你会辞掉高薪工作去追求理想吗

Answer by James Liu, founder at BoxCat
詹姆斯•刘的回答，游戏公司BoxCat创始人

I left a six-figure, ex-pat, management position with daily per-diem, paid for apartment, an entire office, and several employees I was in charge of. I would rather be close to family. While growing up, life gave me the impression that I had to be sky-high successful. As if it were the ultimate attainment for life and the universe. So I went for it, worked hard for it, and did whatever it took to succeed.
我放弃了工资达六位数的外派管理工作。当时我不仅有每天的日常生活补助、公费公寓、一间大办公室，还有几名下属可供差遣。但我宁愿陪在家人身边。在成长过程中，生活告诉我，我必须有耀眼的成就，似乎这就是人生和宇宙存在的终极目标。于是，为了成功，我曾经一直坚持不懈，努力工作，愿意付出任何代价。

At 27, I was sitting alone on the 22nd floor of a residential complex right above the Hong Kong convention center. My housing was paid for by the company. I had international per-diem, which could cover any food I might desire.
27岁那年，我独坐在一栋商住综合楼的22层，下面便是香港会展中心。我的住宿费用由公司支付。我有按国际标准发放的日常生活补贴，足够我享受任何我想要的美食。

I had an office in the Samsung building on the 21st floor that had a view of Victoria Harbor. I had three other people I could boss around, ask them to fetch me coffee (if I wanted too), or completely delegate all my tasks to them. We had an interesting company culture and structure. I had several titles at that time: branch manager, project manager, technical lead, principle engineer and systems arcHitect.
我的办公室在三星（Samsung）大厦的21层，可以一览维多利亚港的美景。我手下还有三个人可供差遣，我可以让他们帮我去冲咖啡（如果我想的话），或者把我的所有任务全部分配给他们完成。我们的公司文化与结构非常有趣。我当时有多个头衔：分公司经理、项目经理、技术总监、首席工程师和系统架构师等。

But what’s the point of making a ton of money if you have no one to share it with? I had salary and bonus. I had no need to spend my own money on shelter, food or travel. Any equipment or technology needed was just a few emails away from acquiring them.
但如果没有人分享，赚再多钱又有什么意义？我有工资和奖金。吃穿住行都不需要自己掏钱。如果我想要任何设备或技术，几封电子邮件就可以搞定。

During my “long road to success,” I had neglected my friends, my family, and even lost girlfriends. I had very few people I could talk to.
在“漫长的成功之路上”，我忽视了友情、亲情，甚至失去了爱情。没有人能够听我吐露心声。

Talking to a team member was strange because of the power hierarchy.
因为权力等级的存在，与团队成员说心事会非常奇怪。

“You won’t listen to my personal problems?! You’re fired!”
“你不想听我个人的问题？！你被炒了。”

Just kidding of course, but it highlights the awkwardness. I imagine I would just get the “yes-man” approach of what I wanted to hear, not what I needed to hear. Hitting up a bar or nightclub also felt superficial and gave an even greater sense of loneliness.
当然，这只是开玩笑，但也凸显出我当时那种尴尬的处境。我能想象，我只会得到一些“惟命是从”的回答，只会听到我想要听的话，而不是我需要听的话。去酒吧或夜店，同样让我感觉肤浅，甚至让我感到更加孤独。

“What? You won’t listen either? You’re fired too!”
“什么？你也不愿意听？你也被炒了！”

But it highlights how being in power can mess with your head. It’s a dangerous trip and some become drunk with power. I am no exception. Everywhere I turned, I’d find only a superficial replacement. So, money, power, success, respect, and even prestige, why am I not happy?
而这种情况也显示出，掌握权力会让你的大脑陷入混乱。这是一次危险的旅程，有人会被权力冲昏头脑。我也不例外。不论我向谁求助，得到的只是一些肤浅的回应。那么，既然拥有了金钱、权力、成功、尊敬和声望，为什么我就是不幸福呢？

This is when I realized that money, success and power isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. But it was also a perspective I would not have understood unless I had sat there. Alone. Mute. Lonely. With a pile of money I could cry in, but never get a response.
此时我才意识到，金钱、成功和权力并没有人们宣扬的那么美好。但除非我拥有了这一切，否则我永远也不会理解这种观点。孤单。沉默。孤独。纵有财富千千万，无人听我诉衷肠。

Later on, a few months after these deep unnerving feelings, I got a phone call from my little brother. It was 4 AM in Hong Kong.
这种身心疲惫的感觉持续了几个月后，我接到了弟弟的电话。当时是香港时间凌晨4点。

“Hey, it’s about dad. We’re taking him to the hospital.”
“嘿，爸爸生病了。我们正送他去医院。”

Here I sat. Over 5,000 miles away from my home in Los Angeles. My family is having a crisis, I am nowhere near them. My loneliness stretched itself across the pacific.
我呆坐在那里。与洛杉矶的家远隔5,000英里。我的家人正在遭遇一场危机，但我却不在他们身边。我的孤独跨越了太平洋。

