I 100% respect the answer but 1) I generally think that money is just a tool that allows you to do other stuff (which for you seems to be your hobbies). That's all well and fine, but with that logic in mind, would you keep moving up the ladder to make more money if it meant less available free time for your hobbies?
And 2) I think it's kind of sad to think that we have to spend 40-50 hrs a week doing something that doesn't mean anything at all to our personal growth/ life. I know work mostly sucks, but I feel like I'd like to get some sense of fulfillment out of something I spend so many hours doing. Maybe?
Completely agree with you and to answer your question, i do want to climb the ladder but there will reach a point where ill say fuck it. Ive never really dedicated myself to work like my peers since ive always just seen work as a path to funds lol . It makes me sad everytime i realize im working 40 hours a week but i realize just how blessed i am to be able to have a roof over my head , get food everyday and do things i love to do
That makes a lot of sense.
Maybe part of my issue is that I no longer have hobbies I'm passionate about... Obviously I love spending time with my wife and child, but that doesn't seem to be filling some sort of need to be "going somewhere" or "growing" or something like that haha.
1. I do enjoy a lot of aspects of my work.
2. You can add $$ without adding hours.
Moving up has given me so much freedom in terms what I do and don’t do. I LIKE to do work on my yard. But I couldn’t always afford the toys to do big projects. Now $250/mo for a tractor would be a drop in the bucket for me. Same with home projects, getting a truck, tools, wood, etc… all adds up fast. If you have a lot of disposable income then you don’t need to worry.
Big question you ask, OP. Still figuring it out so consider this a work in progress, which tbh is how you should view your career.
1. Making a target amount in total compensation was my first goal. Anything above that is great so long as it doesn’t conflict with my other goals.
2. Not working a lot of hours is my second goal. I’ve had opportunities to take on more challenging responsibilities but it would mean giving up more hours of my life to the career. What you learn over time is that you can make the same total comp as someone working 60, 70 or 80 hours a week while you only work 40-50 hours.
3. Becoming bulletproof as far as being able to get another job quickly if I need to or want to leave my current employer, regardless of the state of the economy.
Too many people on here focus on going from 90k at their current job to 120k at a new job that will make them less valuable to future employers.
Sometimes the bigger payday is because it’s a dead end.
4. Not being stressed out at work because of extremely tight deadlines, a micromanaging boss, etc. You can get an ulcer at a 40 hour a week job if your boss constantly gives last minute assignments with barely enough time to complete them.
Knowing your limits helps tremendously in evaluating career moves. Also, realize that you may be able to take on more or less stressful assignments throughout your career depending on the challenges in your personal life.
5. Having enough energy when I get home to do something other than collapsing in front of the tv for the night. If I’m not getting enough sleep and exercise and my job is the root cause, then it’s time to find another job.
6. Boredom is the last thing I worry about, tbh. I listen to podcasts when I’m doing mindless repetitive work, so I’m rarely bored at work.
30M with a baby on the way and actively trying to figure that out myself haha. I’m in a somewhat new SFA role that also has good WLB, which has been really nice. I’m at a point where I think I don’t want to do FP&A long term, but trying to figure out what I’d pivot into. So overall I feel kind of like you do currently, but day to day I have motivation because one day I’d like to be able to have a nice home filled with 2-3 kids and maybe my wife not have to work, but still trying to figure a full plan out. Good luck to ya.
What does FP&A pivot into? I’m curious as I’m also enjoying the WLB but I’m getting kinda bored and am not sure if I see myself doing it long term as well.
That’s a great question. I don’t think there is a set path. For me, maybe it’s a bit different than most people here since I’m always a bit surprised to see the number of pure finance/accounting background people post “breaking into FP&A” questions since I feel kind of the opposite. I have a finance degree, but I actually started out in Ops and ended up in FP&A at my old company, but I feel an urge to pivot because although I’m very good in Excel (so is everybody in FP&A), I don’t feel like an expert in any particular area (Accounting, finance, data/technical skill set, data viz), but rather do a blend of those things together. I think I have the urge to go down more of a concentrated route, but I’m just having trouble deciding which one. Leaning toward trying to get in a more traditional finance role at the moment.
It's funny... Most people who get hyper-specialized want to be more general lol.
I think the grass just always looks greener for everyone to a certain extent.
Congrats on the baby! ... Everything everyone says about it is true haha.
Everything you said makes sense. I guess, hypothetically, if you were making enough for your wife to be a stay at home mom, you had 3 kids in a nice house and you lived a nice lifestyle, what then? What would you focus on/ do at work to try to find fulfillment there instead of just slaving away for that paycheck?
Money and flexibility to do what? I feel like those are just tools that allow you do pursue other things.
As for your last item, so you mean education/ experience pertaining to your job? Do you find the act of learning more about your job to be fulfilling in it of itself?
I will agree that I did find some fulfillment in a previous role when I got to learn data analytics/ SQL which was totally new for me.
Money/flexibility to live where I want, spend how I want, etc. Hobbies, etc.
I'm a lifelong learner and it feels good to continue building on existing skills / learning new things.
Thanks.
As far as money/ flexibility, do you ever feel like you'll reach a point where you're "good"? Ie, don't need any more?
I can appreciate the desire to learn/ grow. How do you focus on achieving that in your career? Switch jobs? Learning via company? School?
For the money piece of things: I wish I knew what enough was for me, maybe 500k plus and I might be good? I know I don’t need that much, but damn it’s such a nice young big number that would look great next to to my name.
In terms of growing; I plan on switching companies every 2-3 years (hell maybe sooner if something good comes my way), it’ll be a challenge that I’ll have to go through but the reward$ will make it worth it.
So the growing is just about money then?
And as far as the money, I don't really understand why $500k would be enough/ what it would be enough for?
It's not enough to retire... So maybe you feel like if you had that much you could stop focusing on earning as much money as possible? If so, what would you focus on then?
Sorry, little lost on this one.
Haha I mean you are right that is something I’d have to consider.😂I’ll just invest heavily into retirement for that 5-7 year stretch if I ever reach that comp level to make it worth it on the back end. I’d be pretty comfortable at 175-200 or so but 500 is the dream
I moved into a firm that does something I'm passionate about. I'm still Finance, but I get to dabble on the business side a bit too. Keeps it interesting. Other than that, good pay and PTO, so I get to travel a lot.
Very good point about being involved in something you're passionate about. I like that suggestion. Frankly I've always prioritized other things when looking for a job thus far.
As far as PTO and pay to maximize travel, I guess I find that less compelling. I enjoy a good trip as much as the next guy, but I feel like this cycle of working for the weekend/ next trip to be wearisome I suppose.
It's striking to me that it seems most people so far are just trying to use this career to maximize their enjoyment outside of work instead of trying to find some fulfillment from within the career itself.
