"What's the longest time you have worked without a
vacation?" This is the topic that caught my attention while
I was reading a CFA forum earlier today.
Many of the responses were quite appalling: 14 months ago
but has since worked every single public holiday, 2 years 7
months, 4 years and one analyst even said going on 6 years!
Time management and work life balance are two major
challenges. Granted these answers may represent only the
more extreme cases, it is indicative that being a financial
analyst is one of the more stressful occupations. Financial
analysts who don't learn these two lessons will sooner or
later get burned out.
Often times, financial analysts feel bad about taking their
vacations because there is always time-sensitive work to be
done. The work pile keeps growing when you are away from
the office. So you need to make a less painful choice of
the two: taking your vacation now and put in a week of
all-nighters to play catch up or skip the vacation to avoid
falling behind.
Other times, you may feel that if you'll just sacrifice
your personal life temporarily for now, you will establish
your career sooner. Once your position with the company is
secure, you'll take your vacations.
Companies provide vacation days for a reason. You need your
rest to re-energize and de-stress to prevent burnout as
much as any machinery needs downtime for maintenance and
prevent over-heating.
Think of your life as a wheel made up of these eight spokes:
1. Health
2. Wealth
3. Family and friends
4. Relationships
5. Career/job
6. Playtime, hobbies and fun
7. Personal development
8. Contribution
Rate yours from 0-10, with 0 being non-existent and the
center of the wheel while 10 being the best possible and
the rim of the wheel. Now connect them.
What does your wheel look like?
If your wheel is any shape but round, your life cannot move
forward with ease. You likely will have trouble staying
focused at work when you have family or relationship
problems. You are likely to grow resentful of the heavy
workload without fun for an extended time and will
gradually lose your passion in the career that once
motivated and excited you.
For total success in the long-term, the whole of you need
to move forward together, not just a part of you. Only when
your wheel is round and at a maximum of 10 for all aspects
of your life will it take you where you want to go much
faster, much further and with much more ease than any
crooked wheel.
----------------------------------------------------
Corinne Lor is a success coach for professionals in the
banking and finance industry.
http://www.financialanalystblog.com
No comments:
Post a Comment