你會辭掉高薪工作去追求理想嗎大綱

Answer by James Liu, founder at BoxCat

詹姆斯•劉的回答，遊戲公司BoxCat創始人

I left a six-figure, ex-pat, management position with daily per-diem, paid for apartment, an entire office, and several employees I was in charge of. I would rather be close to family. While growing up, life gave me the impression that I had to be sky-high successful. As if it were the ultimate attainment for life and the universe. So I went for it, worked hard for it, and did whatever it took to succeed.

我放棄了工資達六位數的外派管理工作。當時我不僅有每天的日常生活補助、公費公寓、一間大辦公室，還有幾名下屬可供差遣。但我寧願陪在家人身邊。在成長過程中，生活告訴我，我必須有耀眼的成就，似乎這就是人生和宇宙存在的終極目標。於是，爲了成功，我曾經一直堅持不懈，努力工作，願意付出任何代價。

At 27, I was sitting alone on the 22nd floor of a residential complex right above the Hong Kong convention center. My housing was paid for by the company. I had international per-diem, which could cover any food I might desire.

27歲那年，我獨坐在一棟商住綜合樓的22層，下面便是香港會展中心。我的住宿費用由公司支付。我有按國際標準發放的日常生活補貼，足夠我享受任何我想要的美食。

I had an office in the Samsung building on the 21st floor that had a view of Victoria Harbor. I had three other people I could boss around, ask them to fetch me coffee (if I wanted too), or completely delegate all my tasks to them. We had an interesting company culture and structure. I had several titles at that time: branch manager, project manager, technical lead, principle engineer and systems architect.

我的辦公室在三星（Samsung）大廈的21層，可以一覽維多利亞港的美景。我手下還有三個人可供差遣，我可以讓他們幫我去衝咖啡（如果我想的話），或者把我的所有任務全部分配給他們完成。我們的公司文化與結構非常有趣。我當時有多個頭銜：分公司經理、項目經理、技術總監、首席工程師和系統架構師等。

But what’s the point of making a ton of money if you have no one to share it with? I had salary and bonus. I had no need to spend my own money on shelter, food or travel. Any equipment or technology needed was just a few emails away from acquiring them.

但如果沒有人分享，賺再多錢又有什麼意義？我有工資和獎金。吃穿住行都不需要自己掏錢。如果我想要任何設備或技術，幾封電子郵件就可以搞定。

During my “long road to success,” I had neglected my friends, my family, and even lost girlfriends. I had very few people I could talk to.

在“漫長的成功之路上”，我忽視了友情、親情，甚至失去了愛情。沒有人能夠聽我吐露心聲。

Talking to a team member was strange because of the power hierarchy.

因爲權力等級的存在，與團隊成員說心事會非常奇怪。

“You won’t listen to my personal problems?! You’re fired!”

“你不想聽我個人的問題？！你被炒了。”

Just kidding of course, but it highlights the awkwardness. I imagine I would just get the “yes-man” approach of what I wanted to hear, not what I needed to hear. Hitting up a bar or nightclub also felt superficial and gave an even greater sense of loneliness.

當然，這只是開玩笑，但也凸顯出我當時那種尷尬的處境。我能想象，我只會得到一些“惟命是從”的回答，只會聽到我想要聽的話，而不是我需要聽的話。去酒吧或夜店，同樣讓我感覺膚淺，甚至讓我感到更加孤獨。

“What? You won’t listen either? You’re fired too!”

“什麼？你也不願意聽？你也被炒了！”

But it highlights how being in power can mess with your head. It’s a dangerous trip and some become drunk with power. I am no exception. Everywhere I turned, I’d find only a superficial replacement. So, money, power, success, respect, and even prestige, why am I not happy?

而這種情況也顯示出，掌握權力會讓你的大腦陷入混亂。這是一次危險的旅程，有人會被權力衝昏頭腦。我也不例外。不論我向誰求助，得到的只是一些膚淺的迴應。那麼，既然擁有了金錢、權力、成功、尊敬和聲望，爲什麼我就是不幸福呢？

This is when I realized that money, success and power isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. But it was also a perspective I would not have understood unless I had sat there. Alone. Mute. Lonely. With a pile of money I could cry in, but never get a response.

此時我才意識到，金錢、成功和權力並沒有人們宣揚的那麼美好。但除非我擁有了這一切，否則我永遠也不會理解這種觀點。孤單。沉默。孤獨。縱有財富千千萬，無人聽我訴衷腸。

Later on, a few months after these deep unnerving feelings, I got a phone call from my little brother. It was 4 AM in Hong Kong.

這種身心疲憊的感覺持續了幾個月後，我接到了弟弟的電話。當時是香港時間凌晨4點。

“Hey, it’s about dad. We’re taking him to the hospital.”

“嘿，爸爸生病了。我們正送他去醫院。”

Here I sat. Over 5,000 miles away from my home in Los Angeles. My family is having a crisis, I am nowhere near them. My loneliness stretched itself across the pacific.

我呆坐在那裏。與洛杉磯的家遠隔5,000英里。我的家人正在遭遇一場危機，但我卻不在他們身邊。我的孤獨跨越了太平洋。

The earliest I could get there was a 16-hour flight.

