{"id":77,"date":"2025-12-15T22:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-12-15T11:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/constantchaos.co\/?p=77"},"modified":"2026-03-09T18:47:13","modified_gmt":"2026-03-09T07:47:13","slug":"walking-away-from-6-figure-salary-my-bonus-and-a-retention-package-so-i-could-walk-towards-a-future-i-wanted","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/constantchaos.co\/?p=77","title":{"rendered":"Walking away from 6-figure salary, my bonus and a retention package so I could walk towards a future I wanted."},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>I walked away from my $200K+ salary, annual bonus, and retention package \u2014 not because I could earn it elsewhere, but because it wasn\u2019t the life I wanted anymore.<br><br><strong>People say it\u2019s honourable but not logical.<\/strong><br>But here\u2019s the truth:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I didn\u2019t make a financial decision. I made a values-led decision.<br><br>Because while money can buy a comfortable life,<br>I can\u2019t buy time back with my kids.<br>And it definitely can\u2019t buy the feeling of building a life that is mine, if earning it means being trapped in a world that challenges my values.<br><br>So I chose me. <br><br>And today, as I settle the papers on my new commercial property, I\u2019m reminded exactly why I walked away:<br><br>\u2728 To build foundations, not just careers<br>\u2728 To create businesses I\u2019m excited to wake up for<br>\u2728 To spend more time doing what lights me up \u2014 not drains me<br>\u2728 To work with incredible clients who energise me, not exhaust me<br>\u2728 To be closer to my passions \u2014 cars, creativity, and collecting Pok\u00e9mon cards with my kids<br>\u2728 To design a life where my work reflects my values, not my fears<br><br>Walking away from six figures wasn\u2019t the loss.<br>Staying would\u2019ve been.<br><br>Because I don\u2019t want a life that\u2019s \u201csupposed to make sense\u201d to other people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I want a life that feels true to me.<br><br>And I\u2019m finally living it. One decision, one building, one adventure at a time.<br><br>Here\u2019s to foundations<br>that I\u2019m building brick by brick.<br>Not for logic,<br>but for legacy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>I walked away from a $200K+ salary, bonuses, and a retention package \u2014 not because I couldn\u2019t earn it elsewhere, but because it wasn\u2019t the life I wanted anymore. It wasn\u2019t a financial decision. It was a values-led one. Choosing myself, my family, and a life that feels true has changed everything \u2014 and I\u2019m finally building something that\u2019s mine.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":87,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15,14,8,4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-77","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-career-and-identity","category-culture-heart","category-family-life","category-serving-happiness"],"featured_image_src":"https:\/\/constantchaos.co\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/img_6402-2-600x400.jpg","featured_image_src_square":"https:\/\/constantchaos.co\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/img_6402-2-600x600.jpg","author_info":{"display_name":"Helen","author_link":"https:\/\/constantchaos.co\/?author=1"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/constantchaos.co\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/77","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/constantchaos.co\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/constantchaos.co\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/constantchaos.co\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/constantchaos.co\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=77"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/constantchaos.co\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/77\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/constantchaos.co\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/87"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/constantchaos.co\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=77"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/constantchaos.co\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=77"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/constantchaos.co\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=77"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}