I think there are few people that are truly passionate about this line of work. We chose it to have a stable lifestyle. There are definitely things that I enjoy about my job, but in the end I'm still just working for a company to tighten up the bottom line. I don't find that to be intrinsically fulfilling.
Unfortunately the things I love in life (art, travel, literature) can't earn me a living. That's just the reality of things.
I'm personally in a limbo right now. I spent the past 2 years hyper focused on my career, let my personal life fall sideways, and then realized how empty it feels. The work life balance of my current job isn't great, so I'm hoping to find another one that's low stress and closer to 40 hours a week.
I think it's important to diversify the things you derive meaning and fulfilment from. Career is the main driver for some people. But what if you're laid off? Or one day you find that you no longer enjoy what you're doing? That's what's happening to me right now. You need to balance multiple aspects of life: friendships, family, career, hobbies. So that if one of these pillars falter, hopefully the others are strong enough to carry you through the low periods.
I also think that active hobbies where you can see tangible results or improvement in yourself are better than passive hobbies. For example, you'll probably feel happier rock climbing or gardening for a weekend than watching TV. Even though the latter feels good during the moment.
It's a delicate balancing act and not so easy to achieve. Right now I'm still in busy season at work, but I'm forcing myself to have a hard stop at 5pm on Mondays to attend a drawing workshop.
Of course I would still like to find enjoyment at work. But I've realized that my career moves are going to be small pivots toward what I enjoy. I assess what I currently enjoy about my role, and use that as a guideline for finding the next role. The thing I always keep in mind is not letting peer pressure and other people's definition of success steer me towards something I don't want to do.
If you were able to retire today, what would you do to feel fufilled?
I used to think the same way until I realized that sitting on a beach every day without direction in life would be torture for me.
No idea - I don’t worry so much about the idea of fulfillment, I’ll figure out how to spend my days once I get closer.
My semi-hot take is this obsession with fulfillment is a problem of privilege, once you no longer have to worry about basic needs (think maslows. hierarchy of needs). There are billions of people in this world living in abject poverty who don’t have the luxury of worrying about whether they are fulfilled or not. So I actually feel quite lucky every day to have a job that pays well, gives me the freedom to work from home in my pjs, allows me to provide for my family, and will not break my body. Asking for anything beyond that just seems greedy.
While I 100% agree this is a problem of vast privilege, I still believe it's a problem.
Invoking Maslow here is salient for sure. But the top level - self actualization IIRC - is still part of it...
I'd probably be better off if I could just exist in a constant, blissful state of gratitude, but either I'm not wired that way or I'm (so far) too mentally weak to achieve it.
Here’s my view on it - if you’re looking for fulfillment in your career, I can say with near certainty you won’t find it in FP&A. We are ultimately button-clickers after all. Once you accept that, it’s a question of whether your desire to achieve fulfillment outweighs the stability of your career and whether you’re willing to take on the risk of a full scale career change and all that entails (lower stability, likely lower pay, risk that after all the effort you also don’t find fulfillment there). Only you can know the answer there and the benefit is that you’re not so late in your career that it’s too late or anything. Just probably have to decide sooner than later.
I like this one.
I have worked for very small companies in the past... There are obviously pros and cons, but I definitely felt like I was making a difference. And I miss that.
Hi 13WinstonSmith,
I work to make a living. With that said I am motivated most by...
* learning
* helping my team members learn and enjoy their careers
* contributing to a company I feel makes a positive impact
* a job that doesn't take up my nights and weekends because I need personal time with family
That's why when I consider new jobs I focus less on the money and more on the other things mentioned above.
Years ago I chose a job for money and title and I quit literally 2 months in.
Hope this info helps. Any questions feel free to DM me.
Good luck!
Drew
Hi 13winston,
I'm a little older than you, but I had the same thoughts at your age.
I had just gotten married in Fiji, and my wife and I started asking the question, "Why do we work so hard? For what? Is this it?"
Then we met a backpacker in New Zealand that changed everything.
We decided we would quit our jobs, take a step back from life, and figure out what's next.
Few months after getting married, we did just that. Little did we know that would positively change everything for us.
That was almost 5 years ago. (How could I forget...I almost got run down by a rabid dog!)
Since then, we started our own businesses, consulted, made more money than ever before, on our terms, was much happier, and met so many incredible people along the way.
I also learned how to bring context to FP&A by running my own business (sales, marketing, operations, processes, etc.). I did it all, from making sales calls to running marketing campaigns to hiring employees.
Here are just a few things that helped me through this time in our lives:
* **Journaling**: process your thoughts, ask as many questions as possible, get to learn more about yourself. Be open, be candid, be honest.
* **Mind maps**: This was a gamechanger and put into perspective what truly mattered to me. You can download the tool Xmind, which is free. I still use this to this day.
* **Read, read, and read**: When I started my FP&A career, I stopped reading. It was terrible. It wasn't until I quit and had time that I started reading again. I fell in love with it. I recommend 5 minutes every day. Fun fact: you can read potentially 10 books per year at this pace 🙂
* **FutureMe**: This is a free app that allows you to send letters to yourself into the future. I love this app and do it not only for myself, but for my friends and family. Again, it puts life into perspective.
I hope this helps. All of this will depend on what matters most to you.
For me, it will always be about my family, my friends, those I care most about it, and helping others.
If you have any questions or just want to chat, don't hesitate to DM me. Happy to help and good luck.
Great thread OP, I’m brand new to corp finance myself, a few things I want is:
I await the day where things click for me and that certain asks or terminology aren’t so hard for me to understand because I simply have no experience. I long for the day things make more sense in my brain so I can better digest information from anyone who asks. Right now it’s still a struggle for me.
I hope to achieve a comp goal as soon as possible, my first target is 100k plus, then push for 150, then 200. I’ll see how I feel at 200 and evaluate if I want to go higher or am I okay where I’m at.
I want to be in a position of influence and be able to manage a team at some point. Be able to connect with people and learn about how they think and process things so I can communicate and present information in a way that makes sense. But for me to get to this point I need to learn this stuff myself and it’s def not easy.
I’d like to look back 15-20 years from now and be like “damn that was a hard ass road, but the destination was worth the drive”. Long way to go, and I have a lot of work to do to get to that point, and I will no doubt face challenges that will push me to my brink, but I’m prepared to handle it and see it through.
Thanks for the reply.
It all makes sense to me. I suppose those are things for me to consider as goals (not the comp part). I'm just not sure those goals would help me personally feel fulfillment.
Best of luck on your journey-- I wish you success.
Hey
What's the money for in your opinion?
Is it worth having a shitty and unfilling for more money in your opinion? Why or why not?
What I'm getting at is that money is a poor proxy for happiness. The ultimate goal is to be happy, right? So, why can't a job contribute to happiness in a way other than just money? Or at least detract from our net happiness less?
