Talking about money is still a huge taboo. As a woman, and especially as a European woman, and more than anything else, as a half Swiss woman. I still want to do it.
I love money.
I know I should not be saying that, but I do. I should not be saying that because of various reasons. First of all, because I am (half) Swiss, secondly because I am a woman and a real Lady doesn’t talk about money, and last but not least because we do not talk about money in Europe, not to mention Switzerland.
Well, I am still going to write about this.
It’s 2020 and the world is evolving, to me it looks like global consciousness is changing and people are becoming more and more aware of what it is that really counts.
Making more money is something we should all do to achieve our goals, help others in need, and to have choices in life. It is for the betterment of our own experience in life. There is no issue in making money. Lots of.
Money does help you in so many aspects of life: It gives you stability, reassurance, freedom. It allows you to live a good life, and the more we have and make the more we should be supposed to enjoy it. To me money equals freedom of action.
I have worked for over 15 years in Wealth Management. At the beginning, when I was 24 years old, I only wanted to work for money. Social status came with it as well, and working in the industry, appeared to be very prestigious to me. I felt privileged, and I certainly was. I had an amazing career. I got opportunities, interesting jobs and roles, great managers, and also some I could not stand, like I think happens to everybody.
When I got to the point where I realised that I actually did not fit the financial environment, (after more than 10 years in the industry) and I started reflecting on whether I could do something else and most of all what, I also began to reconsider the value of money.
I did that by asking myself questions like:
Was it really worth staying there for the rest of my life?
Was that it?
Was money the only thing I was going to get out of my work?
What else could I do that can bring me money AND fulfilment?
And most of all, I asked myself:
Was money going to buy me joy, excitement, trust, love, (real) friendship, time, purpose, health, manners confidence, inner peace, family, loyalty, positive attitude, respect, no emotional pain, truth, talent, wisdom, fun?
The answer is a simple NO. The things I was craving, could not be bought by money.
None of them.
I also learned one fundamental thing: You should not make money at the expense of your health at any point in life. Unfortunately burnout seems to have become part of our professional lives nowadays, but this is not how it is supposed to be.
Like NEVER.
Resisting in a career that makes you unhappy, where you know you do not belong and justifying it only with the money at the end of the month, is the worst thing you can do to yourself, your relationship and your family.
(yes, your career happiness impacts all of you, not only your professional life)
You can make good money and have a career that fulfils you, one does not exclude the other.
There are tons of people I know, that associate a lot of feelings with money. Money is a highly emotional issue. People connect a ton of feelings with it.
If you are currently thinking of a solution to find a way out of a dissatisfactory professional situation, but think that you can stay for another couple of years- because you are making good money, start by asking yourself this question: “What is money worth to me?”
‘Man’ sacrifices his/her health to make money. Then he sacrifices money to recuperate his health”
Dalai Lama
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