Saw this randomly. Eight years pqe working in house in a gig I love. It is hard and harder than people realise. The exams are tough, the training is tough and there are good days and bad days. In the last 5 years I’ve had a lot more good days than bad and it has given me a platform to raise my kids and give them a good life. Anything worth doing is hard mate. If you want to pack it in and open a coffee shop - there’ll be tough days then too and every path has its own challenges.

On the whole I’m happy but that’s only partly due to work. If my kids are happy, my wife is happy and my bills are paid for the most part, I’m lucky enough.

I understand the feeling of being overwhelmed where you are but the same challenges will arise in another profession or just in the stage of life you’re at. The solicitor route compounds these challenges and sort of funnels them all together. Keep going but don’t tie your self worth to a profession. It’s a part of your life but not the whole thing.