Counterpoint here, i spent some years trying to get away from the bar and into tech, and eventually gave up as I both didn't enjoy it and still felt like a fail

Counterpoint here, i spent some years trying to get away from the bar and into tech, and eventually gave up as I both didn't enjoy it and still felt like a failure after 4-5 years of self teaching. I can blame that partially to not having a mentor or much of a community as you say, but also to mostly just getting remote gigs via upwork where I was supposed to churn out a bunch of work without guidance (very anxiety inducing for a noob), and to my background in arts which put a constant nagging voice in my mind that asked me is this bullshit really what you want to do? I went back to bartending where I've been quite happy ever since even if poor - it also gives an outlet to my artistic side, as you're partially a performer behind the bar. After a while i started getting more and more into digital art tho and as i turned 40, i realise i need to make that my main thing and eventually leave the bar behind. It's a tougher jump as there's not nearly as much work as in tech, but I'll have to make it. Knowing how to code is a big advantage though (mostly doing VR and animation in Unreal Engine these days) and when it's just one part of the job i actually find it enjoyable :D