> Happiness at work frequently has more to do with your circumstances at work than with what you do at work.
It's not just work, but the rest of your life. This is something glossed over by a lot of people, particularly in the HN demographic. But I'd look at engagement with family, non-technical hobbies and interests, health and fitness, relationships, community, travel and vacation, and the like.
Work does matter, but it's only a part of the puzzle. The advantage of additional anchors outside the office is that these are often areas in which you have more control. You can be self-directed and cannot be fired in your hobbies, interests, and health (though relationships can and do end unpleasantly at times).
My suggestion is to provide more bases for your self-worth and engagement.
Aren't you guys kind of ignoring his question? He didn't say that he's unhappy with his life and wants to quit his job, he said he doesn't want to be a programmer anymore and needs help figuring out what to do next. People spend a majority of their waking life at work, they should be doing something they enjoy.
I went through something similar a few years ago. I didn't get a computer science degree but fell into programming on my own because I picked it up easily, but I didn't want to spend the rest of my life being a programmer and I saw that I didn't identify with other programmers that loved their jobs. I've always done some design with programming, worked around a lot of designers, and eventually switched to becoming an interaction designer (which allows me to be analytical with my work but spend a limited amount of time in code).
If there's a way for you to try something else at your current job, don't be afraid to talk to your boss and your peers about it. I thought I would get a lot of flack for not wanting to do the job I was hired for, but everyone in my company was extremely supportive. If you're a good employee, you can be as good doing something else and people want to be supportive of that (and keep you, no matter what you do).
It's not just work, but the rest of your life. This is something glossed over by a lot of people, particularly in the HN demographic. But I'd look at engagement with family, non-technical hobbies and interests, health and fitness, relationships, community, travel and vacation, and the like.
Work does matter, but it's only a part of the puzzle. The advantage of additional anchors outside the office is that these are often areas in which you have more control. You can be self-directed and cannot be fired in your hobbies, interests, and health (though relationships can and do end unpleasantly at times).
My suggestion is to provide more bases for your self-worth and engagement.