I used to be motivated by pure technical immersion. I loved knowing about software, hardware, networking, breathing it in and feeling energized by it. I’ve worked on major successes and major flops (RIP Windows Phone, we barely knew thee).<p>I’m 10 years into my career. I have a family now. I see software, tech, and work differently after 10 years in a few companies, some small, some huge. Currently at a FAANG company (not Microsoft). The idealist hacker/nerd I was doesn’t align with business objectives (in fact it feels soul crushing), and everything is reduced to planning, scheduling, cross-team alignment, and putting out fires, and I increasingly feel like a powerless grunt. I don’t want to play the game honestly. The game isn’t fun at this stage of my career.<p>So, obviously, I’m losing motivation. I’m curious what keeps you other mid-career or long-career developers out there motivated.