Reframing your perspective may help you here. In your post, swap out all mentions of "programming" with "building construction", take a step back and try to for

Reframing your perspective may help you here. In your post, swap out all mentions of "programming" with "building construction", take a step back and try to formulate and advice for a construction builder who turned into management. Sure enough, there are certainly many differences to be found between construction and programming. But testing the details of the method of comparison is besides the point. The idea is to do it on a high enough level which is good enough to drive a point home: Both construction and programming happen in a broader context. There are reasons why you write code or lay bricks. e.g. you derive satisfaction from the act of making leds blink in certain patterns, you leverage your expertise to scratch your own itch e.g. build your own RSS reader, or solve a problem other people have which you think is worth your while e.g. you build a teaching platforms for students to get access to learning resources. Or in construction: school buildings, library buildings, campuses and so on. That last part is key. Nobody is going to use code or build walls they have no need or want for. You don't get paid to erect walls or scaffold controllers. You are paid to cater to someone else's need or want. You could directly go to the consumer as a business owner; or you could do it through someone else's business as an employee. We tend to look at technology as a separate industry distinct from other industries. But that's not exactly true. SpaceX is an aerospace business, Netflix is a movie rental business, Amazon started out (and arguably still is) a book shop. All the cool technology they have developed is subservient to core business goals which are anything but technological. > It seems like there must be some way of monetizing this skillset, but I have yet to find it. Looking at programming as a skillset you want to monetize in it's own right, you will always end up at consulting gigs as a freelancer or employee, doing work for disparate customers, problems, industries, etc. Far more interesting: What's an interesting problem space I would like to get into, providing solutions, and building out a career, through my programming / management skills?