I had a conversation recently with a 30-year-old who was worried a career change would be a backward step, and he was too committed to his current life. "I'm not in my 20's anymore, when that kind of thing is acceptable."<p>I pointed out that his 'working' life was 50 years (~Age 20 to Age 70). He was 10 years / 20% in.<p>If you sprained your ankle 20% of the way up a mountain, would you keep climbing in pain or return home, rest for a day, and then go again?<p>If you realised on the first day of a snowboarding holiday that you were a terrible snowboarder, would you spend the second day getting lessons or the rest of the week falling down the mountain and being miserable?<p>If you are 20% of the way into your working life, and your job makes you miserable for 60+ hours per week, would you stick at it waiting for a promotion until you're 70, or invest some time in making a change?