Means to an end

For a lot of people, the glorified finance path (IB->PE/HF and etc) is a means to an end.

There was a thread where people who left the aforementioned finance path shared their experiences and how they made this decision - I want to update that. I have been doing some soul-searching recently, and I keep coming back to the conclusion that the finance path is not the one for me. I am lucky to be in this position at such a young age where I realize that I have been driven by the wrong aspects of the job (money, prestige, underlying insecurities, and etc.). I am not saying that people who chose that path are wrong to do so but for those who left - what were the factors and how did you come across those factors?

Let me know your thoughts.