I have always been the practical responsible type. I'm a single parent and I've worked my ass off to provide a stable and loving household for my 12 yo kid.

I started in banking as a teller in 2014, put myself through school and got a BA in Business Administration (graduated in 2023) while working various jobs in banking, accounts receivable, accounts payable, and now I'm a treasurer in government.

The problem is that I hate my work and I've hated it progressively more everyday since about 2018. I've been grinding for 8+ years at becoming a professional and... I feel dead inside.

I have been trying so hard to make it work, but I'm at a point where my therapist is telling me she thinks I really need to consider a career change.

Here's the thing: my resume is basically all finance, AP, AR, and non-CPA accounting. Despite being basically capable at this work, I’m realizing that constant deadlines, boring fucking work, repetitive detail, zero margin for error, high scrutiny (plus politics in my current role) are a bad long-term fit and have contributed to burnout and worsening mental health. like really bad mental health. I never fuck up bad enough to get fired but the burnout leads to a lot of mistakes too, and this really isn't that kind of field. then that leads to confidence issues and it's just a snowball effect. it's completely at odds with my personality and desires. I thought I could muscle through but about 30 years of this til I retire? I can't. I won't make it that long, not to be extreme.

I don't even know what I could or would want to do. all the dream jobs I had as a kid seem completely out of reach: veterinarian, novelist, mortician, pathologist. I'd have to completely reinvent the wheel.

I think I've been practical and responsible for so long I don't even know what I want to do or how to start. My therapist is kind of pointing out though that you have to stick around to make being responsible and practical worthwhile, and my mental health at the moment is making that...um, not easy. (Not in crisis, but getting there. I'm in therapy though and have a support network, this post isn't about that)

Also, I'm queer and trans and that's just never been something that was a welcome part of me where I live in any career. I've been given basically "don't ask don't tell" talks multiple times. I guess I just give off that vibe. It definitely doesn't help.

I'm also terrified that I'm going to leave a $65k a year + career to flop on my face and lose my house because to be honest I'm paycheck to paycheck as it is. It's brutal out here for single parents living alone.

NOTE: I'm probably going to cross post to other subreddits to get different perspectives but IDK which ones get.

TLDR: If you built a similar professional trajectory and then realized it was killing you and squashing your will to live, did you change careers? How did it go? what do you regret (or not regret)? What do you wish you had known before you did it?