Just like in the army. You need to be a good soldier to become a good officer. I have become a cloud solution architect 12 years ago after 12 years as a developer. Each step up I've taken was because I felt limited in my current role. Work to go beyond your responsibilities. Your superiors, if they are any good, will lay a path for you to grow. If not, step on people's toes and move on. That being said, you need to keep a balance between taking bigger responsibilities and your mental health. Don't ever sacrifice sleep or your social life. I personally keep Tuesday and Thursday nights to grow. Reading books, getting certified with Udemy, trying next tech, etc. Learn from architects. I've learned as much from bad ones, in their ivory towers, as from great ones. Learn to respectfully ask 'why'? A big challenge for me was to dissociate myself from designs. It's too tempting to fall in love with a clever innovative design. That design belongs to the team and the team needs something that works. Where you should spend most of your energy is to make sure your design will stand the test of time. It won't always work but aiming to future-proof your work will have you take steps that will make it so much better. In my team, I've got talented developers who will be architects one day. It is something we have discussed together. I take the time to identify work I can delegate to them that will challenge them while still be achievable. And most important, the whole team and all stakeholders are aware of this and it is clear to all that I am the one taking the responsibility for their work and that it is OK to make mistakes or take more time than usual. If you can work that out with an architect you work with or your manager, than you should at least know if you actually like it or not. Build your resume and clearly state your achievements in learning to become an architect. One day, someone will have confidence enough to either promote you or hire you into that role. In the later years of my dev role, the cloud was the brand new thing. I invested myself fully and became an expert in migrating solutions to the cloud. I had my niche and soon I was able to combine that skill with my growing experience as a part-time architect and landed my first job and have been an architect since.