re: What's Most Important To You In Your Career?

At this point in my life (early 30s), I prioritize money only to the extent that I don't want to take a pay cut. I do not define myself by what I do for a living, so work/life balance is probably top priority (likely influenced by the fact that my work environment has taken a turn for the worse with the hiring of a few culture-killers, low resources, low morale, etc.)

Management skills are transferable to some extent, so changing industries wouldn't bother me. Job security would be my biggest concern in making a change like that.

Mine goes something like this:
1) Working on variety / interesting things
2) Being surrounded by great people
3) Pay

I won't ever consider a job in a city I don't want to live in so you may be able to say that's the ultimate trump card.

Pay takes care of itself. If I gain the right experience and work with people that make me smarter every day, then pay takes care of itself over time.

Once you reach a point, marginal value of each dollar diminishes for the short term. Those savings can become super valuable so I am not disregarding making more but it's less of a concern once reaching a certain level.

Regarding pay, equity theory is what matters most to me. I believe in meritocratic reward - the best people get paid the most - so as long as there is no feeling of pay inequity then things are in harmony.