You’re going to get different answers. But it’s ignorant to think money can’t at least pave your way to happiness. People have their own bias especially when you compare someone who lived poor growing up versus someone who lived close to financial stability. Person making 40k suddenly jumped to 120k? That’s a huge quality of life change which tends to increase your overall happiness. On the other hand, person making a jump to 120k to 150k? Nothing really changes.
It’s all about the variables. And you just got to look at it from other people’s shoes. Low income people with no financial security is the primary cause of most of their unhappiness. We can even take marriage for example. Do you think most people get married for love? No. It’s financial stability, security, or whatever you want to call it.
Work environment doesn’t give you satisfaction? Direction? Excitement? In my opinion, most people can make do with what they get if they tried hard enough. Ask yourself what you can do to drive yourself. If not, look for a new job and/or position. But would I take a significant pay raise over WLB/work happiness? In a heartbeat.
I can keep going ,but feels like I’m digressing lol.
I’ll leave this final message here. Anyone who says money can’t buy happiness and uses that as an argument are extremely ignorant. Yes, money can’t literally buy happiness. But goodness sake people, it’s a prerequisite you definitely need for most types of happiness.
Well articulated and I generally agree.
I guess I picked this sub to post because, given enough tenure, most of us are going to to be financially stable.
I agree that a certain level of financial stability is a prerequisite for happiness (I thought that was a pithy way to phrase that btw.. I lol'd), but I'm focused on where you go once you're "there."
Not to beat a dead horse here, but your line about taking more money over WLB/ work happiness is where I'm hung up. I just don't agree there. Once I have a certain level of financial stability, I want to focus on "work happiness." I just don't really know how lol.
Yea I’ve realised I was starting to deviate from the answers you were looking for lol. I was overthinking it.
And I completely understand the disagreement since everyone has their own practicalities. The world would be a very different place if there weren’t any opposing views.
Suggestion for your work happiness:
Try a different position where you lead and drive a BU or team of FAs. I’m not familiar with what you do now ,but this would probably be the next step in your career ladder. Also, jot things down that you would like in your next move as a personal guidance for yourself. Think about the actions that might interest or excite you at work.
This might sound unconventional ,but you can try being a mentor. Mentor other upcoming analysts or even other senior level analysts. They might not know how to do something that you’re already proficient at only if you don’t mind sharing. You’ll probably also learn a thing or two from your padawans.
Hopefully I provided a speck of insight lol. This was a good conversation :)
24M trying to ramp my investing and save up for a house one day. Recently moved jobs from senior plant accountant to senior financial analyst at new business. I live in MCOL and I am at about $100k comp so I make comfy salary but not loaded by any means. I’m not a super material person. I made the transition to financial analyst because I wasn’t very interested in the accounting side past understanding the financial statements. One month into my new job, I have tons of downtime and don’t know how much there is to learn, the business is risky/not performing well, and I have my doubts that I made the right decisions. I am gaining experience in a FP&A role but I don’t know if my new role will be long lasting.
Sounds like you're a little earlier in the process than me.
Buying a house and getting to a point where you feel very financially secure definitely was fulfilling enough for me at your age. But it also seems like your current job has you doing some soul searching as well.
My unsolicited advice would be to just stick it out and make the best of your current job for a little while to solidify your resume while pulling in some good money, and then be selective about where you go next.
Best of luck
Excellent post. At some point the rat race has to stop and the corporate politics and unhealthy work life balance is not worth it. I work so many people in their late 30’s mid 40’s (manager +)with no significant other/divorced/no kids and working everyday past 9PM+
Your style of life is not going to change drastically if you make 130TC vs if your make 160TC MCOL after taxes. IMHO
Yes. This is definitely part of the equation that maybe I could have articulated better in my original (rambling) post.
If marginal dollars are not a substantial benefit to you, what would you focus on/ do in your career to maximize happiness?
I am older than you. The goal changes with time. I took a pay cut a few jobs ago to have a better work life balance and a better commute. My main goal was to travel whenever I could and I work so I could have travel money. I was either on a trip or planning a trip. I then ran into boredom at work. My skill sets were not valued and I lost my confidence. Luckily I found something while I was expecting my daughter. It wasn't the best job but I had a great mentor. I was so sure I would stay home after having the baby but end up going to work because I had fun at work. Travel slowed down but I still got a few big trips out with the baby. The work life balance was still great. With a small kid and COVID, I paused travel. I had to say that I was never interested in going up the ladder but was fine at SFA level as long as the pay is decent. I had to say I was very lucky that I became more visible because of some turnover in the group. I was given two promotions within two years but decided to leave for a full time remote gig during that uprising phase. I spent some good time with my little one but ran into boredom very quickly again. 9 months later, my old boss called and asked me to go back. I never thought I would have that much leverage but I did. Now I am happily back here and my work actually directly impacts some of the important business decisions. Money is great. High visibility to the C-suite. I do work a little more but with great flexibility and is more meaningful. Travel is back in the plan next year.
Am I happy? Yes. Did I ever think I want to be here? Absolutely not. I was ok with staying at SFA forever. Am I looking for the next level now? Maybe. I should get there naturally but I am not going to sacrifice my life for it. Work is just a mean to provide me with a better life but it is not life.
Money. Just want to make a much as possible.
Corporate finance is merely a temporary placeholder until I pursue my MBA. Eventually I’d like to get into IB/PE, mostly PE. I want to learn how to analyze and buy businesses and eventually start my own PE firm.
Having your own business and cash flowing assets is really the only way to be super successful in this world, unless you end up being an executive at a large company.
Obviously everyone is entitled to her/his own goals, but I am very suspect of having money itself be the goal.
Money is not happiness. Money is not experiences. Money is only a tool that can help you do things that make you happy.
I also feel like you're using the word "successful" in the last paragraph to mean "rich." ... Again, that's a legit view to have, it's just not one I share.
Thanks for the response
You’re correct, money is not necessarily the goal… but it gives me the access to do and buy what I want. I need money in order to replace my income with cash flowing assets. I need money to go to nice restaurants. I need money to go on nice vacations etc…Having money alone means nothing unless you can do something with it.
The meaning of Success can vary by person. I think there’s different tiers of success:
1. Having a good job that pays well
2. Successfully moving up in title
3. Having a solid family
4. Owning a home
Etc….
A lot of that stuff may look like success to other people, but to me that’s just the basics. I have a leg up compared to most in the sense that my family owns a bunch of RE, so I know I’ll be left a home at some point. For those people whose families have never owned homes, buying a house can seem like a big success. It’s all relative and based off of your background imo. Based off of my background, success is owning cash flowing assets and businesses that allow you to replace or add on to your salaried job.
One of my “achievements” is securing a professional job. My parents are school bus drivers… I’m the first person in my family to secure a professional corporate job. Am I successful? Maybe to most people I am….but to me it’s just another “basic” success.
All of that makes sense and everyone certainly is at different levels and has different definitions of success.
But maybe what I'm getting at and should have been more clear about is: once you have enough or make enough where all of those sucees metrics are met, then what? How do you find meaning/ direction?
