4 Years Ago, I Entered the Wilderness

This essay was originally distributed via my newsletter.

“Please make sure to throw out your badge.”

It was Thanksgiving week, our almost 7-month-old son was in my arms, and my boss had just said goodbye. It was 2021, the pandemic was still real, and my Dad had been diagnosed with terminal cancer less than one month after our son was born.

A month before my wife’s maternity leave ended, I quit.

I left a job that meant everything to me. I was a rising star at JPMorgan, having just been promoted to Executive Director at age 33. I was running a team within Legal & Compliance while also sitting on the trading floor, helping to cover the firm’s currencies and emerging markets rates business.

I had watched my salary rise from not even six figures when I first started out of law school to many multiples higher by the time I quit. Everyone thought I was insane. I thought I was crazy.

One salesperson even pulled me aside to ask if I was OK. Did I realize that had I just quit a couple months later, I could have collected my bonus?

“It’s not all about money, bro.”