Work and Life Balance of a Young Professional

      I am 27 years old and I consider myself as a young adult. Sometimes it gets me confused why at this stage in life –time moves very fast. Every Monday I immerse myself into the corporate world to begin my week and do my job. It became a routine until Friday comes. On a Friday night I clock out and get out of work and get excited for the weekend just like everybody else. As I go along the way home, there are moments when I stop there in the crowd and look around. I look at strangers within the range of my age and ask myself “Where are they going? Where are we going?”

     Here we are, young and aspiring, determined and obsessed with a dream. I thought I’ve had it all figured out by having a job, clocking in and out on weekdays and spend much of the weekends on family or friends. Weekends are all about leisure and amusement mostly having the regular routine from work on weekdays gives us a reason to escape and forget work for a while. There is this thing called work-life balance. I would evaluate myself within the matrix below which represents the work-life balance matrix.

    The matrix itself is not linear; most people especially young adults like me are all over the place within the matrix–it also varies depending on the day. If I could put myself inside the matrix and describe myself in general as of now the two closest combinations would be job/amusement and career/achievement.

     Job is obviously the primary source of living. Some have extra income on the side whether it’s a business or an investment. Most people are fortunate to have that opportunity to earn aside from basic salary from a regular job. Most employees especially here in our country are depending on the monthly salary which is the only source for survival. In my entire working career, I have experienced the difficulty of just surviving through the basic salary that is provided by the employer. It is a very limited amount just enough to eat and live throughout the day and sometimes it’s not just enough. Without much of purchasing power, life is limited to the fewest of options. So we became desperate, we became hungry not just for food but also for opportunity. It is that helpless feeling of letting time pass by and just let go of things that makes us feel light or happy because we are required to perform. It would affect my income if I don’t do my job obviously.

     As an entry level when I first got my job, I thought I was free from everything; I thought I could be independent and support myself all the way. I was wrong, as most elder people say “you will never know until you get there”. So I got there and instead of feeling the freedom by finishing college, I’ve felt the opposite. The first few months I knew that we were prisoners of the system. Instead of believing that we are free, it was the other way around. So far I have been from one company to another. I’ve felt that if I leave, things might be different and hopes could be more realistic so I weighed my options. It was the same, just the same thing that I’ve ever done since day one except for the fact that slowly my salary gets higher every time I transfer but with just very few adjustments. I’ve realized that it wasn’t the money that was important, it was the experience. I’ve learned a lot from the stock market and somehow I’ve mastered my craft as a floor trader. It is a very useful experience where I’ve got the chance to appreciate the economy as a whole. From there I got stuck, and realized that I need something more to reach my full potential. Otherwise I’d just get stuck in this comfort zone also known as prison. It’s a trap; it’s a rat race on a daily routine that I could never get out of if I don’t consider other options or risks.

     It all boils down to finding alternatives like taking up graduate studies, thinking about making my own business, considering investments like stocks or mutual funds, and the most reckless choice to think about which is not commendable is gambling. Win or lose, do or die, it’s just a losing game for the desperate. This all pretty much explain the job, career and achievement that makes us whole, that defines who we are and the current reason why we exist.

   I believe that after these three important cycles are fully or partially realized then the amusement part comes in. Why do we long for such an amusement? Why do we need to escape? As described in the matrix. Obviously it serves as a balance from the stressful and crazy life in developing a career. Instead of being the moment when we rediscover ourselves, thinking about who we ought to be, leisure is “the moment when amusements succeed to the maximum in making [us] . . . forget” (Jacques Ellul). It makes us forget who we are for a while, to escape, travel, and run or do something else that is not a part of the job. Just let loose, relax and feel life under the sun. For a moment we could discover greater things beyond our borders. We could feel human and not as a robot who is required to perform like equipment or a machine. It is doing something without duty and as others would see it, it could be without meaning. For individuals like us, other activities such as climbing above the mountains, travelling around the world, playing the sports we love or to simply find time with our loved ones could give such meaningful experience in our lives that never fail in bringing us the happiness and feeling of contentment. We get the joy of rediscovering ourselves every time we escape and sometimes we just want to get lost and be away from a stressful day job in the city. Leisure and amusement is the best escape but we need to work hard for it and we should always be at our best in doing our jobs and responsibilities towards the society.

Integral Human Development in the Stock Market

    

        There are seven factors that represent material goods in human development. The factors of development are bodily, cognitive, emotional, aesthetic, social, moral, and spiritual.  This issue focuses on how I assess those factors in the workplace. I am a stockbroker and I work in the stock market’s trading floor to perform my job on a daily basis.

