The Road Taken: A Reflection of My Employment Years

"A journey is life indeed

Daily choices we live by

Our fate determined"

Life is a journey of decisions made. What I am today is a result of myriad of decisions I made in the past. The most significant decision I had ever made was to quit employment over a year ago and pursue other personal interests that really matter to my family and me.

I worked for Australia and New Zealand Banking Group PNG Limited (ANZ) for over nine years in Lae, Morobe Province, Papua New Guinea. ANZ is predominantly an Australian and New Zealand bank but has branches in 32 countries across the globe including offices in New York and London. 80% of these countries are situated in South East Asia and the Pacific region.

I was promoted to a Relationship Manager position after eight years of dedicated loyalty and undivided commitment. ANZ was a great employer and I would recommend it to anyone who is contemplating a banking and/or finance career. I may be biased in saying this as ANZ was the second and the last company I have ever worked for in my line of employment career. The bank recruited me just eight months into working for my first employer after graduating from The Papua New Guinea University of Technology. The promotion was duly earned. I got a huge pay rise with additional benefits which included a company vehicle. I was a manager in a global banking corporation. I had made it. It was certainly progress and a step closer to my ultimate dream.

I thought my life was set. Onwards and upwards, right? Unfortunately, it was everything but that.

The experience gained that propelled my elevation up the corporate ladder was a life-changing gift wrapped in sometimes seemingly impossible challenges. It presented me with a new outlook on life. The experience was like going to a medical vision centre and getting a pair of reading glasses for the first time. I now see life – my life – in a new perspective. It dawned on me that the road I was travelling on will not lead me to my ultimate dream. Something did not add up. Something was missing. After 16 months (I was relationship manager for this period) of soul searching I eventually uncovered the truth – my truth. The truth of what my ultimate dream is. As individuals, we are solely responsible and accountable for our own aspirations and dreams.

American entrepreneur, author and motivational speaker, Jim Rohn (September 17, 1930 – December 5, 2009) once said that you cannot change your destination overnight, but you can change your direction overnight. I realized that my salary with its guaranteed annual increments was never going to secure my financial independence. I lacked financial intelligence. I found it hard to accept this fact initially. I mean I graduated with an accounting degree, worked in a global bank and I still lacked financial literacy basics. I voluntarily resigned from my managerial job to take time out of the rat race to reflect on life and uncover my personal truth and teach myself financial intelligence.

Papua New Guinean John Pora, creator and administrator of the Facebook page “Financial Literacy Basics for Papua New Guineans” sums it up so well for me. John’s angle focuses on investing as opposed to spending the three currencies of our economy. These currencies are time, energy and money.

1.       Time currency. I applied 90% or more of my 24 hours in a day to my job and career. I worked seven days a week and never once claimed overtime. I realized spending that much time and even more to my job only got me tangled up in corporate politics. What’s the point? I recognized that my family and I rightfully deserved more of my time instead.

2.       Energy currency. I am an athletic person and the exercises after hours supported my vigorous efforts to climb the corporate ladder. My energy was directly channeled to where I spent most of my time – my job. I was compensated with promotion which was great. Everyone wants to be promoted. I uncovered the truth that spending so much energy into my job was not translating into value that will sustain my financial independence. I was working harder and smarter for someone else’s wealth.

3.       Money currency. I was a bank manager and earned good money. A six-digit salary ensued all that time and energy spent. I had earned it. Everything was supposed to be great? Unfortunately I was living paycheck to paycheck. Apart from a block of land I bought for PGK10,000 there was nothing substantial that reflected the level of salary I enjoyed and the huge amount of time and energy I poured into my job. The truth is my son will never inherit my managerial position in ANZ.

Life is a very good teacher with very cruel lessons sometimes. But the lessons life has taught and continues to teach me are priceless. These lessons will certainly be taught to my children. Spending my time, energy and money chasing a salary will never guarantee my family’s financial independence. I willingly resigned from my six-digit salary job to pursue entrepreneurial interests that matter to me and my family. I will invest my time, energy and money to build a financially sound and sustainable future for my family which my son will inherit, multiply it and pass on down the line from generation to generations.

It took eight years for me to succeed in my job. I will attempt to replicate this success over the same number of years but this time by investing as opposed to spending my time, energy and money.

I now have a clearer picture of what I want my family to have in the future. I want them to be financial independent. The road I have taken will lead me to my personal truth. The old habits that have brought me to where I am today are slowly changing for the better and the bad ones will be discarded and replaced with new habits that strive to prosperity and not poverty.