[totetsu]

I'm maybe not the kind of FANG(m) hotshot HN user your seeking an answer from here... But... Time spent in the selfless service of the betterment of community and humanity, the assistance of those less able than oneself, and the propagation of one's values into the future, on reflection doesn't often feel meaningless. Maybe think about how you can expand your thinking of your life to be more than just your own successful career path and you will find more fulfillment, and be more comfortable keeping high expectations. As FANG and software eat the world, there is a lot of community, open tech, open source, decentralisation projects that need peoples help to keep the balance of power slipping away from us common plebs. Another option is to look into the cosmic perspective.. get some sense of scale of humanity, and it's interconnected place in the long time line of the web of life in the world.. botany and geology are great for putting humans into perspective, and spending time outdoors looking at plants and rocks will also fight depression in many ways. Maybe search of some blog where people write about their career paths in IT to get an idea of what others have done before.

[abdabab]

I agree with you on finding purpose and it certainly brings the sense of our interconnectedness with everything else, which can bring you to a perspective where you’re not stuck thinking about personal pain anymore. However, I also think life doesn’t has to be all about finding purpose or all that. There is so much more world has to offer. Good food, good conversations, beautiful places, hikes, creative art, books, music, movies - I can go on and on. One can build a good happy life just by appreciating everything good he already has. It just takes a very big perspective shift.