Worker turns down promotion of 30% more work with only 5% more pay, boss calls them 'unambitious': 'Am I wrong for not wanting to sacrifice my entire life?'

Would you turn down a promotion if it meant sacrificing your personal life?

Work-life balance can be a tricky thing. We all have our own version of what works. Some folks are okay with making a lot of sacrifices for their job. They are fine with being on call all the time, working weekends and nights, dropping things in a second to help with work, and never taking a real vacation. Sometimes it's worth it. If your job meets your needs and inspires you, then you might not need a whole lot else in your life to make it worth living. Your job comes first, since it's more than a job. But not everyone is like that, nor should they be. Some folks have different priorities, aka living their lives. They have families, they have interests, and they have personal things they'd like to accomplish. In those cases, it's your job to keep that alive.

People don't always understand our priorities, though. They don't always understand what makes us tick, and they want us to live our lives in a way that is legible to them. They can only see the world through their myopic lens, and they think that everyone else must think the same way they do. This couldn't be farther from the truth. Your life and your choices do not have to make sense to anyone else. There is no jury holding you to a particular decision or story, and you do not have to defend your choices to everyone you meet.

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But that's what this employee was made to feel when they turned down a promotion. The way their boss saw it, they couldn't understand why someone would turn down a bigger title and a little bit more money. In their world, everyone should sacrifice themselves to their job and accept whatever comes along with that. But the way the worker in this story saw it, they weren't ready to give up the things they loved just for a little more money. Plus, the compensation didn't quite seem fair. Read on for all the details of the story and see what you think about it.
Turned down a promotion because it was 30% more work for 5% more pay. My manager called me 'unambitious.' Am I wrong for not wanting to sacrifice my entire life for a fancy title?

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