> Anyway, the point is that he has a great job at a booming > company, with nothing but bright days ahead, and he can’t > enjoy it because he knows other peop

> Anyway, the point is that he has a great job at a booming > company, with nothing but bright days ahead, and he can’t > enjoy it because he knows other people are getting a lot > more. That's only partially true. You might have just realized that you're worth more, and that you could do about the same job at a different company and get better remuneration. I can offer an anecdotal example: back in my first job I had reached quite a happy point. I was able to do my job without much problems, I was competent for my tasks, and my compensation was okay-ish. Not great, but I could sustain myself and get me something nice every now and then. Then I started seeing people as competent as me leave and get waaaay better remuneration, doing jobs maybe different but still interesting/engaging, still rewarding. Anyway, I stayed there for about two more years, then I left. My next job was a ton of fun, got competent at it again after some initial ramp-up, and was making waaay more than my first job.