The other morning, me and my husband were making our way back from the gym only for me to rush, get ready and go to office. Suddenly, my husband checks with me, “So, when was your last post on Elementum Money?” It was like he caught me unaware, asking me a question that I haven’t wanted to answer my inner voice about. I looked at him guiltily, trying to wriggle out of an uncomfortable truth, precisely being that I let some changes in life get in the way of being regular with Elementum Money.

What are the changes, you ask? I have been lucky enough to be given the chance to make a shift from marketing to Investment Counseling at the bank that I work with. Investment Counsellors are a new breed of specialists in India, being hired by banks and wealth management firms to help HNI (High Networth Individuals) clients with advice on their investments and the way forward.

For me, it has been a dream come true to make the switch. I believe very few organizations are open enough to allow people such cross-functional moves but I lucked out with mine. The changes have made it seem like a completely different job rather than a simple role switch. I now operate from a bank branch much further away from home than my erstwhile office was. I have needed to hunt for a new gym as my earlier office used to provide for that as well.

However, the biggest changes have come in the way my brain is now having to grasp with new things and new concepts. You know how Daniel Kahneman said that our brain has two sides to it – the fast one and the slow one. The fast part is pretty much instinctive and often comes after years of doing the same thing whereas the slow one takes time and is far more deliberate. I am now seeing that difference in my brain very starkly. For me, marketing had become a part which got done completely by my fast brain whereas now my rusty slow brain seems to be coming on its own in this new role.

The most surprising, yet not so surprising part has been how much I have liked the client interactions. I have met quite a few clients by now and as can be expected, they have all been a mixed bag. One of them has been this alpha woman who doesn’t really need my advice but just needs to ensure that I know what she wants to do with her complex web of investments with the bank. Then there are some of the old people who seem just happy to have someone listen to them and patiently explain recommendations on their investments. Finally, there are also the potential clients who will meet you but not trust you.

I had my apprehensions about this job as to whether I would be able to handle the tightrope walking between what is good for the client and the demands of the organization. Till now, the job has left my conscience pretty much intact!

In these three weeks, apart from this change in job, there has also been a fair amount of travel for leisure and the festive mood of Diwali. Personally, whatever discipline I strive to achieve at home goes out of the window as soon as I am out of Mumbai, be it waking up early, working out or writing. It is far easier to let go of the habit of writing than continue with it. In the last three weeks, I have been taking this easy way out. But, I am happy to report, now that I am fairly settled into the new role and the traveling is done with for a while, the writing discipline is ready to be enforced again. So, watch out for a new Personal Finance post every Monday and Personal Growth post every Friday.

P.S. I was unsure of the image but I think the metal welding displays action in quite a vivid manner!