The Landing

It’s been four months how I’ve been working in USA, and this couldn’t be a better decision regarding my professional development. My decision to “quit” traditional and investment banking paid insane dividends in the new world. My knowledge has been underutilized in Serbia, and all I could ever aspire to get from it would be at a “hobby level”.

Think that my landing gave me the worse paradigm of USA, that I could see. Not to offend anyone, but it felt like starting from the very bottom. This “bottom-up” approach led me to some pretty interesting conclusion, but also kept me depressed at times. And frankly, it still does from a time to time. But this is still only a “landing phase”. Will need a break at some point, it’s been stressful. Seems like it’s coming.

Typical Day

During the day, rarely I have spare time to truly “catch up” with myself. A lot of time spent commuting, organizing, doing and simply preparing for the next day. Think that the energy of the new continent got a better of me, and streamlined me pushing the maximum productivity out of me.

Wake up, brush your teeth, shave, get dressed, pack gym bag, don’t forget to pack the lunch, bring your equipment. Eat Breakfast. Sit in the car. Drive to work. Work. Eat. Work. Go to gym. Drive home. Eat. Sleep. Despite being repetitive, it became my little rhythm, that maintains my sanity.

The Impact

Your environment is a huge determinant of your personal success. When you are in the “fast-paced” environment, it seems like the energy of the whole environment “rubs off” on you, and streamlines you in the same direction.

This experience feels like it’s getting out the best out of me. Certainly builds patience and character.

Invisible Force

There is an underlaying emotion that there is a larger force at play in this country, moving all of these people towards value creation. This force is relentless, and if you “stop” it, it makes you feel like you are going through fall under the ground, through the cracks. No matter how “horrifying” this fear keeps me streamlined and focused like nothing else I’ve encountered before.

Even sickness can’t stop me

Never in my life have I’ve seen myself going sick to work, until I came here. I remember going to work with high fevers, on the verge of puking and when I could barely see. Still I would pull out my best possible game, and carry on fighting for my place under the sun of the new continent.

The Complecancy

However not everybody shares this kind of motivation and dedication to success. Some people are born here, and they don’t seem to feel this “urgency” that drives countless people who weren’t born here. You can notice them at McDonalds, splurging their milkshakes and Big Mac’s as the main sources of nutrition in their diet.

Complacency in USA is very easy to achieve and keep you stuck in a rut of where you found yourself. With little or no energy to improve your own life, That is the human in us. That is what happens to the children of the most immigrants that come here. The culture of entitlement and God given expectations puts people in this state of mind. That is the human nature, and not something we can personally affect.

The Danger

Quickly you can forget who you were, what values you carry and how you got to be where you are. That is the biggest danger of coming to the USA. Getting in a situation where it is easy to forget who you truly are. This danger is hidden, as it is not obvious. All of your memories will stick with you, just you will wake up to be a different person…