Forging Your Finance Career: From “Born Poor” to Glass Ceiling Smasher
Choosing to pursue a career in finance is no easy feat. It demands laser-sharp analytical skills, an unrelenting eye for detail, and the mental stamina to navigate labyrinthine regulations and market complexities daily.
But perhaps the biggest prerequisite isn’t taught in textbooks – an unwavering hunger to rewrite your life’s narrative from humble beginnings to lofty heights. As the saying goes, you can’t control being born into poverty, but allowing yourself to remain impoverished is very much a choice.
When I embarked on my finance journey, I was keenly aware that the odds were stacked against me. But I also realized that the two things permanently hardwired into my DNA – my genes and my parents’ circumstances – were also the two things I had no power to change.
What I could control, however, was my mindset and my actions. I chose to operate from a “swim or sink” reality of pursuing big dreams or accepting a life of lack.
Here are a few powerful mindset principles that propelled me from “born poor” circumstances to becoming a high-achiever in finance:
1. Embrace hunger as a driving force, not a handicap
2. Develop a “whatever it takes” attitude towards upskilling
3. Seek out mentors who travelled similar paths
4, Focus relentlessly on areas within your control
5. Cultivate supreme resilience in the face of setbacks
Because the truth is, while the finance industry rewards elite skills and cognitive horsepower, what often separates the good from the great is an unwavering will to outwork, outlearn and outmaneuver any obstacle in your path.
It’s forging this mental toughness – the ability to wake up daily as a glass ceiling smasher despite adverse starting points – that unlocks the doors to elite finance careers.
So to those walking a similar journey from underdog origins towards financial success, I salute you. The path will be arduous, but we know that the hunger and drive that guided us here won’t be easily extinguished.
Let’s reign as a new generation of “born poor, never stayed poor” luminaries who rewrote the script through sheer griteratios.