Saying Good-Bye to Your Career

When we were kids we envisioned what we wanted to be when we grew up and some followed that while others went a totally different direction. I have a friend who wanted to be a firefighter at a very young age and now is one of the highest ranking fire officials in Missoula. I wanted to be a teacher or psychologist when I was young and I ended up in radio. What I'm getting at is: What happens when you come to your senses and realize that the career you picked as a naive young child isn't really what you wanted? I mean this is your life we're talking about here! What do you do when you’re spending your life on a career that you hate? Do you bail on it and start something new?

Anyone do just that a made a big career switch? I'm not talking about going from Wendy's to Burger King, I'm talking about BIG change! What did it take to make the switch to the new career? Was it difficult to ditch everything you had worked for in order to get something new? Most importantly, was it worth it?