I’m old now, but I can remember me at your age, and I would have hated hearing me right now.

The problem with an extremely high income at a young age is how quickly people buy homes, cars and stuff on credit that traps them (in that income bracket). If they lose their high-income job, they lose everything they have. Instead of money freeing them, they soon discover they are dependent, vulnerable and easily manipulated. Before they know it, they will do anything to keep their job.

The hardest thing of all, is the realization that a spouse, children, even friends and family depend on their incomes as well. Worse yet, these people often consider your income a part of you.

Before people are ready to change systems from the inside, they need to figure out what makes them content, satisfied, proud, even happy.

I’ve known some genuinely happy millionaires who lived nearby. No one guessed these people were so frigging wealthy. The only reason I knew was because they hired me. Since I was a consultant, no one knew who my clients were (and I did not disclose that information). On behalf of our neighborhood, these wealthy people did use the influence wealth provided them at city hall and in state government. As a result, our neighborhood infrastructure has never suffered deferred maintenance. Right now, our sidewalks are a mess, but our position on the city’s list of priorities is fixed, and it will not be traded down. If these wealthy people had moved to a high-income enclave, they would have lost the contentment and satisfaction that mattered to them the most. That said, I live in traditional neighborhoods, but urban planning is an entirely different subject.

Suffice to say, I applaud your decision to leave the evil company. In time, you will understand your reasons much more clearly, and when you do, you will find self-respect is your reward. When you do start making change from the inside, you will be strong and self-sufficient, no longer vulnerable and easily manipulated by dependency.

And that is what experience has taught me.