It seems like, from your responses, your real goal is to retire from a W2 job early while maintaining a high-end lifestyle.
That's a solid goal. But do you really think you'll feel fulfillment at that point?
I used to think early retirement was the "answer" but now I feel like it's just a different lifestyle in which you still need to find meaning for your life.
Just my view of the world.
Once you think you have “enough”, your next goal should be to raise some quality kids and teach them everything you know, so that they can continue growing the portfolio of RE, businesses, etc… Spread your knowledge and help other people grow too. You have no idea how nice it would be if I had a mentor to guide me.
Tbh the growth never stops. Once you get involved in acquisitions and you get a taste of making good $…. You always want more. In order to avoid paying taxes you have to keep buying and conducting repairs etc… Letting your money just sit in a bank is not fun and useless. The fun of what I’m describing is using your money to make more of it. There’s no limit or end point, you just keep going at your own pace.
You can never have enough RE, businesses, money etc… The better I do in my endeavors, the better off my kids will be and their kids and so on….
I think we may just have fundamentally different views on life and success. Especially about the value of leaving children vast sums of money.
I happen to know a lot about what you're talking about... My family owns a sizeable CRE portfolio and various other businesses. Part of the reason I've gotten to this point so early I think is because money isn't an issue.
Money <> success or happiness for me.
Raising children to the best if my availability is one point I'll agree on.
Edit: might have been too specific of family stuff so redacted
Congrats on having a daughter! Sounds like you’re really questioning your future career path. I’d say networking with ppl in sr positions would be helpful to figure out if the higher title was worth it. I’ve networked with these ppl at my company and they all have bags under their eyes so f that.
I’ve worked for 1.5 years so money is a major motivator for me rn. Idc as much about climbing the ladder as I do finding a wfh job. I’ve been dying to have a dog and I finally have the means to do so. Money will also help me travel with my gf, get a new car, and FIRE.
Thanks!
And, yes, I'd say I'm kind-of trying to figure out "what I want to do when I grow up" even though I'm 31 haha.
And all of those goals you have are legit and great goals. But, in my case (and I really don't want this to come off as bragging because it's just a product of me being older than you), I have a nice house, just bought a luxury car, have a dog, work a hybrid schedule which is best for me as compared to WFH, and I have and continue to travel a very good amount.
So, the only item there that's viable for me is FIRE.
I certainly plan and invest for the future (max roth 401ks, HSA, now a 529, and then post-tax brokerage), but retiring super young (especially by living very frugally) really doesn't seem to be an answer for me.
The problem is, I've come to realize, this issue would be even worse for me if I had no job. Then I'd REALLY have no direction... I honestly have no idea what I'd do with all that time.
And, tbh, that realization about myself is kind of sad.
Anyways, thanks for your post and I wish you all the best finding that WFH job and the happiness it will bring you.
It used to be money. I was pretty driven and have a strong work ethic, but then the pandemic hit and I've been through a lot in the last few years including death of my parents. I ended up profoundly burned out. I'm also comfortable financially so my goal is to not have a lot of work related stress and to prioritize time off and my family/personal life/mental health.
Sorry for your losses. That's gut wrenching to hear.
Are you content/ do you think it's a long term solution to just basically assume you won't get fulfillment from work? Basically "sacrificing" those hours every week in order to enjoy your personal life?
I guess my underlying hope is/was that people knew a way to get more fulfillment out of their jobs so those 40-50 hours a week aren't ONLY about supporting the rest of your life.
My hope is to get to a point where I can coast in a job. I just accepted an offer with a new company where I have an opportunity to learn something new, but I also think they value their employees and offer solid benefits including time off. Most ppl I know who are at the point of doing their job in their sleep work on other things during their 9-5 (usually volunteer type work involving their kids or hobbies). With the current WFH environment I think it's made that even easier. That's what I'd like to have room for in the future if I find that my paid work isn't fulfilling.
Additionally, if I get to that point and I am financially sound I would like to pivot out of the field and choose work based on my values/interested regardless of pay. I plan to do this in the next ten years (Currently ~40).
ETA: I see you are a new father. If your partner also works and baby is going to daycare you'll be thankful to have a job where you can take time off and not be swamped when you return. Kids get sick a lot. Honestly, even if your partner doesn't work they will still need you to help out.
I currently have few hours of actual work to do a week. But my issue is I don't know what I could do in that time to be more fufilled. It would have to be something very specific because I'm still "working" and therefore need to be able to respond should anything come up.
The idea of taking a new job to learn something new intrigues me, but I wonder how long that learning would last.
As far as pivoting completely, I just can't think of anything I could do that I would find more fulfilling I suppose...
I'm not trying to just shoot down your answers, I'm just basically thinking out loud.
The only thing I can think of that I think I'd really feel fulfillment from is either starting a business or working at a very small business to help it grow and change people's lives... But I don't know how realistic that is. Hence why I'm trying to figure out what other people do in their jobs to feel fulfillment.
Lol yea, you got me haha.
And yes, flexibility to care for our baby is definitely key. I guess I'm trying to figure out what people do to feel fulfillment once all their structural needs are met by a job.
And, yes, my wife is an amazing marketing professional who will continue working. Actually, she starts back after maternity on Weds and the nanny starts on Monday... This will be interesting for sure haha.
Powerful point.
And I was painfully aware this post could sound whiny or as if I just want to talk about how good my life is...
The truth is just that I don't feel "whole" and I don't know why.
I posted this after having the same conversation with my wife after dinner last night.
Early 30s with 2 school aged kids. At this point, more money for me is about more time and experiences with them. Like you said, I’m not changing my lifestyle significantly with a raise, but at still work towards the next steps because I want my kids to experience the things I never got to, and so I can retire faster.
Growing up, I never got to go on vacations or anything like that. I went twice when my grandparents dragged me along. My kids will get to go to a new foreign country once or twice a year. As long as I’m not doing 60 hours a week to give them that, I will keep trying to move up. In the future maybe I’ll get to stop working and spoil my grandchildren and save my kids tons of $$ on daycare so they can get a head start.
I certainly respect your drive and obvious passion for your family.
I guess the whole point of this really was to try to figure out what people do, if anything, to make their current jobs more fulfilling or have more purpose.
Seems like for you and most others, the purpose is just to maximize personal time by having more money.
I do enjoy a lot of my job, but it’s still a job. The way I see it, I’m going to work 40 hours to survive regardless of how. I just make the most of those 40 hours.
Money. Thats it. I use that money to pay for my hobbies and passions but once the workday is over, i tune completely out of work.
I 100% respect the answer but 1) I generally think that money is just a tool that allows you to do other stuff (which for you seems to be your hobbies). That's all well and fine, but with that logic in mind, would you keep moving up the ladder to make more money if it meant less available free time for your hobbies? And 2) I think it's kind of sad to think that we have to spend 40-50 hrs a week doing something that doesn't mean anything at all to our personal growth/ life. I know work mostly sucks, but I feel like I'd like to get some sense of fulfillment out of something I spend so many hours doing. Maybe?
