> You aren't good enough to land a job in one of the cool companies you admire.
This item is a key to your whole depression cycle IMO. And this is exactly where you are mistaken. There's a great chance that cool companies you admire do not deserve admiration; you will see it as soon as you get there, and will become even more depressed. Please remove this item from your system of axioms, and you will feel better already. There's nothing meaningful about programming job, period. But it's (in most cases) something you can tolerate. Don't overwork, convince yourself that your salary is quite decent for the effort, and suddenly - you have time left for cooking, family, friends, house cleaning, improving your skills. Please tell me why this is not a good plan (Full disclosure: I decided to stick to the same plan years ago, and think it was a really good idea :)
This item is a key to your whole depression cycle IMO. And this is exactly where you are mistaken. There's a great chance that cool companies you admire do not deserve admiration; you will see it as soon as you get there, and will become even more depressed. Please remove this item from your system of axioms, and you will feel better already. There's nothing meaningful about programming job, period. But it's (in most cases) something you can tolerate. Don't overwork, convince yourself that your salary is quite decent for the effort, and suddenly - you have time left for cooking, family, friends, house cleaning, improving your skills. Please tell me why this is not a good plan (Full disclosure: I decided to stick to the same plan years ago, and think it was a really good idea :)