What’s the biggest personal sacrifice you’ve made for your career?

22 comments

1. I moved 250 miles away from my hometown. Was kind of a blessing though, needed distance from a recently-concluded relationship. Also more than doubled my income so I really couldn’t say no lol

2. Absolutely nothing.

3. Moved from California to Texas in 2021. I got laid off from that job last year and am moving back soon.

4. I haven’t. And never will. Fuck that noise.

5. Move states to save my job from the vaccine nazi’s who wanted to take my livelihood away

6. I’ve been with the same company for over 21 years. Maybe my biggest sacrifice is not trying to advance myself to be a manager or whatever. I enjoy just being a software dev, in a union, and having a decent retirement that I get to start collecting in about 6 years.

7. The multiple failed relationships I had in my early 20s in large part because of the hours I had to work when I was just starting out in my career.

8. took out a $130k student loan that i has financially ruined me. let’s just say i don’t sleep well at night.

9. Moved states, could not be happier about it lol

10. Work/life balance and my happiness all in the pursuit of saving and stacking money. Working 50+ hours a week. Now working a job with less hours. Also making less money now(unfortunately), but happier.

11. None. Made the opposite choice of letting a lucrative job pass, that would have kept me travelling. Chose to stay and build a family. No regrets.

12. Taking care of 90+ grand parent and 70+ parents. If you can get out without guilt or cultural pressure do it. Don’t ever be a burden on your kids.

13. I’ve probably taken years off my life due to exposure to various chemicals. I know when I worked in environmental testing I would get samples from superfund sites and those things were filled with all sorts of shit.

14. I quit heroin.

15. Time and energy I could have spent elsewhere

16. I took a job out of college at a television station that required 24/7 operational employees. Shifts would rotate every few months. My first cycle was fine, working 6am-3pm weekdays. Next cycle I was put on over nights through the weekends. I was kinda pissed but they told me every new employee does it once and then you get preferred shift choice on the next cycle. I decided to roll with it in hopes of looking like a team player. I was completely isolated from my gf, friends, and family. On the next shift change, they decided to “experiment” with a new shift and my hours got even longer and I still had to work through the weekend.

    My gf broke up with me because we barely saw each other. My sleep schedule was fucked. I lost touch with most of my friends. I didn’t take any vacations or do anything fun for several years. Also became vitamin D deficient and had medical problems from never seeing sunlight, sitting too often, and not sleeping well.

    Gave up crucial time in my twenties to chase a job I never ended up getting. I have a different job now that is a normal 9-5, but Im older now and most of my social opportunities dried up. Haven’t dated anyone in a very long time and it’s harder than ever. I always wonder if I’d have a family and a house by now if I’d have just gotten a different job and prioritized the people in my life over work.

17. Time with my dad, who I lost 10 days ago. I wish I hadn’t worked so much. I just wanted go make him proud of me, but now I realize it would’ve been better to have made more time for him. There’s no rewinding the clock, just have to live with that now.

18. I gave up my good career for my boring prude dead bedroom wife…. We all make career regrets.

19. Taking a job that had a significant pay bump but pretty much cut my free and quiet time to .00000005%of the my day. Either always at work or constantly being bugged at home/ having to go up there because of one of my dumbass employees, to the point that it was easier and less frustrating to be at work when I technically didn’t have to be there. After my boss called the birth of my first born daughter an inconvenience to the company, I quit on the spot and left them fucked for a long time. They just found someone to take my position recently and my daughter is nearly 10 months old

20. Nothing, really. If my career isn’t adding to my life, then it needs to go.

21. I feel like if I was making sacrifices in my personal life in order to facilitate my career that my priorities aren’t in order.

    IMO the entire point of my career is to finance a happy and fulfilling life for myself, that’s my priority.

    To answer you question however, I feel the biggest sacrifices I’ve made for a job all had to do with how I allowed my bosses to treat me. Like most people, when I was young an an unskilled laborer I felt that I just had to take the abuse because “I needed the job.” It wasn’t until my early 30’s that realized just how badly that viewpoint was effecting my life, my relationships and my self-esteem.

22. Studied for 5-6 hours per week for around 4 months to pass my first test for my career. Resulted in a $10 per hour raise after I switched companies. If I do the same this year I’ll be fully licensed and should get around $30k more per year on top.

    Worked full time during college doing manual labor in all types of weather (still do, but graduated). Very tough 4 years but now I’m making a pretty decent wage for being in my mid 20’s. I’m making as much as my old coworkers who have been doing it for 20+ years and I’m their kids age.