people above you think of you, it's also about what your peers think as well - it's tough to drop out or quit if most of your friends are still in the profession (although I actually did this recently so who really knows....).

For me a lot of the motivation comes from wanting to do better than my parents did - I suspect a lot of people are in the same boat, with parents who never ended up achieving all that they could and hyper-competitive children who want to do everything possible.

I have to say, though, after 2 years of doing this I did "re-focus" some of my motivation - I didn't really lose motivation to do well or achieve things, it was more of me wanting to focus on other areas rather than strictly continuing on "the track" and within a set career path, if that makes any sense.

Meaningless sex with ridiculously hot models, a closet of the most expensive Italian suits and a garage of Ferraris, Lambos...

No just kidding. It's the sense of being "successful", and admiration from your family, relative and friends. Also the personal satisfaction that comes from yourself knowing that you have worked hard to get to a place where a majority of people can never reach and that you weren't a bum sitting on the couch living at the expense of others. Lastly, the power and the financial flexibility to help those who needs it and weren't privileged to be born and raised in a civilized and wealthy society.

Ahhhh, let's see.

I think reputation. I've chosen this area of study: it's not profoud, nor is any of the work earth shattering. But it is important. That makes me want to be good at it. I feel good when people come to me and ask questions: they have faith that I'll know the answer or know how to find it out. That keeps me going. Being thought highly of isn't the end goal, but it helps remind me that I'm where I want to be.

in a really bizzarre way its laziness. i'm pretty simple in terms of lifestyle and dont spend too much money; i'm a big saver. banking allows me to stack some chips much faster than any other job which will ultimately allow me to retire/take on some easy life style job sooner. thus i figure if i work my ass off for 5-10 years in banking, i'll ultimately be able to do nothing and relax carefree. this is what motivates me.

Reputation is definitely important, even as SA, after you mess up a few times, you will generally see a decline in the quality of work you are given. Imagine messing up FT, and getting the crappy deals during your 2 years....

Though I can imagine it takes more than just reputation to get through two years, no matter how motivated you are, I can imagine the two years are a piece of cake for anyone...

I'm a big Ayn Rand follower, so I actually beleive in what I do. As much BS as it may sound, I beleive in banking being the capital highway. While its not exactly saving the whales or curing cancer, I think banking is both a noble and important job, so I don't need any motivation outside of that belief. Well... outside of ridiculous amount of blow, goose, and strippers.

Agreed. In theory, Greenspan would have let Bear die. In theory.

Maybe an uncapitalistic solution was needed in order to ensure the survival of capitalism.

For me, it's the eye of the tiger, it's the cream of the fight, risin' up to the challenge of our rival.

http://www.drmarkklein.blogspot.com/

What keeps me motivated in banking/high finance is the opportunity to make a lot of money in a relatively short amount of time and an opportunity to pursue other careers that pay even more.

I save a lot of money as well but doubt that I will be able to retire or will want to retire in the next 5-10 years as one of the above posters.

I'm a PSD so..thats why money is my motivation. In my first year, my bonus was more than what most people (incl. my friends that graduated with me) get as a base salary + signing bonus. Add that to my signing bonus and my base and I made 1/10th of what my MD earned.

The payscale is great and in IB, it essentially is more of an "easy" job at the junior levels compared to the 24 year old "good" cold callers, where they can make in one year what an IB analyst earns in 3 years.

Imagine yourself as inferior compared to someone, somehow. Unimaginable isn't it? For, me it's the challenge of being a banker (yes, i enjoy a challenge). I also enjoy knowing that I'll clock in more hours than other bankers, so I'll have sometin to brag about.

http://modernyuppie.blogspot.com/ The musings and antics of a Meathead College Wrester turned Asset Backed Securities trader living in The Rotten Apple.

reputation is the deciding factor for me.

from the outside, a lot of other factors seem to take center stage in importance (i.e. - money, interesting work, prestige, etc - take your pick). but from a day-to-day perspective, not wanting to be perceived as a "dirt-bag" serves as strong motivation to put in 110%. sure, the work/hours suck at times, but when you're on a deal/pitch, you don't want to slack off and hand in a sub-par work product.

it's like everything else in the world that you might not really enjoy doing, but, for whatever reason, decide to do anyway initially...

like working out for fat people: AS LONG AS YOU'RE AT THE GYM (i.e. - bank/office) might as well give it your all (especially because you will have an MD/client to answer to). if that doesn't motivate you, i guess you can stay fat (i.e. - an accountant/back office/your choice of lame ass jobs).

I was always criticized most of my early life from people who say I have untapped potential. The motivation is not having people say that to me anymore. So I guess this would fall under reputation. Still a student though.

This thread got featured on the homepage and got a pic, awesome. Very interesting to see the large majority of you draw on reputation rather than $$ as your motivation.

