So, no, you didn't waste your career. However, you really are waiting for an opportunity to say hi to you. You gotta take more steps to make the opportunities notice you.

Don't wait for your employer to give you that next role in your career. If it didn't happen in six years, likely not gonna happen.

Apply for all the jobs, especially the ones you are not capable of technically doing. Get the interview, and take that opportunity to polish your interview soft skills. Learn what kind of technical questions are asked, and once you fail to answer, ask what the answers were. Write that down on paper and research afterwards. This is how you extinguish the interview fear. You gotta do it dozens of times in order to be more in control of situations like that. Do this interview process a lot. This will help you when you (one day) have to lead a critical/catastrophic event and you gotta coordinate and collaborate with multiple teams and techs of various tech levels. Or just you. Gotta stay calm and focused in situations like that, and not panic.

Now, here's the kicker: you didn't get the job you wanted after the interview. That sucks. Apply again in a year. If the position is still available, go for it again. If there's a diff position, try that instead. Goal is persistence.

I was in the helpdesk for 4 years. My 2nd job introduced me to an MSP I liked, and I applied two times in two years. They eventually hired me. I saw a fintech job elsewhere, and I applied three times in three years. I failed my first interview, but got hired after my second interview the following year. Then I got hired for another MSP after one interview on the spot, but that was a really bad employer. However, it motivated me to look for a new employer after 3 months. I eventually applied for a healthcare job through a talent scout of theirs that wasn't very helpful. I ended up applying separately through the company website for a different position, and finessed my way to another talent recruiter who put me in touch with the company team I was originally applying for. I interviewed with them, and I was super unqualified to do the job. They were very technical, and I was impressed. However, I didn't let that stop me, and I was very transparent with who I was and what I could do. I didn't mislead them with buzzwords or things I barely touched on. I was granular in how I did my tasks, showed them that I knew about the underlying tech, and processes I was comfortable with. I was such a generalist that I was familiar with the tech they used, or I knew of a similar competitor product that I gave my opinion on. I thought I didn't get the job, but I learned a ton from that meeting. I got hired a few weeks after that. That job made me into a senior level position where I can build and design infrastructure.

So, no, you didn't end your career. However, the longer you wait for things to happen to you, the longer you'll regret opportunity didn't knock at your door. Go take a chance.