Careers with big salaries can be found in a range of jobs -- starting with those that require you to show instant results for your activities, such as sales jobs on a commission basis or others based on lead generation/demand generation type activities to jobs that depend on you to make key strategic decisions for the business. Big salary jobs will take a lot out of you -- but will give you plenty of perks and a nice, large income and the support of a larger organization behind you. Moving up to careers that generate big salaries frequently requires courage and a certain amount of self-confidence, not to speak of skills.

There are several paths to moving up to careers with big salaries including:

1. Education: Identifying the type of skills and background that your target industry seeks, education can be a terrific and quick pathway to a career with big salary. Physicians with MD, Business Analysts with MBA from prestigious institutions are possible education pathways to a career with big salary.
2. Commission based sales jobs: If you have the desire and personality to succeed at sales, this can become one of the most lucrative careers without much education. Everyone needs to sell their products and services, and a sales person who gets paid only when they make a sale is always in high demand. Of course not all sales jobs will result in a high income, but choosing products and services that carry a large commission can make your efforts very worthwhile. Examples include real estate agents dealing with high-end properties, sales agents who sell high-end technology products and so forth.
3. Entrepreneurship: This is everyone's favorite, but also one of the hardest routes. Of course success in the entrepreneurial route can make you rich beyond your wildest dreams- but the obstacles are just as many and treacherous. We would suggest reading the book E-Myth to understand the many ramifications in the entrepreneurship route.
4. Executive path: The executive path in a mid-size or large company can offer a reasonably big salary, especially as you begin getting towards the upper echelons of the organization. Obviously competition would be stiff and you would have to demonstrate your capabilities over and over again. But if you have the passion to succeed in this route, it can be a very rewarding pathway as the opportunities to work on very good projects would constantly flow your way. However, playing the politics of the workplace can be equally draining of your energies.

The common thread in all these approaches may be self-evident, and that is passion for the job you are engaged in. It is this passion that would help you overcome days where the stress, politics & fatigue seem overbearing. Almost all large salary jobs will need you to get through these obstacles -- but fortunately, in a free-market system, you will also be amply rewarded for your efforts. Best of lucks!