> as soon as I encounter a tricky design problem, I want to give up because I don't care about the product enough to put in the effort. Is this really about th

> as soon as I encounter a tricky design problem, I want to give up because I don't care about the product enough to put in the effort. Is this really about the product or do you just not want to do the hard work? You need to have a side project. For at least an hour a day, do something that you want to do. It doesn't need to be programming but it needs to be something you're interested in and has a goal you can see yourself moving towards. Also, try to do your job better. Whatever you're working on, spend 30 minutes per day reading books where you can use the knowledge you learn to do your job better. People are meant to be continuous learners. When we're not learning we get bored and don't care. So a) do some learning of your choice outside of work and b) do some learning at work to get better at what you're doing now.