I had a similar experience with my job. Maybe even more night and day. I really do like to get a lot of my self esteem from being a productive member of society, which might sound pitiful but I think it is a very big drive especially in Germans to do something for the greater good and I am just acknowledging that fact for myself.
That is why I am not big on financial independence/ early retirement, but I do think having big savings/investments is really neat and cancels out a lot of anxiety one might have otherwise.
Yeah, doing something for the greater good is great. The author mentioned that people started voluntary jobs after they got their finances right and could work less. Thank you for commenting.