But,Oi Gaga, is all you care about chasing the Yankee dollar?" Let me show you something I always keep with me. Just a little book, Collective Meditations, and it's a collection of philosophers, writers, thinkers, native American wisdom, which I, and it's really showing you that, er, the spiritual side needs as much care and attention as the physical side. It's about feeding the soul, yeah? Evolving spirituality.

And a foreword by Duncan Goodhew, so... 

I'm leaving with a settlement agreement

Cos the regime don't like it man 

Don’t spend it on producing and releasing your own single

Tough times dont last 

Tough people do

World will always throw shite. Up to you to stand there and say 'is that all you've got?', then you chin a Nelson and crack on 

Gaga what would be your dream occupation? As in what would it be a dream to be continually occupied by?

You can control how you react to your situation and surroundings 

you can control your destiny 

treat the treadmill like a game you can walk away from at any moment and enjoy the good bits and remove yourself from the bits that annoy you

culture is everything

Snipper has it tbf tbf 

You need to gagamaxx bro. Go to Dubai, get a top-paying tax free gig and enjoy life. Or maybe Cayman Islands. 

^ Don’t do that, sounds rubbish. Drop out and be a hippy. Take some psychedelics and never think about anything to do with accountancy ever again 

Move jobs a couple of times until you find a team with a culture that isn’t shit. 

Become basically a chilled out entertainer.

What's the point ?? All it does is make me miserable and I've got no wife or family so who am I doing it for ? 

i mean, if you have no dependents and have the financial ability to not work for six months or so why wouldn’t you?

particularly if it’s making you miserable 

when you’re 75 you’re not going to regret it

Go to some gigs.

What is stopping you  from throwing it all up in the air when you finish?

I burned out and did exactly what you are proposing. Applied for 3 random commercial roles in 3 different countries. The only criteria was to land a role where i would only have to work at 50% capcity. Idea was to get away for 6 /12 months, have an adventure, sort mysef out and figure out what the hell to do next..

I sat in a pub with some friends and decided after a few glasses of wine that if I didn't do it, I would always ask what could have been. I took the first role offered, rented out my gaff for 6 months and packed.

I ended up in a country I had never been to and in a place I had only ever googled. Worked in a role i could do with my eyes closed and spent my free time playing on mountains and messing around in boats. Met a local viking and have been here 12 years. 

What is the worse that could happen, you can always come back.

Might I propose the air hostess scene in Dubai? I gather many City solicitors find it a refreshing change. 

"I've got no wife or family so who am I doing it for"

You are both perfect for Dubai but will also find Dubai completely soulless 

So it could work, but it might go terribly

Just do it. Do not spend years in a job you hate, what an absolute waste. Having enough to be comfortable is important. After that, with no dependents, it's just greed and that's not going to make you happy either.

If after 6 months you want to go back, it's unlikely that's impossible, you just need a good 'career sabbatical' story.

I do think everyone on rof imagines I will be in a ludicrously priveliged position like having 6 months of savings/parental help etc , the trouble is I don't .

The payout I'm getting doesn't even cover what I owe on credit cards .

Financially am gonna be completely screwed within months so if there's to be an alternative plan it has to be in action by September latest.

All of which means I bet I end up in another similar role.

In the mean time planning holidays or even enjoying a night out is basically impossible because the depression and anxiety never goes away 

I don't have the impression you will be in a ludicrously priveliged position. You are lucky to be getting a pay off. I didn't have that luxury. I was lucky the rent covered the mortgage but lived like a student for several months. 

It's a choice, mental health or money. You have 3 months now to get something in place, that is if you want to. What I do think is that you are in a bad place and at this point it doesn't matter what any of us suggest you will find a reason why it won't work.

You do have my sympathy and I understand where you are right now. I think you need to get help for the depression and anxiety, if you havent already, and then get as far away from the source of it as possible for a while.

I am mad envious of where u life, cj. Would move in a heartbeat if I could envisage a way of making a living.

Gaga - take the leap. Something will come up.

*live

I don't think you have massive savings, I didn't and I left without a backward glance, it was a good decision. 

I grafted in low paying jobs for a few weeks which did wonders for mindset. Physical work helps me to switch off, and proper working people are good company in a way that lawyers just aren't. Physical tiredness without mental tiredness is a tonic, & you sleep like a baby. Then I took a mat leave cover role for a few months for decent money, until I eventually found the right thing. 

There are options but they involve a bit of a shift which is hard. It's the feeling of waste too, all that work to get where you are, but not changing is a waste too, if you don't enjoy where you are.

thanks Ramnousia and agree with snowfox. A physical role also works wonders. Do something totally unrelated for while, it doesn't matter. Just focus on getting better. It took years but eventually came back to law but on my own terms.

I do think everyone on rof imagines I will be in a ludicrously priveliged position like having 6 months of savings/parental help etc , the trouble is I don't .
 

Not at all, you can probably get yourself some breathing room by taking on a lodger though if that’s something you can tolerate.

Do it. Rent out and have a change. I’ve worked for forty years and after I left law I worked for myself, part time, back to full time and now back to freelance. Every change was a big risk and I was single when I started doing this. Even now and despite now having a horrible chronic illness I’m thinking g about where could I live in a different place for a bit to jazz Iive up a bit. Ive had periods of depression throughout but also good times. Go for it. 

Sorry about typos. Life. Not live

I second all of the brilliant advice here. But a question. Does one tell their employer they are burnt out as a reason to leave? Or simply resign? 

tell them - they might come up with an alternative for you or make a suggestion.  At the very least they are more likely to treat you carefully and politely than if you were going to another firm. 

I’ve never met anyone who wished they had spent more time in law firms.

Still bitter about not getting that TC Hun?

It’ll be worse if I ever hear you’ve qualified. 

Ah poor you 

It's going to smart then 

Right up you there. Right up you