I quit a job that put me in the top 5% of salaries to do something I loved that gave me more time outside work, because I realized the woman I share my life with was my "ten heads in a row" and not the job that depressed me.
Another example is that rather than sinking my time into one project, one hobby, one organization, I tend to jump around a lot. That isn't to say I am constantly in that state, I've just learned that eventually the coin will flip heads and I'll be working with great people on something really interesting that is worth my time to go deep. "Worth" here, not necessarily being financial. It might be educational, or a cause I'm passionate about. Or fun. This optimizes for N.
Also moving from law to programming, I changed the effect of randomness on my success.
In law, I could kick ass, and still lose a case, because of many things that are likely to be depressing to list in public.
In programming, if I kick ass, it deterministicaly leads to something that works! That is good. Sure there is politics and popularity and all those normal human problems too, but those same problems existed in law, so I'm not losing anything there.
That sounds very intriguing, yet I don't really have an aha!-moment. Care to give an example or two from your personal experience?