"There is only one bottom line -- how much money you make."

I think that motivation comes in two stages:

1) Trying to get into the game. I can vouch for the fact that juggling 18 credits, a social life, prepping for interviews and flying out to NYC every other Friday isn't always fun. Motivation isn't as hard to come by here though when you realize that 1) your life will likely be just as hectic if not more as a banker 2) you're lucky as hell to have these interviews and 3) it feels kind of cool to be flown out and put up. Motivation comes into play much more as you prepare for these interviews and network for hours on end, months before interviews start. Here it's a matter of keeping your eye on the ball and really being honest with yourself as to why you're doing it. For me, it's the exit opps, the desire to succeed, the experience you gain and that I know if it's not something I pursue I'll be kicking myself later. And that's not a good feeling.

2) After actually landing the job, it certainly takes more to keep motivated. At the SA level it's easy in the morning to fight the desire to sleep by saying, "alright, only six more weeks of work." That doesn't work as well FT with a justification of "alright, I can do this, only fifty eight more weeks."

I am still in school, but personally when (and if) it comes to full-time, I will be motivated by the desire to keep my reputation stellar. I'm a big runner and I could see how things could compare to getting to the 15th mile of a marathon when it starts to hurt and you wonder why the heck you're doing this. You've already made the commitment and come so far (ie recruiting, moving to a different city, etc) that there's no way you can stop or turn back. When the motivation level is dropping, I've always tried to focus on something small that is somewhat enjoyable in the task I'm doing and also, stopped and recognized, as terrible as I am feeling or the job may be, why I am lucky and grateful to be there. Makes a big difference.

First of all, what I "love" to do no one would ever pay me for, since it's spending time with my family. So with that nonsense of having your work being what you "love" to do safely out of the way, I'd say that the cash and the look on people's faces when you tell them you're an investment banker are 1 and 1a. Sure it's a lot of hours and I miss my family, but guess what, it's not forever, shit does get better (so they tell me), and with all the cash rolling in, the magic 8 ball just may be foretelling an early retirement.

Some others have touched on this already (reputation), but a big motivator for me is simply expectations others have of me and expectations I have of myself. I come from a completely modest family, and am the only person in pretty much my entire extended family (except for my sister) that could even dream of being in the position I'm in.

I'd guess it's the same story for a lot of people: at some point in your life, you hit a sort of turning point where friends/family/etc start to think "Damn, this kid is pretty smart," and from there the expectations just continue to build. You end up in a bunch of AP classes, continue getting top grades and end up applying to (and getting accepted to) some of the best colleges in the world (schools that most people could only dream of attending).

Now, you're the Ivy League superstar, majoring in something that your family members or friends back home couldn't dream of understanding. Those people look at you with awe when you tell them the list of courses you are taking, amazed they could sound even crazier than "Electrical & Computer Engineering."

Then you get an internship at a great company, and your pesky friends/family members back home grill you about how much money you make until you eventually give in and let them know you are making more money than they will probably make for at least a few years out of college (or, for the older ones, the kind of money they didn't make until 35). They eventually realize that the types of people you are working for are those who own mansions in Westchester, Scarsdale, and Greenwich by the time they are 35, and the expectations build even further.

Maybe it is just me, but this is where I am in my journey, and I'm sure as hell not just going to end up some average Joe now. Tying into that, of course, is the admiration and, sometimes, awe, from my friends/family/etc that I feel I've earned at this point.

This post is probably way too long at this point, but I'd also agree with ke18sb - if I didn't have a shit ton of work to do, I'd probably lay around and be worthless. May as well err on the side of caution and completely overachieve rather than risk feeling complacent.

For me, it's simply about being competitive and achieving everything I know I can.

My favorite quote, which comes from Arnold, sums it up pretty well...

"For me life is continuously being hungry. The meaning of life is not simply to exist, to survive, but to move ahead, to go up, to achieve, to conquer. "

I always like to be doing something and that something must have a purpose. The feeling of success and accomplishment is one of the greatest feelings on earth.

I guess I just don't aspire to have the "typical" American life (decent house, family, etc.) and I'm sure a lot of you guys feel the same way. It just does not appeal to me, especially at this time in my life (I'm sure I'll get married... but not soon).

Never a dull moment.

couldn't give a shit about whether Ayn Rand thinks it's noble.

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Izuno, sure, why not answer truthfully? If you are interviewing your resume is probably not the resume of a lazy unmotivated couch potato, so something must drive you.

I remember a while ago even reading a piece by Cramer saying he used to count it against people if they tried to say they were motivated by a love for the job or a passion or whatever because he knew they were all really after money, reputation, etc. He's probably brasher (and more inconsistent, lol) than most, but anyone who's interviewing you must have been in your position at one time.

if it's an HR person tell them some story about saving unicorns.