Being happy as a software engineer

I decided to draft a little manual, in case it helps someone else in a similar situation.

1. Pay more attention to positive aspects of your situation.

Instead of thinking "oh no, I can't find another job" think "this job is so great for me that there isn't a single job on the market that can beat it". I am truly grateful to my employer for putting me into this situation - no employer can beat a wonderful job that I have - or even come close. But it took me a surprisingly long time to start seeing things from this perspective, because I was so focused on seeing every negative thing I could find.

2. Focus on what is going right and stop rehearsing all that is not going well.

If you are an entrepreneurial person like me, any corporate job is going to drive you absolutely nuts. You constantly see big problems and nobody solving them. You have nobody to go to in order to explain what you see - and your solutions. That role is reserved for the C-Suite folks, and until you are there, nobody would take you seriously. But if you keep thinking like this, you would only be sad. So instead be happy and think of what IS going right.You see new leadership coming in and acknowledging a small subset of the problems you were seeing for 2 years. You see progress being made on these. Smile. Most companies I've been at do not even try to fix ANY of their big structural problems. I am once again grateful that I am somewhere where problems are being looked at and being fixed.

3. Realize that your past accomplishments and skills do not matter and stop worrying about them.

You see your past accomplishments and skills don't get used in your job? Do not be upset. No employer owes you maximization of your happiness. Be happy with what you have - the only alternative is to be your own boss. Question whether you reached a level of maturity to be a better boss for yourself than a boss that you have - only then does this alternative make sense. Then you realize - this is the best that things can be right now. Build a vision for the future and see how your present is just one necessary step on that journey.