

Michael Lewis: A Wall Street Job Can’t Match a Calling in Life - gaika
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=aBabxZ9WD2cE

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skaylie
I'm a "recovering" investment banker (I'm about to get my three-year chip!)
and there's a lot in this article that's very interesting. Working on Wall St.
and living in NYC can really warp your perspective on life and money. When
making 10 times what the average family makes in a year is considered a bad
year, something is very distorted. It must seem devastating for all of the
bankers getting laid off or uncertain about their futures, but once the dust
settles, they'll be okay if they've lived below their considerable means. It
seems that the key to financial happiness is to live within your means.
Perhaps if more people did that instead of cashing out the equity on their
McMansions, there'd be a bunch more happiness to go around and this guy's firm
wouldn't be in the headlines every week...

As for making your living by doing your calling, you either have to make some
sacrifices or be very fortunate and have your calling happen to be something
that's lucrative. Unless you work for a job that is minimally demanding, you
most likely will only become very successful if you truly have some calling
for it. Otherwise you'll probably tread water and have to find fulfillment in
other parts of your life.

You start having real problems if you work at a demanding job that you don't
have a calling for. I did that for years and it could be very difficult. I was
always somewhat awed by the bankers I worked with who absolutely loved it and
it clearly was their calling. Often, their third wives were very happy to
enjoy the fruits of their labor.

Making the switch from Wall St. was difficult and it really took a little bit
of time to put the whole money thing into perspective. Now, I've found a
calling creating software and am optimistic that I'm one of the lucky ones
whose calling can be lucrative. Now if we can only start generating revenue...

~~~
azanar
_As for making your living by doing your calling, you either have to make some
sacrifices or be very fortunate and have your calling happen to be something
that's lucrative. Unless you work for a job that is minimally demanding, you
most likely will only become very successful if you truly have some calling
for it. Otherwise you'll probably tread water and have to find fulfillment in
other parts of your life._

From the perspective of someone who's been on and seen both sides, is it worth
making the sacrifices to live by one's calling if the work isn't very
lucrative? Or is it more worthwhile to make sacrifices in what one does for a
living to make it easier to find fulfillment elsewhere? Has your opinion on
this changed between starting as an IB and where you are now as a software
developer?

I ask because your thoughts above reminded me the number of different
conversations I've had with people about comfort and fulfillment, and how much
one can realistically hope to find either in what they do for a living. Some
have even go so far as to suggest _not_ doing one's calling for fulfillment,
as they will likely have their passions crushed by some nameless corporate
structure.

For perspective, my stance recently has been that aligning both is a
worthwhile experiment, and that those who sacrifice other things in doing so
will likely find those sacrifices aren't so painful in hindsight (excepting
sacrificing things like food, clothing, shelter, etc). Just from the people
I've known, those who have worked by their calling seem overall more fulfilled
than those who looked elsewhere after-hours. But I'll admit my data set is
pretty small, and am curious what others experiences have been.

~~~
shimon
I think there are some fallacious connotations to the word "calling", not
unlike those for the word "soulmate". You probably don't have exactly one,
unchanging calling; but there are probably some general themes about the world
that excite you enough to try your hardest.

If you have identified those themes, you might be able to work at your calling
in a large variety of roles. For instance, one theme I've come back to over
and over again over many years is what I'll call, for the moment, "universal
programmability" -- the ability of people to improve their tools and
environment _themselves,_ rather than simply using the tools and spaces that
were previously established by a distant authority. I see ways to explore this
theme in software, which is how I make a living. But I have also thought a lot
about its implications in architecture, and I'm pretty sure that if I had
decided to pursue architecture instead of software development, I could have
served my calling in that realm. I also think this theme could work in a
government career.

So what does that mean? I think it suggests that the meta-challenge in
directing your life centers on learning about yourself, and developing an
understanding of your own motivations that isn't necessarily framed in typical
professional or academic terms.

On the other hand, it seems that some people can be very effectively motivated
by fitting in and becoming the next great doctor/lawyer/investment banker. I'm
not sure how much those people are motivated by a desire to prove their worth
relative to some well-known societal benchmark, or if there are just a lot of
people who find their calling in these fields. Articles like this one,
however, suggest that many people pursue these widely-respected careers simply
because they haven't found something feasible that they care about more. That
search can require a lot of courage and passion, and might even be something
that is made possible (or impossible) based on early childhood upbringing.

