In a world where we’re expected to be making a certain amount of money by a certain age, it can be difficult to leave a well-paying job in pursuit of a career switch or greater work-life balance.
But Singaporean nail artist Ann Lim bravely took the plunge three years ago—the 40-year-old Singaporean gave up her job as a manager at a research centre in a local university, along with a “healthy” salary, to start a home-based nail salon.
“I’d been working excessively, like 10- to 12-hour days even on weekends, and wasn’t going on long vacations (here are some places to consider for micro-cations over long weekends in 2020 that won’t break the bank). So when the project came to an end, I decided to leave and carry out a clean handover,” she says.
“Working from home is a breath of fresh air, especially since I used to have to make a two-hour commute at my previous job. Frankly, the only things I miss terribly are the air-conditioning and employer’s CPF contribution.”
However, while Ann has few regrets about her career switch, she admits that there are things she wishes she did before leaving her well-paying job so that she would be in a better position now. She candidly shares some of them.