[another-dave]

> I feel a bit directionless and lost, having coming to realize that I might not be going high up the career ladder considering where I am.

Personally, I realised that just because a job title is more senior doesn't necessarily mean that I want to do it — it's a trade-off that comes with not just more responsibility for more money but _different_ responsibilties for more money.

I found that moving from school/university (very linear, clear if you were doing "well" or "badly") to the world of work, it was easy to get sucked into the mindset of going up the career ladder as what I should be striving for. We don't expect all doctors to become hospital administrators or teachers to become school inspectors but in the private sector there's a focus on moving up all the time.

Moving away from that mindset, I took a couple of sideways/downwards steps and have never been happier. So long as I'm doing a job that I like and have enough money for my needs, what rung on the ladder I'm on doesn't really matter at the end of the day.