[vijay_nair]

Why do a barely challenging exercise if i'm not the first to do it and not the best at that?

Exactly! My motivation primarily stems from the self-esteem boost I get from doing meaningful work that’s exclusive to me. But to do the experiments and research required to get to the exclusive domain I need to pass through the tedium of mundane jobs to pay the bills, learn the technology etc. I can find the motivation to do the tedium for minutes, but not for hours like others seem to be able to.

[knightofmars]

I used to be like this and began to realize that it was limiting me professionally as well as in general growth as a person. I started forcing my perspective to be this instead, "Can I do this more elegantly than those that came before me?" It pushed me to learn about problems and really foster a depth of understanding that I never would have reached due to the "If I'm not the first..." mentality. Now I find a deeper self-esteem boost in gaining understanding and subsequently teaching others the knowledge I've gained.

[ddnb]

Incredible, your post and the one you responded to describe perfectly how I feel. I also noticed a new environment gives me an overall boost of motivation. Changing jobs makes me super exited the first few months but after that the enthousiasm start to die off.

A result of all this is that now after 5 years of being web developer I'm already bored of the job because the small mundane tasks outnumber the challenging projects by a lot. Already switched of employer twice... Looking to do freelance work now hoping the constant switching helps keeping my motivation up.

[devotedtoneu]

Fellas, do it in a way no one else has. Or use it for something no one else has.

Even things done a million times can be turned on their head.

[wolco]

Have you considered changing languages? 5 years in one stack can make things too easy in a way.

[kvgr]

I have the same thing... we should start a support group.

[TeMPOraL]

So do I. I'd gladly join the group.