How was it that a investment advisor making $400,000+/year was pulling his hair out to make more money?
That was my boss at a bank.
First, I thought he must really be in a bad financial situation. But, a week after, he bought a mercedes.
I kept thinking why could he be so stressed. Smoking 4 times/day. Fake smile for his clients.
Then, during lunch time it finally hit me.
Deeper Meaning with Work
These were the questions flying across the lunch table between various investment advisors – “How many clients did you get today?”, “Where are you going for vacation?”, “How is your new mercedes?”, and “How can we make more money?”.
At some point these investment advisors turned self-improvement into a game. Instead of staying true to why they become investment advisors they began competing for points.
Two month’s into the internship, I resigned.
This experience made me realize why more money does not usually lead to more happiness. If your income just becomes a comparing metric, then it carries no soul. People begin damaging their health (coffee, smoking etc) in order to win.
People start cutting corners (can’t tell what my boss did) and do things just to show off (mercedes?).
The same is true for all aspects of our lives – we compete for popularity on fb without having real friends or getting high grades without knowing what we want to study etc.
Is that why so many of are not satisfied with our jobs?
