What's Next?

A thing I've been thinking about a lot more is "what's next?". From my personal point of view I got pretty far with mobile development, but upon switching to devops I feel like that chart of constant growth hasn't really existed. I feel like I've plateaued and can't figure out how to get "back on track".

I won't say I haven't learned anything since my career switch, but I when I was a developer I felt like I was pushed a lot more frequently every sprint. I like a challenge. The only reason tech keeps me here is the constant challenges. I think the one thing you don't really learn about especially after switching careers is how to create your own challenge.

Most of my career was in startups or small companies. The challenges there are non stop because "someone has to do it" and I like exploring if given the space. Now that I've been more Sr+ in devops I'm finding it hard to create or find those same growth opportunities. What do I do about that? Do I leave the industry? Do I try to push through? Do I go find something new?

I'm not sure. I do know that I really like automation and helping streamline the process from dev to prod. I know that I miss working in the cloud. Lastly I know that I like efficient ways to track data so that I can fix things. All these are nice to know but how to get those dopamine hits back and consistent? That's what I want to know...that's what I don't understand.

So after brain dumping all this I still have no plan. I'll just continue working on my homelab and see what solution I come up with by my next birthday. Until then we just kinda wait and see what paths present themselves.