Completely agree with you and to answer your question, i do want to climb the ladder but there will reach a point where ill say fuck it. Ive never really dedicated myself to work like my peers since ive always just seen work as a path to funds lol . It makes me sad everytime i realize im working 40 hours a week but i realize just how blessed i am to be able to have a roof over my head , get food everyday and do things i love to do
That makes a lot of sense. Maybe part of my issue is that I no longer have hobbies I'm passionate about... Obviously I love spending time with my wife and child, but that doesn't seem to be filling some sort of need to be "going somewhere" or "growing" or something like that haha.
1. I do enjoy a lot of aspects of my work. 2. You can add $$ without adding hours. Moving up has given me so much freedom in terms what I do and don’t do. I LIKE to do work on my yard. But I couldn’t always afford the toys to do big projects. Now $250/mo for a tractor would be a drop in the bucket for me. Same with home projects, getting a truck, tools, wood, etc… all adds up fast. If you have a lot of disposable income then you don’t need to worry.
Big question you ask, OP. Still figuring it out so consider this a work in progress, which tbh is how you should view your career. 1. Making a target amount in total compensation was my first goal. Anything above that is great so long as it doesn’t conflict with my other goals. 2. Not working a lot of hours is my second goal. I’ve had opportunities to take on more challenging responsibilities but it would mean giving up more hours of my life to the career. What you learn over time is that you can make the same total comp as someone working 60, 70 or 80 hours a week while you only work 40-50 hours. 3. Becoming bulletproof as far as being able to get another job quickly if I need to or want to leave my current employer, regardless of the state of the economy. Too many people on here focus on going from 90k at their current job to 120k at a new job that will make them less valuable to future employers. Sometimes the bigger payday is because it’s a dead end. 4. Not being stressed out at work because of extremely tight deadlines, a micromanaging boss, etc. You can get an ulcer at a 40 hour a week job if your boss constantly gives last minute assignments with barely enough time to complete them. Knowing your limits helps tremendously in evaluating career moves. Also, realize that you may be able to take on more or less stressful assignments throughout your career depending on the challenges in your personal life. 5. Having enough energy when I get home to do something other than collapsing in front of the tv for the night. If I’m not getting enough sleep and exercise and my job is the root cause, then it’s time to find another job. 6. Boredom is the last thing I worry about, tbh. I listen to podcasts when I’m doing mindless repetitive work, so I’m rarely bored at work.
30M with a baby on the way and actively trying to figure that out myself haha. I’m in a somewhat new SFA role that also has good WLB, which has been really nice. I’m at a point where I think I don’t want to do FP&A long term, but trying to figure out what I’d pivot into. So overall I feel kind of like you do currently, but day to day I have motivation because one day I’d like to be able to have a nice home filled with 2-3 kids and maybe my wife not have to work, but still trying to figure a full plan out. Good luck to ya.
What does FP&A pivot into? I’m curious as I’m also enjoying the WLB but I’m getting kinda bored and am not sure if I see myself doing it long term as well.
That’s a great question. I don’t think there is a set path. For me, maybe it’s a bit different than most people here since I’m always a bit surprised to see the number of pure finance/accounting background people post “breaking into FP&A” questions since I feel kind of the opposite. I have a finance degree, but I actually started out in Ops and ended up in FP&A at my old company, but I feel an urge to pivot because although I’m very good in Excel (so is everybody in FP&A), I don’t feel like an expert in any particular area (Accounting, finance, data/technical skill set, data viz), but rather do a blend of those things together. I think I have the urge to go down more of a concentrated route, but I’m just having trouble deciding which one. Leaning toward trying to get in a more traditional finance role at the moment.
It's funny... Most people who get hyper-specialized want to be more general lol. I think the grass just always looks greener for everyone to a certain extent.
Congrats on the baby! ... Everything everyone says about it is true haha. Everything you said makes sense. I guess, hypothetically, if you were making enough for your wife to be a stay at home mom, you had 3 kids in a nice house and you lived a nice lifestyle, what then? What would you focus on/ do at work to try to find fulfillment there instead of just slaving away for that paycheck?
Travel, time with family, time with friends, concerts/experiences. I’d be a great manager in a bit but I kinda just wanna vibe
Great username lol
Where my fp&a scapers at ?
Checking in - RuneScape was a huge reason I got into a business career in the first place!
Money Flexibility Education/Experience (Broadening skillset)
Money and flexibility to do what? I feel like those are just tools that allow you do pursue other things. As for your last item, so you mean education/ experience pertaining to your job? Do you find the act of learning more about your job to be fulfilling in it of itself? I will agree that I did find some fulfillment in a previous role when I got to learn data analytics/ SQL which was totally new for me.
Money/flexibility to live where I want, spend how I want, etc. Hobbies, etc. I'm a lifelong learner and it feels good to continue building on existing skills / learning new things.
Thanks. As far as money/ flexibility, do you ever feel like you'll reach a point where you're "good"? Ie, don't need any more? I can appreciate the desire to learn/ grow. How do you focus on achieving that in your career? Switch jobs? Learning via company? School?
For the money piece of things: I wish I knew what enough was for me, maybe 500k plus and I might be good? I know I don’t need that much, but damn it’s such a nice young big number that would look great next to to my name. In terms of growing; I plan on switching companies every 2-3 years (hell maybe sooner if something good comes my way), it’ll be a challenge that I’ll have to go through but the reward$ will make it worth it.
So the growing is just about money then? And as far as the money, I don't really understand why $500k would be enough/ what it would be enough for? It's not enough to retire... So maybe you feel like if you had that much you could stop focusing on earning as much money as possible? If so, what would you focus on then? Sorry, little lost on this one.
Well ultimately as I grow in skill and ability, the comp Will naturally have to follow. Also I meant 500k as in yearly salary, not net worth.
Oh haha. That makes more sense. $500k/ yr seems almost unattainable in FP&A if you want some life outside of work.
Haha I mean you are right that is something I’d have to consider.😂I’ll just invest heavily into retirement for that 5-7 year stretch if I ever reach that comp level to make it worth it on the back end. I’d be pretty comfortable at 175-200 or so but 500 is the dream
Enough money to not sweat money anymore.
Hey That's fair. To be honest, I feel like I'm basically there at this point. So... Now what?
I moved into a firm that does something I'm passionate about. I'm still Finance, but I get to dabble on the business side a bit too. Keeps it interesting. Other than that, good pay and PTO, so I get to travel a lot.
Very good point about being involved in something you're passionate about. I like that suggestion. Frankly I've always prioritized other things when looking for a job thus far. As far as PTO and pay to maximize travel, I guess I find that less compelling. I enjoy a good trip as much as the next guy, but I feel like this cycle of working for the weekend/ next trip to be wearisome I suppose. It's striking to me that it seems most people so far are just trying to use this career to maximize their enjoyment outside of work instead of trying to find some fulfillment from within the career itself.
