Q: One of my goals in life is to find a job that I love. I don’t have an interest in my current occupation or field. If I can be blunt – I’m here for the excellent salary. I can’t quit my job just because I don’t enjoy it, since now I’m accustomed to a certain amount of money. – Kyle

A: Dale: Yes, Kyle, you can quit your job just because you don’t enjoy it. That’s the second-best reason to quit. In fact, your job just might quit you, as your unhappiness creeps into your performance. What is the best reason to quit? You’ve found something better. So now you’re in a race to find that something better to leave for before your job leaves you.

Kate: And you’re going to be in that race wearing “golden handcuffs.” Your situation reminds me of a client of mine who was making a lot of money, about $250,000 a year, with an apartment in Manhattan and a house near the seashore. She got laid off, and said she had to make a certain amount of money to “maintain her lifestyle.” She passed up quite a number of jobs that paid $125,000-$150,000. Two years rolled by. She took a job at the lower pay, but meanwhile, she lost both properties and learned how to live more modestly.

Dale: You mentioned that you wanted to be blunt, Kyle. There’s nothing more blunt than the job market. The marketplace doesn’t care what you used to make. And there aren’t too many jobs that pay rookies what a veteran in another field is used to making. So you have two choices: frugality or experimentation. If it’s the latter, do something new having to do with your old experience.

Perhaps you could become a sales rep, selling to people in jobs like yours. Perhaps you could take the best piece of your current job and figure out a way to do more of it. When I got bored working in corporate market research, I sold management on my working with systems to predict the effect on sales when marketing strategies changed. Sounds dry, I know, but it intrigued me and led to a job with a consulting firm, then to my own firm. My pay and interest rose together, and that sure beat frugality.

– Kate Wendleton is the founder of The Five O’Clock Club, a national career-counseling network. Dale Dauten is the founder of The Innovators’ Lab.