Well Billie Eilish’s parents are also industry people, so it’s not like she started from nothing.
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This is me. Dropped outta college for a lot of reasons, got a low level job at a healthcare IT company, and worked my way into a professional role. I am technically in the client facing/ implementation/ consulting space, but I primarily do various types of testing. I don’t love my job, but it’s relatively easy most of the time, and it pays very well without considering my lack of a degree.
That said I would love to get an degree eventually, but right now I’m saving up for a house and don’t have the energy to go to school while working full-time.
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To echo some similar statements - what you’re feeling is the start of a mid life crisis. I think people associate it with either a complete breakdown, or some sort of jokey buying a motorbike meme… but in reality it’s this jiggly feeling of time running out and dissatisfaction which is more insidious and harder to resolve. As @Fin25 said, that shit’s real.
I would also say that maybe the idea of living for work is overrated. Sure, some people have jobs that they love - but even having a job you don’t hate is an acheivement.
Have you considered doing the same thing somewhere else, or a ‘side hustle’. Honestly - some of the happier people I know are baristas or bar workers or people who’ve found fulfilment in life, not in work.
For the record - I am not one of those people! I don’t hate my job, but feel like there might be something else. I’m 43. I’ve thought about changing career, but have also really questioned if work is the answer. Hobbies, reconnecting with friends, filling my evenings with other stuff has taken my mind off some of those doubts.
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I’ll chime in on the thought of making a career shift midstream in your life–and going back to school.
I dropped out of high school for year, then went back and finished. I dropped out of college for a couple years, then went back and finished, after deciding to study what I wanted (philosophy) rather than what I thought I would do with my degree (psychology). I went to law school, practiced law, made good money, until that isn’t what I wanted to do anymore. At 39, I went back to school, got a degree to do “psychotherapy,” which is what I now do during the day, as a self-employed talk therapist. Along the way, I “flipped” houses to pay my student loans. My point is, to the OP, don’t get too down on yourself for not knowing what’s next, or for wanting to make a radical shift in what you do. I think it is a good thing to “take stock” and be intentional about your direction, and then take action, once you’ve given yourself time to see a path that appeals to you. I know I sound like a therapist all of a sudden, which is not what I intended. Oh well.
Edit: I just came across this short talk about following healthy passions and removing unhealthy passions (in your life more than career): https://youtu.be/6Oc2htDs3zg
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Get money!
Seriously, work in banking, or finance, online gambling, whatever you can stomach to get paid!
Worry about self fulfillment later with a phat wallet when you go on vacation or take a 6m sabbatical.
You’ll feel a lot better about making a difference or whatever when you can afford to, and youre not stressed about bills
Remember TIME is the most important commodity dont waste it!
You’ll only work most tech jobs for about two years before you want to get a new one to get a raise and more prestigious title. Always ask for 20% more than the last gig/place
Keep learning and leveling up!
It’s fun when you know how!
Travel get different perspectives!
Be kind, but don’t let your self be taken advantage of by family, friends, employers, or street hustlers.
Change your friend group, if they aren’t being successful, encouraging, and chasing life, go hang out with the people who are! The ones stuck in their own self wallowing doubt and depression will bring you down, and it’s hard enough without your mates being losers too. If you’re the smartest one in your crew, find a new one!
A Highschool drop out making 6figures
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Fin25 I will track you down! 
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50% Gordon Gekko, 50% Liam Neeson.
I like it.
He’ll help you with your investments and track down any relatives you might have accidentally allowed to be kidnapped by shady traffickers.
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Two of my favorite characters, except for Liam’s shameful racist remarks… 
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@Roger Can you talk more about what work you are currently doing or have been doing? Being dissatisfied, even deeply, is very human and happens to almost everyone, especially as we approach ages that end with a 0, regardless of what your current work or life situation is.
Fresh starts can be amazing. Certain big change does help to slow the passage of time, or anyway our perception of it. I have made pretty significant life changes at least once about every five years the past 20 years or so (I will be 50 in a few weeks), and am very grateful for them because my memory (already not strong) is improved by the clear markers those changes have set for me. I can say that I have been extremely lucky, with very strong support from family, and stumbling into great job situations, so I am aware of that privilege and wouldn’t say “do what I did and you’ll be happy”. But in general, I think if you are mindful about change and focus on trying to move toward something rather than running from something, new scenery can be very refreshing to the mind and being.
