Is finding a job that makes you happy more important than FIRE?

A week or so ago there was a post on this sub about making sure you maintain your health throughout your working years such that you can actually enjoy your retirement when it comes. That post felt almost a bit off topic to me for this sub, as I’m used to seeing posts here purely about the financials to make early retirement happen. I thought, well, if we’re going to talk about health, how Meta do you want to get about this?

Okay so you have the money to retire, and now the health. But WHY are you retiring? Presumably so that you can do what you want with your time. Why do you want to do that? Because it will make you happy in this life before you pass?

If we ask Why enough, and get as meta as we can, isn’t it about happiness?

Couple this with a couple other of posts I saw lately. Someone who retired at 45 that said they still get depression, insinuating that retirement isn’t some silver bullet to happiness. Other posts about people frustrated that they don’t get to enjoy their working years because they feel guilty spending on recreation instead of saving more. Other posts about people frustrated because they had what they thought were retirement goals that are now pushed even further back due to cost of living rising and ACA costs increasing.

If it’s really about happiness, wouldn’t it be more important to focus time and energy not on the broader FIRE goal, but finding employment that you enjoy and are happy financially with? Whether this means increasing your network, going back to school to a field you love, trying different industries for a year each, whatever it takes to get to a job that you enjoy and pays enough. Should we instead being performing extensive research on what makes a person happy? Should we be spending more and saving less to enjoy our younger years more?

Can FIRE in some ways just be taking happiness from one part of your life and moving it to a different part? Or perhaps the end goal of FIRE is not simply increased happiness?