Old stupid post

Ask yourself if you'll regret later if you don't take it. If the answer's yes, give it a shot.

Also, regarding the anxiety, just assume new job will be worse than current one... but think of it as a means to an end. Remember, it's not forever, and if you don't like it, you can lateral after six months (preferably a year). You can spin it that NYC just wasn't for you.

Also, congrats on the lateral from regional boutique to EB. How did you swing the recruiting/interviewing since you were coming from a different town (I imagine your current firm was unaware you were interviewing).   

I think you have to ask yourself what you value more, your long term health or long term career. If you can grit your teeth for a little longer, I think the payoff will be worth it since you are early in your career. At the same time, you only get one body and at the end of the day, it's just money.

In terms of dealing with the anxiety, consider finding a new therapist.

Other than that, marijuana helps. (I'm not joking or trying to troll)

Anxiety can be psychological but also biological

If therapy is not helping maybe you should consider something different. If you're living in the US, you have plenty of functional MDs, some are bad, some are great, a lot in the middle, just like in any profession but I have no doubt that you can find help.

Some ideas to look into : thyroid, gut microbiome, bad diet, inflammation, vitamins deficiencies...

The carnivore diet is not a cure for all but is pretty famous for dealing with stuff like that.

Just stop having anxiety

These are telling you you should get therapy in order to bear a new job ... seriously guys, is this a joke ? If you can’t handle the job don’t take it. 

Delete

I'd for sure stay at a boutique if you're struggling with mental health...EB will wear you down. You're still doing deals and learning a lot. Ask yourself why do you even want to transfer? Is it because of the name, prestige, comp? If so, those aren't real reasons to put yourself through that if you're having a hard time. Prestige is a fool's errand. Someone will always make more money than you. Law of diminishing returns sets in at ~$85k, does it really matter if you're already making ~$100+ at a boutique to make an extra $20k more? Really think about why you want to change in the first place.

Thanks a lot everyone for your inputs - OP here.

In the end, I didn't take the EB offer. Not because of my anxiety but because I just don't feel that the extra hours are worth it. This has also made me realise that I may prefer taking up another route such as VC or entrepreneurship in the long run.

I just don't feel that IB or PE is worth it for most people anymore. Very few really enjoy the work/culture. A family member of mine is the head of one of the largest asset managers in the world - the kind of relevance these folks had 20 years ago is much greater than they have today.

Moreover, I don't really want to run in the rat race for any longer.

Best of luck to anyone who's in a similar position as me. Thank you!