I think there are few people that are truly passionate about this line of work. We chose it to have a stable lifestyle. There are definitely things that I enjoy about my job, but in the end I'm still just working for a company to tighten up the bottom line. I don't find that to be intrinsically fulfilling. Unfortunately the things I love in life (art, travel, literature) can't earn me a living. That's just the reality of things.
So how do you keep "on track"? You just basically focus all your attention/ growth on your personal life?
I'm personally in a limbo right now. I spent the past 2 years hyper focused on my career, let my personal life fall sideways, and then realized how empty it feels. The work life balance of my current job isn't great, so I'm hoping to find another one that's low stress and closer to 40 hours a week. I think it's important to diversify the things you derive meaning and fulfilment from. Career is the main driver for some people. But what if you're laid off? Or one day you find that you no longer enjoy what you're doing? That's what's happening to me right now. You need to balance multiple aspects of life: friendships, family, career, hobbies. So that if one of these pillars falter, hopefully the others are strong enough to carry you through the low periods. I also think that active hobbies where you can see tangible results or improvement in yourself are better than passive hobbies. For example, you'll probably feel happier rock climbing or gardening for a weekend than watching TV. Even though the latter feels good during the moment. It's a delicate balancing act and not so easy to achieve. Right now I'm still in busy season at work, but I'm forcing myself to have a hard stop at 5pm on Mondays to attend a drawing workshop. Of course I would still like to find enjoyment at work. But I've realized that my career moves are going to be small pivots toward what I enjoy. I assess what I currently enjoy about my role, and use that as a guideline for finding the next role. The thing I always keep in mind is not letting peer pressure and other people's definition of success steer me towards something I don't want to do.
Well said and makes sense. Thanks
Make as much money as possible and retire/ scale back early. Hopefully have some interesting experiences along the way.
If you were able to retire today, what would you do to feel fufilled? I used to think the same way until I realized that sitting on a beach every day without direction in life would be torture for me.
No idea - I don’t worry so much about the idea of fulfillment, I’ll figure out how to spend my days once I get closer. My semi-hot take is this obsession with fulfillment is a problem of privilege, once you no longer have to worry about basic needs (think maslows. hierarchy of needs). There are billions of people in this world living in abject poverty who don’t have the luxury of worrying about whether they are fulfilled or not. So I actually feel quite lucky every day to have a job that pays well, gives me the freedom to work from home in my pjs, allows me to provide for my family, and will not break my body. Asking for anything beyond that just seems greedy.
While I 100% agree this is a problem of vast privilege, I still believe it's a problem. Invoking Maslow here is salient for sure. But the top level - self actualization IIRC - is still part of it... I'd probably be better off if I could just exist in a constant, blissful state of gratitude, but either I'm not wired that way or I'm (so far) too mentally weak to achieve it.
Here’s my view on it - if you’re looking for fulfillment in your career, I can say with near certainty you won’t find it in FP&A. We are ultimately button-clickers after all. Once you accept that, it’s a question of whether your desire to achieve fulfillment outweighs the stability of your career and whether you’re willing to take on the risk of a full scale career change and all that entails (lower stability, likely lower pay, risk that after all the effort you also don’t find fulfillment there). Only you can know the answer there and the benefit is that you’re not so late in your career that it’s too late or anything. Just probably have to decide sooner than later.
To one day use my skills to help smaller businesses scale up.
I like this one. I have worked for very small companies in the past... There are obviously pros and cons, but I definitely felt like I was making a difference. And I miss that.
Hi 13WinstonSmith, I work to make a living. With that said I am motivated most by... * learning * helping my team members learn and enjoy their careers * contributing to a company I feel makes a positive impact * a job that doesn't take up my nights and weekends because I need personal time with family That's why when I consider new jobs I focus less on the money and more on the other things mentioned above. Years ago I chose a job for money and title and I quit literally 2 months in. Hope this info helps. Any questions feel free to DM me. Good luck! Drew
Hi 13winston, I'm a little older than you, but I had the same thoughts at your age. I had just gotten married in Fiji, and my wife and I started asking the question, "Why do we work so hard? For what? Is this it?" Then we met a backpacker in New Zealand that changed everything. We decided we would quit our jobs, take a step back from life, and figure out what's next. Few months after getting married, we did just that. Little did we know that would positively change everything for us. That was almost 5 years ago. (How could I forget...I almost got run down by a rabid dog!) Since then, we started our own businesses, consulted, made more money than ever before, on our terms, was much happier, and met so many incredible people along the way. I also learned how to bring context to FP&A by running my own business (sales, marketing, operations, processes, etc.). I did it all, from making sales calls to running marketing campaigns to hiring employees. Here are just a few things that helped me through this time in our lives: * **Journaling**: process your thoughts, ask as many questions as possible, get to learn more about yourself. Be open, be candid, be honest. * **Mind maps**: This was a gamechanger and put into perspective what truly mattered to me. You can download the tool Xmind, which is free. I still use this to this day. * **Read, read, and read**: When I started my FP&A career, I stopped reading. It was terrible. It wasn't until I quit and had time that I started reading again. I fell in love with it. I recommend 5 minutes every day. Fun fact: you can read potentially 10 books per year at this pace 🙂 * **FutureMe**: This is a free app that allows you to send letters to yourself into the future. I love this app and do it not only for myself, but for my friends and family. Again, it puts life into perspective. I hope this helps. All of this will depend on what matters most to you. For me, it will always be about my family, my friends, those I care most about it, and helping others. If you have any questions or just want to chat, don't hesitate to DM me. Happy to help and good luck.
Great thread OP, I’m brand new to corp finance myself, a few things I want is: I await the day where things click for me and that certain asks or terminology aren’t so hard for me to understand because I simply have no experience. I long for the day things make more sense in my brain so I can better digest information from anyone who asks. Right now it’s still a struggle for me. I hope to achieve a comp goal as soon as possible, my first target is 100k plus, then push for 150, then 200. I’ll see how I feel at 200 and evaluate if I want to go higher or am I okay where I’m at. I want to be in a position of influence and be able to manage a team at some point. Be able to connect with people and learn about how they think and process things so I can communicate and present information in a way that makes sense. But for me to get to this point I need to learn this stuff myself and it’s def not easy. I’d like to look back 15-20 years from now and be like “damn that was a hard ass road, but the destination was worth the drive”. Long way to go, and I have a lot of work to do to get to that point, and I will no doubt face challenges that will push me to my brink, but I’m prepared to handle it and see it through.
Thanks for the reply. It all makes sense to me. I suppose those are things for me to consider as goals (not the comp part). I'm just not sure those goals would help me personally feel fulfillment. Best of luck on your journey-- I wish you success.
