Another career-crisis / passion vs career post!

Hey everyone,

I know that WSO is inundated with posts about people wondering if the finance life is for them long-term but was hoping to get some more bespoke advice. To keep it short, I'm an IB analyst at "Top" IB group and have an offer at a Tech Mega Fund starting in 2024 that I don't think I want anymore. I have another life dream (which I'll get into later)

Now that I have had this offer for a few months or so, I have realized that I was more excited about the fact this MF deemed me "worthy" enough to get the offer. In other words, I realized that I was merely seeking validation of my financial skills and perhaps even acceptance into an "elite" community. I am not very excited about starting, especially knowing the rough worklife balance that awaits. 

More importantly, I know in my heart I don't love finance, I don't love deals, and I don't have an incessant need to earn boatloads of money (would like to live comfortably, of course). I mainly did this to prove to myself that I am good enough. And that's where it stops.

There is, however, another piece of my life that I DO love and DO NOT feel this need for validation while doing: acting, standup comedy, and filmmaking. 

I have been performing in theater and improv for 7+ years, done standup for a little over a year now, and have recently started my own Youtube channel for some short films I have been working on. That being said, I'm not generating any income from these sources yet and am mainly doing them as hobbies; I have yet to double down and go "all-in" on any of these paths. 

Although, I do believe in life that sometimes you receive divine signals that can prompt you to make certain choices or explore certain thoughts (I'm a spiritual guy so bear with me). I've been feeling some signal or some feeling that I'm going down the wrong path with MF PE and that I need to shift more towards the arts and double-down on my loves and passions. And perhaps this post is me beginning to take action on feeling that out. 

In summary, I would love to hear this forum's thoughts and considerations on my reflections and welcome any one else to share and provide their insight. WSO has helped me tremendously in my pathway thus far, and I greatly appreciate this community. More than happy to provide additional information!

Best,

Rick

TDLR; I'm going to a MF PE shop and strongly feel like I should reconsider the offer and instead following my love of acting/comedy/filmmaking