Unless your willing to sacrifice somewhere this as you noted is the situation.
The question I asked myself 22 years ago.
Am I willing to invest years of education and career advancement and political manuvering to attain a high paying job that allows a ton of free time?
No, I was not willing to commit to that. Which meant I was most likely never going to earn a very large salary.
Next question was what kind of job am I willing to do to allow me to do the things I like? This was 1999.
Which lead to my current position.
Along the way:
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Worked 45-72 hour work weeks while working toward a Bachelor's degree. Because of constant change in shifts it took me a long time to attain my degree.
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Graduated into the worst recession (2008) since the Great Depression. Unemployment was rising at a significant pace. That meant people with a lot of experience were available in the job market which made it impossible to land an entry level jobjob. Most entry level jobs at the time required at least 3-5 years experience.
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Continued to work and went after my Graduates early 2010. Quit my current job and finished my Graduates in just over a year.
During that time I sacrificed a lot of personal time, and any extras like cable TV, gaming, travel etcetera between the years of 2007 and 2010.
Landed my first professional job in 2011. The hours were significant (between 40 and 80) plus a 1.5 hour commute, one way. This was a investigation type of job and was extremely stressful. Bought a brand new house. To be closer to work.
That job ended and the economy had not recovered. Took me six months to land my next job. The hours were between 40 and 55 hours on average with a 20 minute commute, one way. This job had a large workload with a moderate amount of work stress.
And when that company decided to close the office in my state in favor of another, I again was looking for a new job.
In two months I landed my current job. On average I work 42 hours, but had to sacrifice a little salary for it. With very little job stress, a fair amount of free time and a one way 38 minute commute.
I had the idea in 1999, while working 12 hour shifts six days a week in a hot fiberglass automotive manufacturing plant.
It took me many years to change direction. A lot of stressful years to accomplish my goal.
Now my wife and I travel quite a bit, I have plenty of time for my hobbies and earn a solid salary.
It took a significant investment up front in time, Money, and hard work and for me it paid dividends. Because I asked myself what I wanted and what I was willing to do to get it.
