Rules to Live By

Today was very humid and stuffy. My apartment is on the top floor of the building so all of the heat rises into our apartment. I need to go buy a fan. Today I took advantage of a free day and did my laundry. I also spent the whole day studying for the CFA, except for when I watched the movie "Juno." It was a pretty good one - I liked the actress who played Juno. Maybe she would make a good trader.

In the afternoon I went into the office to see if anybody there needed help. Nobody did so I just sat at my desk and studied. It's nice being in a quiet place for once. Harlem is pretty loud at all hours of the day and night.

So, in concordance with some other analysts from my group, I've come up with the "10 Rules to Live by for the Summer." It's a list of things to remember as a summer analyst. Here they are:

#1: Always expect the unexpected. You should never be caught off guard and always be prepared with multiple back-up plans.

#2: Under-promise, over-deliver.

#3: If you are on time, you are late.

#4: It is always your fault. Place all successes on the team, all failures on yourself.

#5: Own the numbers.

#6: When responding to an email with your BlackBerry, remember that you have to capitalize the "e" in the "Re:" in the subject line so that it looks like you're sending it from your desktop.

#7: Attention to detail.

#8: If you don't know the answer, ask Google.

#9: If Google doesn't know, reach out to another intern.

#10: You are never "too busy." You must lead a FILO lifestyle.

Well there you have it. Those are some principles that have already been important for me during the internship. The times that I've screwed up are because I wasn't doing something on this list. Hopefully I can learn quickly so this all becomes second-nature.