So in short: the balance that's right for you depends on your personality and
circumstances. There's no general answer by definition; believing that there's
a general answer may be the most widespread fallacy.

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fortes
Most interesting quote (in my opinion):

 _Job vs. Calling

The distinction is artificial but worth drawing. A job will never satisfy you
all by itself, but it will afford you security and the chance to pursue an
exciting and fulfilling life outside of your work. A calling is an activity
you find so compelling that you wind up organizing your entire self around it
— often to the detriment of your life outside of it.

There’s no shame in either. Each has costs and benefits. There is no reason to
make a fetish of your career. There are activities other than work in which to
find meaning and pleasure and even a sense of self-importance — you just need
to learn how to look._

Having something that is both a calling & a job may be a luxury or a curse. I
have yet to find it, so they've been separate for me so far.

~~~
kirse
This too: _some of your anxiety is caused by your desire for the benefits of
each -- job and calling -- without the costs._

I think every young person, including myself, tries to have it all and we
don't realize that something has to be sacrificed. For awhile I wasn't willing
to fully dedicate myself to my startup because I knew that to do the best I
could it would have to become my life. What killed me was that I had just
graduated and felt that I would lose all my great new friends and lose my
weekend social life. It took me a couple months to realize -- So what?

Unless it's your health or spouse/kids, pretty much anything is worth the
perceived "sacrifice" when you're pursuing your own calling. Waking up each
day with that enveloping purpose and drive is such an awesome feeling.

~~~
briancooley
_Unless it's your health or spouse/kids, pretty much anything is worth the
sacrifice when you're pursuing your own calling. Waking up each day with that
enveloping purpose and drive is such an awesome feeling._

The flip side, which I think I am on the verge of experiencing, is that to
sacrifice having the feeling of purpose and drive might end up costing you
your health and/or family.

Never underestimate the toll that denying yourself can have on your health and
relationships.

~~~
azanar
You're not the only person I've heard from to experience that feeling,
although you are the first I've heard from to be so candid about the costs of
such sacrifice. Others I've discussed these feelings with still feel an
unerring duty to sacrifice themselves to their families. It seems that the
prevailing wisdom of families would be that feelings of family instability are
a result of not sacrificing enough, and that one ought to sacrifice more. I
fear at least one may not realize what is happening until he loses what he is
sacrificing himself to. I get the vaguely foreboding sense that his situation
is not all that unique. Thank you for this. Although I shouldn't need such
validation, it helps to hear someone else say what I've been wondering about
for some time; it helps counter the rhetoric of those who suggest I will be a
bad parent for wondering how much sacrifice is really healthy for the
individual and the family, and not immediately answering as much as humanly
possible.

~~~
light3
Aye, this also has truth. I always hold the opinion that my parents sacrificed
too much, they set out and worked long hours in hope to provide a better
future for themselves and me. However they did not revise their thinking, and
even 10 years down the road when finance was no longer an issue they're still
inexplicably drudging along, all in the name of sacrifice.

This illustrates that sacrifice prolonged has dangers, namely it dulls
purpose, and gives you an excuse to choose a passive approach to life.

This type of sacrifice is different in the sense you're sacrificing for 'a
better life' as opposed to sacrificing for 'your purpose' or the purpose of
your family. And its very dangerous to sacrifice for 'a better life' per se,
because we humans are never satisfied ;p

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dpapathanasiou
There's an interview with Lewis talking about the same subject here:
[http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=9742937...](http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=97429370)

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iamwil
It'd be great if some of the college kids that were going to be in finance
became teachers instead. Problem is we don't quite have the right incentives
set up here in the US.

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alex_c
_on the other, your instinct to abandon your chosen career the moment it
ceases to offer an easy path to fame and fortune, suggests that what you’re
really in the market for is a job._

I don't really follow the logic there. That makes sense only if the career he
wants to abandon already happens to be his calling.

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jwilliams
Just because some choose Wall St for the wrong reasons doesn't mean it's not a
calling for others...

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jwesley
Not anymore, what with the economy how it is the bonuses are barely anything!

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kingkongrevenge
A word like "calling" sure triggers my hokey-bullshit detector.

Alternately, I might think it's a little blasphemous. Following "the call"
means renouncing secular life and swearing an oath to serve god and the
church. It doesn't mean finding a job that makes you happy.

