Look at it this way: You spend an awful lot of your life working. If you have a choice, why spend that time doing something that doesn't make you happy? Life

Look at it this way: You spend an awful lot of your life working. If you have a choice, why spend that time doing something that doesn't make you happy? Life is experience. Not numbers. And, as some of us know, it -- or our health -- can be taken away at any moment. Living with some planning for the future means if and when you get there, hopefully you will enjoy it. But don't forgo happiness now for some potential future. A successful life is enjoying now, the majority of the time. (Nothing's perfect, and there will be down times. But too much down is a bad sign. And, it becomes self-reinforcing. Don't fall into that trap.) All that said, having a decent income does help. If I'd moved around more in my career, I might have actually been happier and gained more financial security. In short, take care of yourself, including your emotional self. That's probably the surest road to personal success, however you end up defining it. Positioning yourself to work from a position of strength, and with positive support.