I’m in my early thirties, had a successful career in finance and went to grad school to pivot industries within finance recently and landed a demanding internship for the summer. I was burned out before I started school, then the demanding networking and class schedule really accelerated my level of exhaustion. I have several hobbies – hunting, fishing, lifting, boxing, hanging out with my s/o and dog, seeing friends, try to stay active in church when i’m in town etc.. But no matter what I seem to do, I can’t pull my way out of this spiral of waking up and dreading the day.
I’m currently just in classes that seem like meaningless busy work, I got what I needed out of the MBA program, but still have another year and change of just this pointless work.
I dealt with the death of a sibling a few years ago, and have been in and out of therapy over the years but since that happened it’s just taken a huge toll on me. I find myself mindlessly scrolling my phone just to try and find some break in the day and even though my days aren’t as demanding any more, I find myself missing work and having a purpose besides read some bullshit case study.
I’ll go for long weekends fishing, or hunting – just doing things I love outside and feel great in the moment, but once I get back into the monotony, I just feel stuck. My s/o is really helpful, but she’s even burned out in her role and it’s like two drowning people trying to save the other. Any advice or insights?
EDIT: I’m not working as of now, just full time student. I’ve had multiple finance roles and loved them, but the job I was in prior to school burned me out the most, horrible job, work was not for me – hence the MBA… Haven’t been able to really recover since. I have also not started my internship, it is for the upcoming summer.
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You sound like you may have depression. Or in the wrong line of work
This is totally normal. Some of us go through an early version of a mid life crisis. I don’t enjoy any sort of work anymore… and I had to learn to break things down task by task. I slowly found there is parts I enjoy and parts I don’t. I try to focus on what I do enjoy and accept the negative as a necessary addition. Switching things up can help but it’s not an option for all of us.
I’ve known lots of people in finance and lots with MBAs. The people who truly thrive in those fields LOVE that shit. They love business. They love auditing. They love consulting. They love markets. They love negotiating. Most of all, they love winning. For 90% of the ones I’ve known, their only hobby is golf and they change girlfriends every 1-2 years.
You should sit down and really decide whether finance is for you. Personally, I could never do it and I don’t envy the people who do.
Is it possible for you two to go on a two week vacation overseas? I think experiencing a different culture helps refresh the mind a bit. We talk about getaways, now traveling internationally is an actual getaway!