I quit a $250,000 job, thinking it would be easy to find another one. After a year of unemployment, I wish I could go back and shake myself.

"When I quit my $250,000 corporate HR job last year, I thought finding another job would be no big deal. I was out of touch with the reality of the job market. I hadn't applied to a job in a traditional way in over a decade because I'd always been recruited. Now that it's rounding up on a year of unemployment, I wish I could go back and shake myself."

"I identified early on in my career that I was good at work, and I let productivity and achievement become my identity. There were many times, throughout my decadelong career in HR, when I tried to take a step back and be less intense, but I think I had an addiction to the dopamine that came from stress. When my daughter was born, my husband became her main caregiver, and I became the sole provider for our family."

A 39-year-old former HR executive left a $250,000 corporate role expecting an easy job search but encountered a challenging market after a decade of being recruited. Time away from work allowed focused parenting and confrontation of a strained relationship with money. A career-long identity tied to productivity and stress revealed an addiction to dopamine from achievement. Promotion increased responsibility and pay, yet conflict with leadership exposed misaligned values and prompted a vow never to stay in roles that compromise principles. The executive is ready to return to work but will prioritize values alignment and healthier work-life balance.

Read at Business Insider