God bless you. I thought I am alone. I wanted to ask this question for a looong time but could not get it out.. I bet there are many more ppl like this.
I switched careers a few years ago and have often felt like this.
I also read Steven Kings book, "On Writing." Even though it's about prose, one of the most important things I took away from it is this: if I want to be a good ______ I need to show up, every day and _______. Usually, I won't know when I did good ______ until after the fact and if I don't ______, every day, I won't be able to measure myself and improve on my previous efforts.
This has helped me continue to plug away (at work, on my own time) and seek out interesting challenges that will help me to mark small, identifiable milestones of improvement.
I see this in many things, not just programming or writing.
+1. Agreed, I'm bored in a security consulting career. It pays well but does not make me feel like a creator. Getting into some node.js as a place to start building things.
I also read Steven Kings book, "On Writing." Even though it's about prose, one of the most important things I took away from it is this: if I want to be a good ______ I need to show up, every day and _______. Usually, I won't know when I did good ______ until after the fact and if I don't ______, every day, I won't be able to measure myself and improve on my previous efforts.
This has helped me continue to plug away (at work, on my own time) and seek out interesting challenges that will help me to mark small, identifiable milestones of improvement.
I see this in many things, not just programming or writing.