We may find ourselves at a crossroads at several points in our professional journey, deciding to progress by choosing the high-pay, high-stress route. However, this notion of progress may cost us our sanity in the long run. Contrary to popular belief, an online community shares ten reasons why a lower-paying job is worth it.
1. No Price Tags

Your health and well-being are above any price. Think about it. If you don’t care about your well-being now, it will haunt you later. As someone writes, “You’ll wind up spending more money on medicine and therapy in the long run.”
2. High Pay, High Stress

As one person points out, “The mental health recovery will more than make up the pay difference.” In the long run, you might “lose” more by sticking around your high-paying, high-stress job than by opting for a lower-paying, stress-free one.
3. Slowly but Surely

Of course, financial matters require a bit of realism. Hence, one person suggests going for a lower pay only if you can afford it. Although at a slower pace, as long as you can still reach your financial goals, less stress is the no-brainer!
4. Marathon vs. Sprint

As one commenter aptly says, “Your career is a marathon and not a sprint.” Surviving a marathon is all about long-term planning and conserving your energy. You may be struggling with deciding right now, but pick the option that promises you peace of mind.
5. More Money, More Spending

Here’s an interesting take. A higher salary means higher spending to comfort you in your time of unhappiness. As one member shares, there was a lot of frivolous spending that they wouldn’t have done previously, but the high-paying yet stressful job pushed them to this point. What good is more money if your impulse purchases reach new heights?
6. Life Is Too Short

Speaking from experience, one person advises taking a job that pays less. You’ll be doing yourself a giant favor. After all, life is too short, and that extra money won’t make you happy with your sanity on the line. Stress will only cut down the years of your life.
7. Off-Duty Ordeals

One person uniquely reframes the high-paying job. Think of it this way: How much time do you spend working now? What about if you include the time you’re not technically working, but your brain is still focused on work? If you use that to calculate your hourly pay, you might just find yourself coming close to the lower-paying, low-stress job.
8. Meager Middleman

According to a commenter, “Money is a middleman that is there just to hold value.” They advise not putting any value in having money other than what you need to sustain your expenses. “In that way, the value of money is just what additional experiences and materials you can acquire. The more money you have past certain thresholds, the more and more marginal the value is.”
9. Evolutionary Responses

Shedding light on human nature, one person mentions that many fear loss aversion. “It hurts more to lose $100 than it is gratifying to gain $100. This is an evolutionary response as we’re programmed to pay more attention to harm than boons to survive.” However, logically speaking, a loss of $50k isn’t horrible when you’re making $175k since you’ll be happier in the long run with the reduced stress.
10. An Investment

One person quit their old job, and it was well worth it. “Hated being a manager and feeling responsible for other people. Just think how much it might cost you health-wise later if you continue to be stressed out.” Hence, lowering stress is as good as any financial investment. Besides, you’ll adapt, get used to your new salary, and eventually forget about it.
Source: Reddit.
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