I don't see these types of decisions as sacrifices, but more just trade offs. Life is full of trade offs, and which one you take depends on your personal preference and your values.

Back in the day, I was working on my undergrad thesis in my university senior year and the professor who I was doing the thesis under invited me to become his grad student and go to University of Waterloo with him. He was leaving the current university and taking his whole team with him. He even offered to pay for my masters degree on top of paying me to work under him, but I turned down the opportunity because I did not want to go long distance with my girlfriend at the time, who eventually became my wife. I ended up becoming a carpenter, which had nothing to do with what I studied in university, but I never regret a moment of it. It was simply the trade off I chose to make.