我最快也要坐16個小時飛機才能回到那裏。

“He says it’s his heart and he can’t move. I’ll call you later.”

“他說心臟不舒服，他動不了了。我等會再打給你。”

I could feel the silence in the room, as if the walls were coated in it. Surrounding and canceling, any-and-all audio that might have made me feel the reality of the world never reached my ears. Madness took me over. I attempted to walk and pace to clear my head but my knees met with the coffee table, the chair, and a few other things I can’t even recall. Of all the money and all the success I could obtain, none of it could help me. My ailing father was thousands of miles away. What I truly had was nothing. Did he arrive? Was he seen by a doctor? What is the problem? Can it be fixed? What if he didn’t make it?

我能感覺到房間陷入一片死寂，這種感覺似乎佈滿了四周的牆壁。環繞在我耳邊的聲音若隱若現，我恍恍惚惚如墜夢魘。我陷入瘋狂。我想四處走動，試圖讓大腦變得清醒，結果膝蓋撞上了咖啡桌、椅子和其他東西，我已經回想不起當時的情形。雖然我獲得了鉅額財富和令人炫目的成功，但這些東西都無法幫助我。我患病的父親遠在千里之外。我所擁有的一切沒有任何意義。他到醫院了嗎？他看過醫生了嗎？他出了什麼問題？他能夠痊癒嗎？如果他無法度過難關，我該怎麼辦？

I was updated five or six hours later. Dad’s fine. He’s home resting already. Doctor gave medication and instructions if there’s another heart attack.

五六個小時後，我得到了最新消息。父親很好。他已經回家休息了。醫生開了藥，並囑咐了注意事項，以防心臟病再次發作。

I gave up my position, went back to work closer to home. The company still attempted to send me out to various international places. I would go on some of them, but I didn’t enjoy my work anymore. My work kept me away from what was truly important in my life. Family.

我放棄了當時的職位，回到離家近的地方工作。公司仍會派我到世界各地。我會接受某些任務，但我不再享受工作。我的工作讓我遠離了生活中真正重要的東西——家庭。

I eventually gave up my job and started a different career. One that would allow me to see my family at minimum, once a week.

我最終辭去了那份工作，開始了一份不同的職業。這份工作讓我可以每週至少見一次家人。

Now, every Saturday, I hug my father, hug my mother, hug my brother, and pet our dog.

現在，每到週六，我都會擁抱我的父親，擁抱我的母親，擁抱我的弟弟，陪着我們的寵物狗玩耍。

Answer by Margaret Weiss, financier in training

瑪格麗特•韋斯的回答，正在培訓中的金融業者

The answer would be yes if the current job is slowly crushing your soul. So between being tormented each and every day and a chance of survival, I would choose life.

如果目前的工作正在慢慢粉碎你的靈魂，那麼答案是肯定的。在每天飽受折磨和生存的機會之間，我選擇生活。

The answer would be no if the current job is tolerable; the new position has no guarantees of being any different, and I have obligations toward my dependents/my family. So between a chance of professional happiness and my responsibility, I choose being responsible.

如果當前的工作是可以忍受的，那麼答案是否定的；新職位並不能保證一定有所不同，而且對於我的家眷和家人，我有義不容辭的責任。所以，在職業幸福感和責任之間，我選擇責任。

I think there are many jobs that can be taken at a pay cut, so continue searching – this is certainly not the last job available in your location.

我認爲只要降低工資要求，會有許多適合的工作，所以繼續尋找吧——這肯定不是你能找到的最後一份工作。

Answer by KP Wee, writer

KP•魏的回答，作家

I had a similar experience several years back, although the salary figures involved weren’t as high as the ones posted in the question.

幾年前，我也有過類似的經歷，雖然當時我的工資沒有回答這個問題的其他人那麼高。

I left a stable position, which I started to lose interest in gradually to pursue a job that I thought was perfect for me, even though it paid much less. I figured it was a good opportunity to get into that growing industry, though there were no guarantees.

我辭去了一份穩定的工作，因爲我開始慢慢對它失去了興趣，我想找一份我認爲最適合自己的工作，即便這份工作的薪酬更低。我發現這是進入那個快速成長的行業的一次好機會，儘管不能確保成功。

Alas, two years later, I found that the opportunities weren’t there. I had fun, and I enjoyed doing something completely different. However, the difference in salaries was huge, and the opportunities that I gambled on didn’t truly pan out.

可惜的是，兩年後，我發現所謂的機會其實並不存在。我過得很開心，也很喜歡做一些完全不同的事情。然而，工資的差距太過巨大，而且我抓住的所謂機會並未帶來成功。

If you are a person who has lots of financial obligations (ie. mortgage, kids’ education, etc.), then it makes more sense to stick with the higher-paying job. It depends on what you value more, and whether or not you are tied down to anything, such as family and debts, etc. Going from $120,000 a year down to $50,000 a year is a big difference.

如果你有許多債務（如住房貸款、孩子教育等），那麼堅持薪酬更高的工作，就更有意義。這取決於你更重視什麼，以及是否有哪些事情制約着你，例如家庭和債務等。從年薪120,000美元降到50,000美元，還是有天壤之別的。