I stopped working during a very high earning part of my career (~$1 million/yr). At the time I was very stressed with work (14-16 hours a day for entire career in finance). I had been doing a side hustle (buy, renovate and hold real estate), which by that point was covering about 2x my living expenses from the cash flow (pre new investment). Without question it was a bad financial decision to quit working to focus on real estate exclusively. Had I grinded it out a few more years, would have been in better financial shape. Now ... was it a bad decision. I was the least healthy of my entire life when I quit, now I am the healthiest. I was in a toxic relationship, since ended and in a healthy one. I was living in a city I disliked, now I travel a lot. I read more, relax more. Work 80% less. And realized having more money just for having more money does not make you happier. I also reduced my expenses by 50% by moving from a VHCOL location to travel full time.
Fwiw I have looked at going back and when I did, the jobs available were more in the $300k-$500k range, a huge drop. So if any of you decide to quit a high paying job - don't expect to be able to come back to the same place you were. I think it is likely a 3 year set back and will make future employers question you quitting randomly again.