The earliest I could get there was a 16-hour flight.
我最快也要坐16个小时飞机才能回到那里。“He says it’s his heart and he can’t move. I’ll call you later.”
“他说心脏不舒服，他动不了了。我等会再打给你。”

I could feel the silence in the room, as if the walls were coated in it. Surrounding and canceling, any-and-all audio that might have made me feel the reality of the world never reached my ears. Madness took me over. I attempted to walk and pace to clear my head but my knees met with the coffee table, the chair, and a few other things I can’t even recall. Of all the money and all the success I could obtain, none of it could help me. My ailing father was thousands of miles away. What I truly had was nothing. Did he arrive? Was he seen by a doctor? What is the problem? Can it be fixed? What if he didn’t make it?
我能感觉到房间陷入一片死寂，这种感觉似乎布满了四周的墙壁。环绕在我耳边的声音若隐若现，我恍恍惚惚如坠梦魇。我陷入疯狂。我想四处走动，试图让大脑变得清醒，结果膝盖撞上了咖啡桌、椅子和其他东西，我已经回想不起当时的情形。虽然我获得了巨额财富和令人炫目的成功，但这些东西都无法帮助我。我患病的父亲远在千里之外。我所拥有的一切没有任何意义。他到医院了吗？他看过医生了吗？他出了什么问题？他能够痊愈吗？如果他无法度过难关，我该怎么办？

I was updated five or six hours later. Dad’s fine. He’s home resting already. Doctor gave medication and instructions if there’s another heart attack.
五六个小时后，我得到了最新消息。父亲很好。他已经回家休息了。医生开了药，并嘱咐了注意事项，以防心脏病再次发作。

I gave up my position, went back to work closer to home. The company still attempted to send me out to various international places. I would go on some of them, but I didn’t enjoy my work anymore. My work kept me away from what was truly important in my life. Family.
我放弃了当时的职位，回到离家近的地方工作。公司仍会派我到世界各地。我会接受某些任务，但我不再享受工作。我的工作让我远离了生活中真正重要的东西——家庭。

I eventually gave up my job and started a different career. One that would allow me to see my family at minimum, once a week.
我最终辞去了那份工作，开始了一份不同的职业。这份工作让我可以每周至少见一次家人。

Now, every Saturday, I hug my father, hug my mother, hug my brother, and pet our dog.
现在，每到周六，我都会拥抱我的父亲，拥抱我的母亲，拥抱我的弟弟，陪着我们的宠物狗玩耍。

Answer by Margaret Weiss, financier in training
玛格丽特•韦斯的回答，正在培训中的金融业者

The answer would be yes if the current job is slowly crushing your soul. So between being tormented each and every day and a chance of survival, I would choose life.
如果目前的工作正在慢慢粉碎你的灵魂，那么答案是肯定的。在每天饱受折磨和生存的机会之间，我选择生活。

The answer would be no if the current job is tolerable; the new position has no guarantees of being any different, and I have obligations toward my dependents/my family. So between a chance of professional happiness and my responsibility, I choose being responsible.
如果当前的工作是可以忍受的，那么答案是否定的；新职位并不能保证一定有所不同，而且对于我的家眷和家人，我有义不容辞的责任。所以，在职业幸福感和责任之间，我选择责任。

I think there are many jobs that can be taken at a pay cut, so continue searching – this is certainly not the last job available in your location.
我认为只要降低工资要求，会有许多适合的工作，所以继续寻找吧——这肯定不是你能找到的最后一份工作。

Answer by KP Wee, writer
KP•魏的回答，作家

I had a similar experience several years back, although the salary figures involved weren’t as high as the ones posted in the question.
几年前，我也有过类似的经历，虽然当时我的工资没有回答这个问题的其他人那么高。

I left a stable position, which I started to lose interest in gradually to pursue a job that I thought was perfect for me, even though it paid much less. I figured it was a good opportunity to get into that growing industry, though there were no guarantees.
我辞去了一份稳定的工作，因为我开始慢慢对它失去了兴趣，我想找一份我认为最适合自己的工作，即便这份工作的薪酬更低。我发现这是进入那个快速成长的行业的一次好机会，尽管不能确保成功。

Alas, two years later, I found that the opportunities weren’t there. I had fun, and I enjoyed doing something completely different. However, the difference in salaries was huge, and the opportunities that I gambled on didn’t truly pan out.
可惜的是，两年后，我发现所谓的机会其实并不存在。我过得很开心，也很喜欢做一些完全不同的事情。然而，工资的差距太过巨大，而且我抓住的所谓机会并未带来成功。

If you are a person who has lots of financial obligations (ie. mortgage, kids’ education, etc.), then it makes more sense to stick with the higher-paying job. It depends on what you value more, and whether or not you are tied down to anything, such as family and debts, etc. Going from $120,000 a year down to $50,000 a year is a big difference.
如果你有许多债务（如住房贷款、孩子教育等），那么坚持薪酬更高的工作，就更有意义。这取决于你更重视什么，以及是否有哪些事情制约着你，例如家庭和债务等。从年薪120,000美元降到50,000美元，还是有天壤之别的。