You might want to check out Mike Rowe's Ted talk, he touches on some of this. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IRVdiHu1VCc http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IRVdiHu1

You might want to check out Mike Rowe's Ted talk, he touches on some of this. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IRVdiHu1VCc http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IRVdiHu1VCc I'm in the process of changing careers now. I tried doing the IT thing for several years and ended up hating it. There was a lot of poor work/life balance, stress with meeting deadlines, poor job security (I'm not a developer), etc. This was with several different companies so I don't think it was just poor luck. My passion is working with computers & technology but I realized one day that it just wasn't worth it for me to be so stressed out. So I spent some time researching careers and I'm now going back community college for something health related. The job security is outstanding, the stress is fairly low, and I actually get to directly help improve the lives of others every day. The pay isn't anything crazy but it's definitely enough to live comfortably on if you just want a modest lifestyle.