I stayed for almost four years at a job and in a location that I knew with great certainty was a poor culture fit for me by the one-year mark. Similarly, I kne

I stayed for almost four years at a job and in a location that I knew with great certainty was a poor culture fit for me by the one-year mark. Similarly, I knew that I needed to do some therapy work, and deliberately did not do it so as not to end up with a diagnosis that could affect my potential admittance as a Peace Corps volunteer. (This was deeply misguided; the volunteers that did their work were both admitted and frankly more effective.) Both of these mistakes were arguably the same mistake: I did not take care of myself. As a result, the first half-decade of my career was basically a wash. I burned out of the industry I went to school for, and a large chunk of time I could have spent deliberately learning and building was instead spent essentially coping and surviving.