|"I think we buy into this whole "you have to go above and beyond and commit and be amazing all the time" idea that really benefits our employers and no one else.

Took me a good while to A) understand and then B) accept this. My current role is great, I work with good people, I work under good people, I feel valued and I've had two pay rises and one nice bonus in 18 months with another two increases scheduled.

However, this is the immediate realm I work within. I now understand the organization as a whole, does not care about me. My immediate boss would be gutted if I left, and she takes steps to make sure I am supported. But anyone higher than her doesn't know who I am and I am genuinely a number on a spreadsheet. A spreadsheet with a total cost they are desperately trying to cull.

So I've had to find the sweet spot between making myself very useful and difficult to replace, while also allowing myself to exist outside of it. I could go hard and gain a tiny bit of extra credibility amongst my immediate group, but it would net me nothing in the higher ups estimation. So I do my job, I am efficient and personable and plan for the future to maintain that efficiency, but when it's time to go, I am gone. I am enjoying all the things I can afford with the time and money.