re: Do you know anyone who has a high paying job but hate what they do?

Every person I know with a high paying job hates their job.

Hypocrisy warning (me)!

Me now: Time is the most precious resource we have. Cannot get more of it. Stuff, on the other hand...pernt: time! Therefore, I do not understand how anyone would trade their short time on Earth being miserable in what takes up most o their life.

Me 2012-15, 2005-09, and parts of 2003-04 (hehehehe): I was doing exactly this. $ > time.

Money is a tricky mofo. Need it to a point. After that point, it actually becomes a dissatisfier, meaning more of it makes you want more of it (and may tend to trade precious time for it).

Find that job that lines up with your DNA and economic opportunity (and $ will follow), not the other way around! ...my fresh view on this.

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We don't need 350 million photographers or youtbers in this country.

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My response will be anecdotal, so keep that in mind. I am sure there are many people out there who want to avoid stress at all costs. I've seen some of them. But I would have been someone you lumped into that cateogry previously.

I was quitting jobs any time they became stressful. I worked mostly manual labor jobs, with a lot of people I didn't click with, in (mostly) unpleasant environments. I would last on average about 3 months at these jobs because I would look around and think "frick this" because it was a shitty job. As you might imagine I was ridiculed by my family, those around me. I was irresponsible, "no-count", and people would constantly try to explain to me why life wasn't the way I thought it should be. And I actually started to believe them.

Then my then-girlfriend (now wife) and I got married and moved to Boise. And I kept working those same jobs, except this time when I quit I didn't have people shitting on me for quitting. There was no judgement, largely because my wife supported me and there were no critical voices. Without the critical voices telling me that I need to grow up, you know what I did? I grew up. I went back to school and got a degree. And I was scared that when I finished I'd get a job and feel stressed out all over again and quit, like I've done every time in the past. Because I've been told that I can't handle stress.

So I got a job as an accountant working from home, not very high pay, but a hell of a lot more than I'd make in a warehouse throwing trucks. When I got there, my supervisor allowed me to work and trusted me to do my job. I didn't feel any stress despite having a lot of work to do that challenged me. Despite having deadlines and things that needed to get done, I felt no stress at all. And then I realized that there was nothing inherently wrong with me, that I was not just a lazy entitled piece of shite. What I wanted was to be allowed to do my job without a supervisor coming back to check on things every hour because they don't trust their employees. I wanted to be able to be trusted and left alone.

And yes, this applies specifically to me. I don't at all think that there aren't lazy entitled people out there. But I was told (and believed) that I was one my entire adult life because I didn't think the stress of working in a hot warehouse cutting pipe for a-hole contractors was worth it. So I just wonder how many of the people that try to make it being a youtuber or a guitar player or go to Hollywood or dream of being a writer aren't really just searching for a normal job where they aren't being shite on.

I did pretty well when I hung my shingle, but absolutely none of what I practiced was enjoyable at all. Between that, and the concrete slowly creeping on my home, I said frick it and moved out here to bartend at a super high-end place. I make about 20% less, and being behind the mahogany has its own stressors, but I wouldn't trade living here for anything. At this point, the JD is just an interesting part of conversation.

I make a nice yearly six-figure income, with great perks. Until Covid, I loved it. Now, I do it only for the income and the occasional project that is extremely cool, classified or developed to be used in classified or secret programs.

But I've discovered that I really enjoy working on cars for performance and fun, and supporting my son's interest in racing. I'm thinking about leaving the comfort of my employer, and then going into private consulting, with my current employer being my first customer. This would let me work when I want, and then invest and build up a performance garage as a side business that I can give to my son. He's interning at a performance garage starting this summer, taking auto shop next year and is planning to get a degree in automotive engineering from University of Michigan. This is definitely a more interesting and fun activity than the current work that I do.

We'd have to have a lot of miserable camera salesman and software editors to sustain it, though.

It all depends on where the stress is coming from. I was good at my job and I actually loved that part of it. What I hated was being blamed for every little thing that was not my fault and having coworkers stabbing me in the back. This was happening during the crash and it was a cut throat world out there. I was tired of playing games and having to constantly defend myself.

Now I am a millwright, we are given a job to do, we go do it and nothing is said to us as long as we do our job. It's not perfect but atleast I don't have to worry about things that are not in my hands to control. I know I'll have a job until I get ready to retire.

It was not so much the job but rather the marriage that soured him...a change of scenery/location would help him.

Me. I have been a travel nurse for over 20 years and used to love it. We are finally making good money but the stress of working long hours, short-staffed with crazy responsibilities has me on edge. Expectations are unrealistic and I am ready to retire. I'm 62 and wanted to go til 65 but not sure if it worth it.