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Something that really helped me when I was younger and in a similar boat, was to grit my teeth and throw myself into the work; by that I mean, force yourself to be first in, last out every day, take on literally every task - no matter how shitty - that is available to you, your team, or anyone you know that needs help. Take some work home with you if you can. And keep doing this for 4-6 months. By that time you will probably be heading towards burnout, and you'll need to slow things down for a bit.

But when you do take some slack and reflect, then you will realise that you just learned a ton of really practical things that can help you in your next job. You've also learned the discipline of hard work (which in the long term trumps any deep knowledge of tech because ultimately every job eventually becomes a grind, and tech is ever-changing anyways). Plus you've probably made a good reputation for yourself which never hurts.

You will also be able to decide if you found that last few months energising or if you would rather gnaw off your arm than do it again. And that helps to answer if you should leave the job or not :)


While I don't agree with going overboard and burning yourself out, I do agree with the premise.

So many people want to find their passion first and then they think they'll work hard once they find it.

It's actually the other way around.

Give 100% to what you're working on (no more though) and you'll find that you become passionate about it.


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