It's difficult to provide advice without knowing a little bit more about your motivations. For instance, why did you leave the bigCo? Was the work unfulfilling,

It's difficult to provide advice without knowing a little bit more about your motivations. For instance, why did you leave the bigCo? Was the work unfulfilling, or were there other issues? Without knowing more about your situation, I have two comments to offer: 1. Make sure you're exercising regularly. When you get out of shape, neurotransmitter ratios can make your problems feel a lot worse than they are. I've seen big boosts in mental acuity and feelings of well-being in my own life every time I've gotten back into shape after a hiatus. 2. Make sure to keep things in perspective. You're clearly ambitious, which can be a good thing, but we have to remember that even in our field's less-exciting jobs we get to solve problems and work on puzzles all day and generally receive 99th percentile pay (globally speaking). It sounds trite, but the phrase "first world problems" has helped me see my situation in a more objective light in the past. Good luck!