Pilot - Let's not waste our lives!

So many smart people have told us the importance of doing what we love. We have all seen or read Steve Jobs' infamous Stanford commencement speech. Yes people, "Stay hungry. Stay foolish" Steve says. 

So why are we not listening to Steve? Cause Steve was a very smart guy and we all have no doubt about it.

I have been in the banking industry for the last 8 years. I started a summer internship in 2007 in the hot leading investment bank of the moment (it probably still is). My peers were so excited, ambitious, driven. People were indeed hungry. 

But somehow, 8 years down the line, I am in another leading investment bank and this time the picture is very different. I am surrounded by people who do not want to be here. They are all a bit tired, disillusioned. They have been through the biggest financial crisis of all time and it seems they never really got out of it. The young ones never really knew the glorious years of free food, free parties, big bonuses and yet are expected to work a lot (that's min. 12 hours per day with no lunch break for those unfamiliar with the industry). They also have realised by now that these years will never be back, at least not for them. The old ones feel a bit stuck because they started to send their kids in private school pre-2007 and bought a big house with an equally big mortgage thinking they will always be able to afford it. 

So, what happened? The motives were simply not good enough. I have met a lot of people in my career and very few of my colleagues actually have a love of financial markets. The majority of people I know chose this path because it was trendy, interesting and it made money. Today, in my team, it seems everyone would rather be somewhere else. And there is some comfort in sharing that with your colleagues, always jokingly of course - cause you never know. Complaining together is part of the ritual, and it brings each other sympathy and solidarity. And you need it when the job is not really your passion. 

For me though, it was a trigger in deciding to live a new life. Hearing all these people complaining did not make me feel better about my own situation. It just opened my eyes (see one of my favourite fable La Besace from La Fontaine). Do I want to become my boss (sometimes a criteria to know if you are in the right place)? Do I want to ever feel trapped in a job I don't really like because I got accustomed to an expensive lifestyle? Do I want to reach the point where I feel "I don't have a choice"? As a minion once said: "Eeeeeer no".

So I decided to leave to do something I am passionate about so I can have a shot of having a great career indeed. Actually, passionate is not even enough: I want to be like this guy and be obsessed about what I do. 

It sounds scary. This is probably why most of us haven't done it. Yes, some friends will not understand why I quit a low 6 figure salary job to do "something I love". And this is why I write today: it's actually easy if you remember the below. One of my best friends made me realise the most important thing that I have learnt so far in my humble life:

"Everyday that I do a job I dislike, I waste a day. I waste a day of my life. 

And if every day I am not enjoying my day but instead, I am waiting for the end of the day, and if I can realise that my life is made of all these days, well I am in fact waiting for the end of my life. I am wasting my life."

It is hard to convey how this idea changed my life. Life is precious. We should absolutely love it.

So, beloved reader, if every day you are more or less waiting for the end of the day to start living, I urge you to reconsider your life choices. Listen to Steve, to my friend or find a way to understand how important this is.

Be brave, stay hungry, stay foolish. We don't know what tomorrow will be made of, and we can't live life as if today was our last day, but we have to build a life we do not need to escape from and we might as well start today. We have only one life and this is it, this is now.