This is always where I land. If you fail try try again, with effort and critical thought. But I just can't meaningfully dedicate the time to making more money at the expense of all the hobbies and other past times I love doing so much. I don't want to spend 20 years with hardly any enjoyment just to be able to retire at 55 instead of 70 or something.

It's a challenging decision to make and I also believe in most cases it isn't a decision that is "free" or without some form of consequences. All things come at a cost.

I hate my job so much that I would love to retire at 55. I've already had to give up or greatly scale back my hobbies when I got married and had a kid. I also had to give up my career advancement (watching the kid means I can't work 50-60 hr/week, which is expected in IT).

Balance is important. This is why I'm not willing to sacrifice my family, but I am willing to work differently or in a different field. I am old enough to know what balance feels like to me and am always looking to make sure it's maintained.