23 yrs old. Leaving law school. Bright. Ambitious. Hard-working. Clueless.
Take the highest paying job. Student debt's gotta be paid. Plus the prestige. Proud parents. Bragging rights.
Long hours. Late nights. Weekend work. This is success.
Family events missed. It's okay. Just this once.
Friends catch-ups cancelled. They’ll understand. This is important. You’re in a tournament to make partner and you're going to win.
Five years later: cocooned in city-lawyer-life. Sandwiches on order. Dry cleaning service. No need to leave the desk. Luxury.
Lost touch with old friends but made new ones who fit better.
Ten-year itch. No longer so clueless. Would life outside be more fulfilling? Are the sacrifices worth the money? Sit on those thoughts: there’s a race to partnership to be won.
Creeping envy of friends who have weekends. Family catch-ups. Hobbies. Time to think.
Can’t change tack now: what a betrayal of everything that's been relinquished so far! Stay the course.
Must see rewards for this work. Buy expensive [house/car/art/clothes/wine/schooling/.....].
Fifteen years in, and the tournament is won: partnership achieved.
Success.
But the exhaustion. The insecurity. The relentlessness. The need to keep striving at all costs.
The distance from old friends. Family. Community.
The distance from Self.
The need for this identity because all others have been lost.
Can’t afford to leave: remember the house, car, art, wine?
Can’t afford to leave: don’t have time to think of another way.
Can’t afford to leave: who am I if not this?
TAKE A LOOK AT THIS WEEKEND'S ARTICLE IN THE TIMES: £140K STARTING SALARIES AT SOME LONDON FIRMS: https://lnkd.in/gh7d8F3