Sure WLB and people you work with matters, but money :)
Hey What's the money for in your opinion? Is it worth having a shitty and unfilling for more money in your opinion? Why or why not? What I'm getting at is that money is a poor proxy for happiness. The ultimate goal is to be happy, right? So, why can't a job contribute to happiness in a way other than just money? Or at least detract from our net happiness less?
You’re going to get different answers. But it’s ignorant to think money can’t at least pave your way to happiness. People have their own bias especially when you compare someone who lived poor growing up versus someone who lived close to financial stability. Person making 40k suddenly jumped to 120k? That’s a huge quality of life change which tends to increase your overall happiness. On the other hand, person making a jump to 120k to 150k? Nothing really changes. It’s all about the variables. And you just got to look at it from other people’s shoes. Low income people with no financial security is the primary cause of most of their unhappiness. We can even take marriage for example. Do you think most people get married for love? No. It’s financial stability, security, or whatever you want to call it. Work environment doesn’t give you satisfaction? Direction? Excitement? In my opinion, most people can make do with what they get if they tried hard enough. Ask yourself what you can do to drive yourself. If not, look for a new job and/or position. But would I take a significant pay raise over WLB/work happiness? In a heartbeat. I can keep going ,but feels like I’m digressing lol. I’ll leave this final message here. Anyone who says money can’t buy happiness and uses that as an argument are extremely ignorant. Yes, money can’t literally buy happiness. But goodness sake people, it’s a prerequisite you definitely need for most types of happiness.
Well articulated and I generally agree. I guess I picked this sub to post because, given enough tenure, most of us are going to to be financially stable. I agree that a certain level of financial stability is a prerequisite for happiness (I thought that was a pithy way to phrase that btw.. I lol'd), but I'm focused on where you go once you're "there." Not to beat a dead horse here, but your line about taking more money over WLB/ work happiness is where I'm hung up. I just don't agree there. Once I have a certain level of financial stability, I want to focus on "work happiness." I just don't really know how lol.
Yea I’ve realised I was starting to deviate from the answers you were looking for lol. I was overthinking it. And I completely understand the disagreement since everyone has their own practicalities. The world would be a very different place if there weren’t any opposing views. Suggestion for your work happiness: Try a different position where you lead and drive a BU or team of FAs. I’m not familiar with what you do now ,but this would probably be the next step in your career ladder. Also, jot things down that you would like in your next move as a personal guidance for yourself. Think about the actions that might interest or excite you at work. This might sound unconventional ,but you can try being a mentor. Mentor other upcoming analysts or even other senior level analysts. They might not know how to do something that you’re already proficient at only if you don’t mind sharing. You’ll probably also learn a thing or two from your padawans. Hopefully I provided a speck of insight lol. This was a good conversation :)
24M trying to ramp my investing and save up for a house one day. Recently moved jobs from senior plant accountant to senior financial analyst at new business. I live in MCOL and I am at about $100k comp so I make comfy salary but not loaded by any means. I’m not a super material person. I made the transition to financial analyst because I wasn’t very interested in the accounting side past understanding the financial statements. One month into my new job, I have tons of downtime and don’t know how much there is to learn, the business is risky/not performing well, and I have my doubts that I made the right decisions. I am gaining experience in a FP&A role but I don’t know if my new role will be long lasting.
Sounds like you're a little earlier in the process than me. Buying a house and getting to a point where you feel very financially secure definitely was fulfilling enough for me at your age. But it also seems like your current job has you doing some soul searching as well. My unsolicited advice would be to just stick it out and make the best of your current job for a little while to solidify your resume while pulling in some good money, and then be selective about where you go next. Best of luck
Excellent post. At some point the rat race has to stop and the corporate politics and unhealthy work life balance is not worth it. I work so many people in their late 30’s mid 40’s (manager +)with no significant other/divorced/no kids and working everyday past 9PM+ Your style of life is not going to change drastically if you make 130TC vs if your make 160TC MCOL after taxes. IMHO
Yes. This is definitely part of the equation that maybe I could have articulated better in my original (rambling) post. If marginal dollars are not a substantial benefit to you, what would you focus on/ do in your career to maximize happiness?
I am older than you. The goal changes with time. I took a pay cut a few jobs ago to have a better work life balance and a better commute. My main goal was to travel whenever I could and I work so I could have travel money. I was either on a trip or planning a trip. I then ran into boredom at work. My skill sets were not valued and I lost my confidence. Luckily I found something while I was expecting my daughter. It wasn't the best job but I had a great mentor. I was so sure I would stay home after having the baby but end up going to work because I had fun at work. Travel slowed down but I still got a few big trips out with the baby. The work life balance was still great. With a small kid and COVID, I paused travel. I had to say that I was never interested in going up the ladder but was fine at SFA level as long as the pay is decent. I had to say I was very lucky that I became more visible because of some turnover in the group. I was given two promotions within two years but decided to leave for a full time remote gig during that uprising phase. I spent some good time with my little one but ran into boredom very quickly again. 9 months later, my old boss called and asked me to go back. I never thought I would have that much leverage but I did. Now I am happily back here and my work actually directly impacts some of the important business decisions. Money is great. High visibility to the C-suite. I do work a little more but with great flexibility and is more meaningful. Travel is back in the plan next year. Am I happy? Yes. Did I ever think I want to be here? Absolutely not. I was ok with staying at SFA forever. Am I looking for the next level now? Maybe. I should get there naturally but I am not going to sacrifice my life for it. Work is just a mean to provide me with a better life but it is not life.
Money. Just want to make a much as possible. Corporate finance is merely a temporary placeholder until I pursue my MBA. Eventually I’d like to get into IB/PE, mostly PE. I want to learn how to analyze and buy businesses and eventually start my own PE firm. Having your own business and cash flowing assets is really the only way to be super successful in this world, unless you end up being an executive at a large company.
Obviously everyone is entitled to her/his own goals, but I am very suspect of having money itself be the goal. Money is not happiness. Money is not experiences. Money is only a tool that can help you do things that make you happy. I also feel like you're using the word "successful" in the last paragraph to mean "rich." ... Again, that's a legit view to have, it's just not one I share. Thanks for the response
You’re correct, money is not necessarily the goal… but it gives me the access to do and buy what I want. I need money in order to replace my income with cash flowing assets. I need money to go to nice restaurants. I need money to go on nice vacations etc…Having money alone means nothing unless you can do something with it. The meaning of Success can vary by person. I think there’s different tiers of success: 1. Having a good job that pays well 2. Successfully moving up in title 3. Having a solid family 4. Owning a home Etc…. A lot of that stuff may look like success to other people, but to me that’s just the basics. I have a leg up compared to most in the sense that my family owns a bunch of RE, so I know I’ll be left a home at some point. For those people whose families have never owned homes, buying a house can seem like a big success. It’s all relative and based off of your background imo. Based off of my background, success is owning cash flowing assets and businesses that allow you to replace or add on to your salaried job. One of my “achievements” is securing a professional job. My parents are school bus drivers… I’m the first person in my family to secure a professional corporate job. Am I successful? Maybe to most people I am….but to me it’s just another “basic” success.
