[FooHentai]

>As soon as you possibly can, start working on something you 100% agree with.

Man, that point resonates with me. I quit a while back due to severe burnout (actually, I think now, boreout) and have been struggling to get enthused about anything. I think what you said here is the core of why I might be done with tech as a profession entirely - I'm almost completely soured with the impact and direction of it as a whole.

So then the question becomes well, what do I agree with and want to do? That's a hard one. This is the only career path I've been on and even if I do find something else, starting off at 40 with no skill base is... oof.

[3pt14159]

If you hate [war, human trafficking, etc] and live in an honest country one of the best things out there is working for law enforcement or intelligence. You'll use your skills on real problems that matter. Impact and excitement.