I can't tell you what will work for you, but your question resonated with me. I can tell you where I am at. In my case I knew already in high school that CS cam

I can't tell you what will work for you, but your question resonated with me. I can tell you where I am at. In my case I knew already in high school that CS came easy to me and would pay well. So naturally, I majored in... Civil Engineering. My immature little brain got something right and made me try something different (more concrete, if you will). It was a detour that I am glad I took. Along the way I encountered so many cool areas of applied maths: control theory, fluid dynamics, thermodynamics, finite element analysis, dispersion modelling, oceanography, the list goes on. Ironically, these days, I'm still spending most days programming. But I am careful about what I work on. First, the software is always a tool. People may use it to limit the impact of a flood, to warn each other about fires, or just to plan a fishing trip. I write software with real applications for the physical world, not just some self-serving engagement metric. Second, I write software with an applied maths component. This is obviously a personal bias, but I like these sorts of problems. There are lots of smart people out there that are worth learning from. I am much happier at the end of the day if I have mastered some new concept in control theory than if I learn some new frontend framework. To each their own. To summarise, I still write code, but I figured out what applications make me happy and motivated.