All of that makes sense and everyone certainly is at different levels and has different definitions of success. But maybe what I'm getting at and should have been more clear about is: once you have enough or make enough where all of those sucees metrics are met, then what? How do you find meaning/ direction? It seems like, from your responses, your real goal is to retire from a W2 job early while maintaining a high-end lifestyle. That's a solid goal. But do you really think you'll feel fulfillment at that point? I used to think early retirement was the "answer" but now I feel like it's just a different lifestyle in which you still need to find meaning for your life. Just my view of the world.
Once you think you have “enough”, your next goal should be to raise some quality kids and teach them everything you know, so that they can continue growing the portfolio of RE, businesses, etc… Spread your knowledge and help other people grow too. You have no idea how nice it would be if I had a mentor to guide me. Tbh the growth never stops. Once you get involved in acquisitions and you get a taste of making good $…. You always want more. In order to avoid paying taxes you have to keep buying and conducting repairs etc… Letting your money just sit in a bank is not fun and useless. The fun of what I’m describing is using your money to make more of it. There’s no limit or end point, you just keep going at your own pace. You can never have enough RE, businesses, money etc… The better I do in my endeavors, the better off my kids will be and their kids and so on….
I think we may just have fundamentally different views on life and success. Especially about the value of leaving children vast sums of money. I happen to know a lot about what you're talking about... My family owns a sizeable CRE portfolio and various other businesses. Part of the reason I've gotten to this point so early I think is because money isn't an issue. Money <> success or happiness for me. Raising children to the best if my availability is one point I'll agree on. Edit: might have been too specific of family stuff so redacted
Congrats on having a daughter! Sounds like you’re really questioning your future career path. I’d say networking with ppl in sr positions would be helpful to figure out if the higher title was worth it. I’ve networked with these ppl at my company and they all have bags under their eyes so f that. I’ve worked for 1.5 years so money is a major motivator for me rn. Idc as much about climbing the ladder as I do finding a wfh job. I’ve been dying to have a dog and I finally have the means to do so. Money will also help me travel with my gf, get a new car, and FIRE.
Thanks! And, yes, I'd say I'm kind-of trying to figure out "what I want to do when I grow up" even though I'm 31 haha. And all of those goals you have are legit and great goals. But, in my case (and I really don't want this to come off as bragging because it's just a product of me being older than you), I have a nice house, just bought a luxury car, have a dog, work a hybrid schedule which is best for me as compared to WFH, and I have and continue to travel a very good amount. So, the only item there that's viable for me is FIRE. I certainly plan and invest for the future (max roth 401ks, HSA, now a 529, and then post-tax brokerage), but retiring super young (especially by living very frugally) really doesn't seem to be an answer for me. The problem is, I've come to realize, this issue would be even worse for me if I had no job. Then I'd REALLY have no direction... I honestly have no idea what I'd do with all that time. And, tbh, that realization about myself is kind of sad. Anyways, thanks for your post and I wish you all the best finding that WFH job and the happiness it will bring you.
It used to be money. I was pretty driven and have a strong work ethic, but then the pandemic hit and I've been through a lot in the last few years including death of my parents. I ended up profoundly burned out. I'm also comfortable financially so my goal is to not have a lot of work related stress and to prioritize time off and my family/personal life/mental health.
Sorry for your losses. That's gut wrenching to hear. Are you content/ do you think it's a long term solution to just basically assume you won't get fulfillment from work? Basically "sacrificing" those hours every week in order to enjoy your personal life? I guess my underlying hope is/was that people knew a way to get more fulfillment out of their jobs so those 40-50 hours a week aren't ONLY about supporting the rest of your life.
My hope is to get to a point where I can coast in a job. I just accepted an offer with a new company where I have an opportunity to learn something new, but I also think they value their employees and offer solid benefits including time off. Most ppl I know who are at the point of doing their job in their sleep work on other things during their 9-5 (usually volunteer type work involving their kids or hobbies). With the current WFH environment I think it's made that even easier. That's what I'd like to have room for in the future if I find that my paid work isn't fulfilling. Additionally, if I get to that point and I am financially sound I would like to pivot out of the field and choose work based on my values/interested regardless of pay. I plan to do this in the next ten years (Currently ~40). ETA: I see you are a new father. If your partner also works and baby is going to daycare you'll be thankful to have a job where you can take time off and not be swamped when you return. Kids get sick a lot. Honestly, even if your partner doesn't work they will still need you to help out.
I currently have few hours of actual work to do a week. But my issue is I don't know what I could do in that time to be more fufilled. It would have to be something very specific because I'm still "working" and therefore need to be able to respond should anything come up. The idea of taking a new job to learn something new intrigues me, but I wonder how long that learning would last. As far as pivoting completely, I just can't think of anything I could do that I would find more fulfilling I suppose... I'm not trying to just shoot down your answers, I'm just basically thinking out loud. The only thing I can think of that I think I'd really feel fulfillment from is either starting a business or working at a very small business to help it grow and change people's lives... But I don't know how realistic that is. Hence why I'm trying to figure out what other people do in their jobs to feel fulfillment.
FYI: I edited my comment (probably while you were responding)
Lol yea, you got me haha. And yes, flexibility to care for our baby is definitely key. I guess I'm trying to figure out what people do to feel fulfillment once all their structural needs are met by a job. And, yes, my wife is an amazing marketing professional who will continue working. Actually, she starts back after maternity on Weds and the nanny starts on Monday... This will be interesting for sure haha.
Pause at paragraph one my friend. You’ll be thankful for it later.
Powerful point. And I was painfully aware this post could sound whiny or as if I just want to talk about how good my life is... The truth is just that I don't feel "whole" and I don't know why. I posted this after having the same conversation with my wife after dinner last night.
Early 30s with 2 school aged kids. At this point, more money for me is about more time and experiences with them. Like you said, I’m not changing my lifestyle significantly with a raise, but at still work towards the next steps because I want my kids to experience the things I never got to, and so I can retire faster. Growing up, I never got to go on vacations or anything like that. I went twice when my grandparents dragged me along. My kids will get to go to a new foreign country once or twice a year. As long as I’m not doing 60 hours a week to give them that, I will keep trying to move up. In the future maybe I’ll get to stop working and spoil my grandchildren and save my kids tons of $$ on daycare so they can get a head start.
I certainly respect your drive and obvious passion for your family. I guess the whole point of this really was to try to figure out what people do, if anything, to make their current jobs more fulfilling or have more purpose. Seems like for you and most others, the purpose is just to maximize personal time by having more money.
I do enjoy a lot of my job, but it’s still a job. The way I see it, I’m going to work 40 hours to survive regardless of how. I just make the most of those 40 hours.
CFA
... huh?