    To assess bodily development in my workplace, I could say that I am comfortable with the area in our trading floor. It is fully air-conditioned and we are also provided with the equipment that we need in order to perform our daily tasks and operate for our business.  However, the long hours that we spend on sitting and staring at our computer screens are somehow exhausting. With the fast pace of trading in my nature of work, being there on my terminal could sometimes produce neck and back pain. It could also be exhausting at times that we have to entertain multiple clients in different phone lines. It is a very challenging role, I have enjoyed it for the past 6 years but there are always room for improvement with the way I work and how I could manage to adjust within the changes.

    I am happy with my work but there are times that I always feel that somethings lacking. I could describe it little by little but I can’t put in a bigger picture. Maybe those little things are things that I am not comfortable with. We can’t always have it all, in every job that we could love, there are always imperfections that we encounter along the way.

    Looking at the cognitive development in my workplace I believe that we have been put there to be in full use and to think smart during trading hours. It is not easy to be a stockbroker; it could be intense, stressful and requires a large amount of dedication in order to survive the daily tasks. Cognitive development is about using the abilities that are matched to proportionately challenging work. I could say that the stockbroker’s job requirements fit my character. Being in a fast paced work environment that requires a lot of energy and adrenaline has a stressful impression at first. But when I got used to it, somehow I’ve found my way to fit in and to enjoy my job. I’ve always wanted and exciting job where everything’s new and not in a repetitive routine. The stock market is always different every single day, you have to check what the news is worldwide and do some research to have a sentiment in the market. Every different day that I encounter in the stock market makes my job exciting. I became passionate about my job the longer I’ve put time and experience to it. I have to work smart and take every challenge as lessons throughout my experience as a stockbroker.

   Emotional development is very critical on my part. As a stockbroker, being emotional is our primary enemy. Not only we get emotional through volatile prices of the market, we are also responsible in explaining through our clients the best way that we can. It’s always a very exciting pace throughout a trading day and of course people get ecstatic when prices appreciate. On the other hand, there’s always a downside risk towards every investment or stock pick. That’s why internal conflict kicks in when prices turn sour. This leads to depression, anger, disappointment and disinterest towards the stock market that affects our jobs and relationship towards clients badly. As a stockbroker, we should be efficient and consistent that we need to perform like robots or machines. We shouldn’t be easily distracted by wild movements of the stock market or mood swings of the client. We should always be at our full potential where it is better if we feel less or feel nothing at all. Pure calculations, pure adrenalines rush and rapid trade executions are the only way to survive a trading day.

   Aesthetic development is one factor that is not really related to my nature of work. I can’t describe how stocks could be designed or manufactured for beauty. I guess it’s just the valuation or the fundamentals of a stock where investors could be interested into. Our researchers do their best to market those stocks that they believe has great value as of the present time and trend.

     Social development plays a large role in my nature of work. It is part of our daily task to talk with clients over the phone or face to face at times. We also have to communicate through other brokers and its representative to do our business. We play a vital role of building our network in order to be exposed to different clients and institutions that is necessary so we could expand our volume and earn more.  It is always difficult for me to build trust and comfort whenever I deal with other parties. It is something I still need to develop in my workplace. I could say that there’s a lot of room for improvement for me in terms of communicating where I could be quickly and easily be understood. In my nature of work we value time so much that it is necessary to make short conversations all the time. I think that I should develop more on how to make short conversations smart and effective.

   Moral development is very important on being a trading participant or a stockbroker. We should always be compliant with the rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE). There are a lot of ethical issues in trading in the stock market worldwide. Here in our country, there were crimes committed that is equal to robbery or theft that wasn’t being penalized in the past. The most common are fraudulent transactions like insider trading, market manipulation or wash sales. Those weren’t recognized and there wasn’t anyone who has been put to jail by committing those violations unlike in other countries where brokers and investors were monitored thoroughly by the SEC. In this present time, SEC together with PSE have found solutions in order to be more transparent, one big factor of this transparency are technology and expansion of market education. In today’s market in the PSE, I could say that they have improved a lot in terms of being transparent. Recently, there are brokers and investors that was suspended and penalized because of breach in market regulations or violating the market rules.

