I recently turned down a role that paid more than I’ve ever made because the schedule felt terrifying. Ever since I’ve been questioning whether that was a horrible career decision. I keep thinking about where the line is between ambition and self-preservation. At what point did you start choosing sanity over salary? And did it actually work out financially in the long run?

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The choice is made and over with now. You have to trust yourself. You made the best decision with the information you had at the time.

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I’ve been prioritizing sanity since the start and I’ve never regretted it. What’s the point of money if you don’t have the time or bandwidth to enjoy it? I’ve definitely felt the strain, like with student loans, but I still stand by my decision to skip Big Law and eventually leave private practice. In my current role I’ve also turned down promotions a couple times before accepting them. I’ve told my bosses that I want the promotion but I want to help the office so I don’t want to take something I don’t have the bandwidth for. That would only hurt the office, it wouldn’t serve leadership’s goals. They have respected that and continued to make the offers when positions opened until I accepted them. Your mileage may vary, but if you’re at an office that doesn’t care about burning you out then it’s probably not a good office to stay in anyway.

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This!

I would choose sanity over salary all the time as long as my salary is sufficient for my reasonable life needs and I don’t need a luxury style.

I was interviewing for biglaw and got really close twice. It didn’t work out and I was kinda sad about missing that salary because it was double what I was making at the time. I ended up going to a firm where I am making 100k more than my last firm and I’m remote whereas the big law roles I would have had to commute 3 days a week. My quality of life is much better than if I went to big law and I’m making decent money (280k). It’s still kind off tough with student loans though, which was my biggest reason to do biglaw. But I don’t have/want kids, don’t have/need a car, and I’m good with renting a small apartment. So keeping expenses down is key for lower paying roles where you will be happier.

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