Changing Careers...

[AnotherKD]

Have any of you just up and left your career for something completely different?

I've got a job that only somewhat deals with what I went to school for. It's not that great, but it pays well and I have the ability to be on different projects every 6-9 months or so, so I don't get stuck with the same thing for a long time. I've been working in this field ever since I got out of grad school, about 6 years ago. But it's so damn bureaucratic, I don't feel like I am of any importance around here, and I am slowly becoming more and more sick of it.

But in buying a house recently, I've been thinking that I should just give this up and get a real estate license. I know it's random, but it seems like I could be good at it. And I wouldn't dread coming to work every day and doing stuff that I don't like. Also, around DC, the housing market never really crashed (though it did slow down a bit, and is picking back up) and so it'd be a pretty steady line of work. But the rational side of me thinks that I shouldn't be giving up on my "career path" in my 30s and basically wasting my degree... though I guess it's not being completely utilized right now, anyhow.

Have any of you changed careers after you've started to become established in something? How did you actually psych yourself up to go ahead and do it? Was it worth it?