    Spiritual development in our workplace seems to be lacking. There is only one mass that we have every month which is held on first Friday of the month. During the opening of the market we only play the national anthem and we proceed to trading without prayers until the market closes. There is only a prayer before the market opens if it is an IPO or Initial Public Offering. It means that a private company will be listed on the stock market which only happens with an average of 5 times per year since I’ve worked in the stock market. There is very little and almost no religious activity that is done inside the market. I have noticed that individuals just practice their religious activities before or after work. I believe that faith depends upon those who are devoted with God. So whether they are inside or outside the job, God is always with them if they have faith. It will surely help and guide everyone whatever duties they have throughout the day if they carry God along with them.

St. John Baptist de La Salle's Leadership and Life Lessons

             St. John Baptist de La Salle was born from a wealthy family in Reims, France. He was the oldest among his four brothers and two sisters. During his time he grew up surrounded by the poor; many were hungry, in despair and ignorant. If others were given a chance to be in his shoes, most would probably settle down and look after his family and preserve their wealth and legacy the best that they can. St. La Salle wasn’t one of those people; he had a different way of looking into life. This was his higher purpose, to serve the poor and to provide education for everyone regardless of their social status. He wanted to have equal rights to education and that the poor could also be given the opportunity to learn. His purpose was to help others to also find their purpose by learning new skills that could be nurtured to make lives more meaningful.

                Most of us look at life as if we just need to earn money, be wealthy then preserve it and then stop from there. This wasn’t what he needed; he wanted more in life and to find its true meaning by doing something that could change the world for the better. To quote from his movie “Who Are My Own?” he said “real wealth is the ability to think and feel and not being possessed by possessions”. I was moved by this quote because its reality in general. Most people understand wealth by material things driven by self-interest and greed. Many are given the resources that could be put in greater use but is not shared to others. Some are apathetic that have too much but don’t give back to those who are in need. St. La Salle was aware of those things.

         There’s another quote from him during a conversation with his Eminence saying that “if we do not change ourselves, others will do it for us”. The way I understand it, he already knew that he had to embrace change. He already knew that he needs to take the risk and be indifferent to prove his point. If he doesn’t do it then others will but not as soon as he could possibly do. His purpose was to serve and provide equality giving free education. He already knew that he will lose from his competitors and those that protests against his good intentions. It was a heroic act having the courage to lose and fail to what was right. At first he was struggling to maintain and expand his school but along the way he became an inspiration to others and failure became success.

       He dedicated much of his life to the education of poor children in France. He did it without thinking of something in return. He just looked forward and was optimistic about the future of the children. He was very positive in keeping his dream and the dreams of others alive. His example serves as a motivation to accept life and find its meaning. It is by taking the bad to make things better the next time around. If we keep that dream and promise to ourselves, we have to keep it no matter what happens. So we keep on trying and learn from those mistakes or failures and stand up again if we fall instead of wallowing in the dirt. Some of us can’t accept first attempt failures and takes too much time to recover again. It hurts us that deep that we tend to wallow in self-pity and let our dreams die. With just a little damage inflicted upon our system doesn’t mean that we need to give everything up that easy.

        As a person, I believe that those failures and damages are the fundamentals to become stronger. Just like St. La Salle, he never gave up on his goal to provide free education even though he encountered a lot of problems along the way. Determination and perseverance was always his key to success even though it wasn’t the easiest road to follow. It has always been a motivator to realize that you’ve had to be better having experienced the worst. In order to be closer to a certain goal, there are always risks that are needed to be taken for me to be able to get there. It is somehow impossible to have room for growth if I would be just sticking inside my comfort zone. I’ve always wanted to get out there and experience life by learning through failures and stand up again to improve and succeed.

       As a leader, it has always been a motivation for me to think about the alternatives whenever a problem is being encountered. Just like St. La Salle who always found ways to continue his mission to open up schools during those difficult times. The greatest thing that I’ve ever learned I believe is to move on. If I never move on and just cling to the past then I will never make it to the next step and goal. It’s the discipline that motivates me as a leader and it takes time to realize that we don’t always need to look past just to get what we need. There’s always the present and the future that we could be more concerned about and plan to take action then lead it to what happens next.

     As a business leader, it is very important for me to practice compassion. St. La Salle was very compassionate to the poor especially to the children that he wanted to provide free education for them. As he said in the movie “There’s no class distinction among children. If we can open up their minds and reach past the boundaries marked with rich and poor, the world would be a brighter place.” It is always important for me lead by addressing the need of others. I want to put myself among those that are under my lead and understand them better in order to communicate well and share a common goal.

      We can always make a difference whoever we are and whatever we do if we could just easily accept change, we could be the agent of change that will save lives.