| While I don't have a panacea for your problem, but I can absolutely relate. I'm currently working my first job after university and I have a similar feeling. At my job is iOS development, but I have a small voice in my head saying I should be doing something else – another platform and language, maybe ML and AI which I also studied. However, I know that I am my worst enemy in this. I am paid well and above those I graduated with. There are different pain points with iOS development, but overall I like it. Except for the similar feeling, my current issues is being okay about still needing to learn a lot (being 37 I want to have a much higher mastery than currently), and also my current team which doesn't high standards. Enjoying work for me is about two things; being good at what I do (and efficient!) and also being in a good team. Any job can be fun when you are working with the right people – but of course that doesn't always extend to every kind of job. You started out the way I started out with learning IT. I did it because I wanted to play games. It became a profession (administration), but later on I wanted better jobs, higher pay etc. and decided on university. From my current situation I work from home, can work basically anywhere, and I enjoy a kind of freedom which is quite rare. I also have ambitions to become a consultant in the long run, make a few apps of my own etc. I love what I do when I am good at it. No matter what I do the same issue will occur; drudging past being mediocre is painful and I hate it. Being 37 and wished I was only 25 instead (skill-wise after university) doesn't really help either – that is something I have to consciously be aware because I've had health issues. Maybe I have become a bit jaded, but I don't expect work to be fun. I expect work to be meaningful mentally, engaging, and give me the lifestyle and freedom I want. What do you want from work, really? |