I will echo some sentiments earlier made: you will want to be very practical about the type of work you want to pursue. There is a balance to be found in work that is plentiful, pays well, and provides some sense of self-worth. The whole “live to work” because you love what you do philosophy we have had drilled into us for the past decades is a steaming pile of bullshit though. Definitely work to live. You honestly don’t have to love, or even necessary like your job. It’s okay to be mercenary. You might find something you do like, and that’s a real gift, but so long as you aren’t miserable at end of the day (overworked, stressed, abused, or otherwise diminished) and are paid a living wage, then you will be in a good place. Build the life that brings you joy outside of work, and think of work as a job. Someone above also suggested a trade…really, if I was going to make another significant career change, this is what I would gravitate toward. Working with your hands, paid a living wage, can work anywhere, and at the end of the day you made some actual thing.
Also, where do you live now? What are you looking for in a new community?
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Just here to say, Audio Engineering is something you can learn, practice, and implement and eventually turn into a job of some kind, but schooling and a ‘degree’ for it doesn’t mean anything, and to be honest, engineers aren’t really in demand in any way.
Every studio in the world has enough people working there and plenty lined up to take their place. Very tough to get in even if you’re good. There are enough studios in the world that another one isn’t really needed… its a weird place.
I’d suggest keeping audio and music squarely in the ‘fun’ category and changing up career in a field that is much more necessary, as others have stated.
I am saying this as a trained audio engineer with a degree. Wasn’t worth it, even though I’m somewhat using it, the video/film production I taught my self has taken me significantly farther.
As to where to go? Hell, any place that is away from other people imo haha take me to the woods homie
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Farming is an interesting job, with lot of demand for local products. It’s a deep learning curve and very rewarding when the harvest is good. It’s not repetitive because the nature is never the same, even after years of working.
Stay small and it’s also brings you lot of money and quality of life.
Find a field with your budget, and that the place you will move on.
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I mean I’d love a hog farm, a vineyard, a couple chateaus on each property and a yacht/jet to fly between Tokyo and Paris. How much do you want to work for these things, I’m also happy just tweaking a synth over drum machine at my friends annual summer BBQ in the local park 
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eew!
Most likely not possible at ~40, without a large nest egg, and without a goofy-faced clickbait-y youtube to pay the actual bills!
TBH GoldShawFarm seems like a nice enough bloke, and I enjoy some of the topics ( Viral video draws attention to debate over hound hunting laws in Vermont - VTDigger ) but my brain just does not enjoy that reptile brained parasocial trope on Youtube where every time the host says a word they have to play a clip from popular media to keep people engaged.
I just want bees and chickens on my property!
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There’s a significant component one cannot easily move away from, which is one’s head and everything in it. While there is something to be said for moving (whether physically, socially, or with respect to employment) to somewhere that offers better opportunities, or away from lack of opportunities or oppression, I think stability, or a grounded sense of self-satisfaction, would be desired precursors. I don’t know you, OP, but I don’t get the sense from your post that you have these. Someone in this thread mentioned therapy. That could help you work towards a firmer footing where you can make effective and sensible decisions.
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While it is true that there is no geographic cure from self, where are you right now, @Roger?
What do you not have where you are? What resources are currently present for you, humans in your orbit and community, or other interests?
Those aren’t necessarily precursors for moving but certainly involve complications to moving.
But if both of those were fully present (I see them as more a lifelong process), there wouldn’t be any reason to move as well! A bit of a conundrum there.
I’m sad to have left family and friends behind, but I’m much more build up in stability and satisfaction in Washington state after having grown up in Florida.
I would also add that travel is not what it used to be. Moving to another country used to mean upheaval by the roots - occasional phone calls to family, otherwise you’re on your own, forced to communicate with the people in your new surroundings and adjust yourself to them.
In the internet age, it’s very easy to move and not change yourself at all. You can keep chatting online with the same friends you always did - you probably did most of your socialising online anyway. You don’t have to learn a new language because you can work online in English. You don’t have to explore your surroundings because all the good stuff is already listed by someone online. Removing yourself from the Internet and being forced to engage with new people where you already live would probably be more consequential (and difficult) than moving countries.
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I agree, which is why I said “desired” rather than “necessary”. People have to move for all sorts of reasons and don’t always get to prepare. But if the move is voluntary, one can at least try to make sure one is moving for the right reasons, rather than trying to run from an issue that one will carry along with one.
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Without taking away from your general point, which I support, I have to say that, having just moved countries, this is not quite accurate. There is some serious shit involved in doing this which is not at all comparable with giving up this forum or that. “You don’t have to learn a new language”? You also don’t want to be one of those people.
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Yes, I was more dancing around your post and do not wish to argue necessarily there, but I found it easier on some level to leave a place that didn’t offer a lot for me at the time than to search for any therapist (let alone affordable for the underemployed, or even a good one 
)
Still good considerations, some problems will still trail, but sometimes the “poorer and lacking hope” can at least be improved by moving closer to others who think and enjoy the same things you do.
Bigger worry than base psychological for me would be the social capital one needs to build in any new city, even if you have a few internet friends to branch off of. Which I did in my early 30s, but is still a consideration.
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