When I was a new developer just a couple months out of school, and was very eager to be a part of my company and fit in, an older developer told me “remember that your interests and your path are your own.”
Over the years, I’ve suffered from “company man” syndrome and look back to his guidance as a reminder that I should own my skills and interests, and bring them to an employer if and for as long as the job suits them. I shouldn’t go with the job wherever it takes me simply because that’s my employer’s wish.
Not always easy advice to take, but extremely important advice to me.
I do agree with some of this, but a lot of it seems to misunderstand the nature of intrinsic motivation.
> to try to do things that would make your friends say wow
Not great advice. The opinions of friends, like those of parents, can be hard to disambiguate from inner knowledge. So it's important to respect friends' opinions, but not to seek to impress them with the work we choose to do.
I am absolutely burned out with my tech job. The only thing keeping me in it for now is fear: in a minor way, losing the paycheck and benefits for a while; but more significantly, the realization that I know I need to take a year or two away from work to recover from the injury that is burnout. But it needs to happen.