Every once in a while (well not very often to be honest but just occasionally) I find myself wondering about the 'road not traveled', or rather the 'road traveled then abandoned because I didn't want to sell my soul to the man!'.
Now lets be honest here: I have the most amazing life. I have a lovely wife, two fabulous children and a dream job (OK, a nerdy dream job but that's fine with me). I've done things that most people only dream of (a small piece of my software is floating around the solar system in a space probe for heaven's sake and that was before I went back to academia!). I have a modicum of academic respect and people actually cite my work occasionally...
..but in the wee small hours I still sometimes end up playing the game of measuring success against job title and salary (Slippery slope and I'm not going there again!). The only cure I've found so far is skimming through the jobs section for embedded programming jobs and seeing what I could be earning without trying to hard (usually at least 20k more that my current salary) which strangely makes me feel better.
It's not the money you see (not that some more wouldn't be a help but c'est la vie). It's just a measure to compare me against other people who I think are doing better than me in industry. Once that's done I just remember what I'd have to do (and whatever morals I'd have to compromise) to get there and things sort themselves out in my head again.
Yes, I know this makes me shallow but at least I know what makes me happy and long may it continue.
