Running on all Cylinders

It's my 4th week at the new job and while its still too early to call the "honeymoon" phase over, from what I can tell, I'm loving it. At times its almost too good as I've been very tempted to work on the projects from home. Maybe this is just the puppy love that accompanies any new relationship, but it's exhilarating. It's a different "exhilarating" then my prior investment banking work which generally was closer to "relief" that I could get the job done vs. the actual excitement of the work. The reason why I'm writing this post is because of the "hedonic treadmill" that we all run-on in life. I'm aware that like any other good thing, I don't want to take it for granted. In short, it would be a serious mistake if I woke up 6 months to 2 years from now and wasn't incredibly grateful for my current circumstances at work given what I could be doing.

Things to appreciate about the new job:

Waking up later helps me get more sleep. I used to wake up at 3:30 most mornings, now I get to wake up at 4:40. That's huge.

Shorter commute - Approximately 10-15 minutes vs. 20 - 40 minutes.

Constantly Feed - Breakfast and Lunch on the house everyday vs. rarely, if ever, treated at the old job. I also don't have to wait on any group orders.

No headaches (yet) - During my last month at the old job I literally got a headache nearly every day. It seemed like a physiological response that I needed to get out of there.

Better pay - 30%+ higher with the opportunity to hit my life targets in the next 10 years.

Better resources - Access to Bloomberg, sell-side research, transcripts, financial times, factset, wall st. Journal, Barron's, pretty much anything I could possibly need.

Calm and Patient Boss(es) - While I'm sure I will someday have a valuation disagreement with my boss, he is very considerate (as is most of the people I have met at the firm) and listens to what I have to say. That's not to say that everything will be rainbows and sunshine, but it's certainly not thunderheads on the horizon. At my old job I would be asked complex questions and would be cut off 5 seconds into a response. I would get yelled at for nothing. In comparison, my first week at the new firm, the founder had a meeting with the new guys (me and one other new hire) for lunch to get a chance to talk with us and ask questions.

Stimulating Work - This is my favorite part and I must never let myself take it for granted. Even if there are periods of pay fluctuation that are disappointing, this is by far one of the most important components to my professional happiness (2nd only to doing my best). Don't forget it.