Quarter life crisis... protirement... call it what you like, but there are a whole lot of 20- and 30-somethings running around looking for the meaning of life.

A recent story in London's Sunday Times elaborated on the generational epiphany that is defining a whole segment of the population: "More than 80% of 30- to 35- year-old professionals claim they are unhappy at work, worn down by a combination of stress, boredom and 'aspiration deficit': the feeling that their job isn't giving back as much as they are putting into it. As working hours and the pressure to earn big bucks increase, the generation that once thought it could have it all has started to wonder whether it is worth sacrificing life to get it."

Sound familiar?
In the U.S. the protirement phenomenon has been building for years, most clearly illustrated in the tech industry. In the late 90s when the prosperity bubble burst, there were a whole lot of people left wondering what they had spent the last years of their life working for.

My son? He's a doctor.
It's a given fact that some career paths come with long hours. Bankers, lawyers, doctors... most of the professions that are associated with the big payoffs require long hours and dedication. And while it used to be that the prestige of the positions meant that they were held in some esteem, these days with crashing markets, a societal mistrust of lawyers and doctors being accused of malpractice right and left, any real cache is long gone.

Of course, it is not just these professions. Anyone trying to make their way up the corporate ladder in consulting, publishing, advertising, or a variety of other industries will feel the same pull.

"On a rare day I would leave at 7:00, knowing full well that I had completed my work for the day, but my colleagues would look down their noses at me for skipping out early," relates protired Alyssa Bucci about her time as a management consultant. "There was almost a challenge of who could work the most hours; people would wear it like a badge of honor." After years of clock-watching, Bucci decided to give up her paycheck in favor of going back to school.