I was browsing through my HN historical submissions and found the following one https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7314582. Surprised to know that I'm with the same doubt nowadays and now I'm wondering if I really advanced or just kept repeating the same patterns. Check yours :).
I put less value on "advancing" as I do enjoying what I do.<p>Two years ago I quit a ~20 year career in networking and frankly I was kinda tired of the industry I was in.<p>I decided to do a coding bootcamp (I had always been interested in coding). Loved it (found I was a far better student at 40 than 20), and got my first job for less than half what I used to earn.<p>My pay has risen dramatically and while I don't make what I used to and I'm not as "advanced" in my career as I was... I'm far happier.<p>A lot of folks seem to see "advancement" as what makes them happy in their job, I worry for them that such things are fleeting and hollow.