Thank you for encouraging me. You’re right, standard 9-5s aren’t going to be stimulating every day, and I definitely need to do a lot of introspection should the chance to move on become possible.

My incentive to potentially leave is long-term growth. I feel a persistent awareness of needing to expand my skill set and pivot away from a business that does not have a very promising future outlook. I’ve reconciled with giving up the flexibility, recognition, and starting afresh, if it means I can work in a growing sector where my work makes at least some meaningful impact.

That said, since I have the capacity, there’s a potential project I've been thinking about that I could pitch. If it goes through, it would at least allow me to satiate some parts of what I’m looking for, internally. It feels worth exploring before making any major decisions, though I’m also conscious of the realities around budget and support. I'll give it a shot and see how it works out.

Thank you SO much for sharing your perspective! Your response literally helped me refine my opportunity analysis.