So I’m a systems engineer in the real world for an (almost) unicorn (current valuation might even have tossed us over that magic number). My salary is on the lower end of the spectrum but I’m happy with it because normally the work life balances is dandy. My total comp is well into 6 figures USD. Oh and I’m fully remote.

Now, this is not something you can get out of highschool. I’ve been working with Linux for 10+ years, built (and maintained) entire AD forests, have a fairly deep understanding of networking and containerization, etc.

Again. You don’t start like me. You start getting a gig in front line help desk and answer questions. In your free time at work you learn (that’s never going to stop). Eventually your outgrow help desk and move into some other role (and keep learning). The people who are successful in this field A) can always be learning, B) have a means to destress/avoid burnout and C) have customer service skills.

Usernet requires at least one indexer and service provider. If you just got a provider your going to be missing a part of the tool chain. DM me if you need some help figuring what’s what.

Im going to to make a few assumptions. 1) your male (or at least buy men’s shoes). 2) your in the States. Adjust advise accordingly.

Your big mistake is two fold. One your buying shoes from a mall “discount” retailer and two your probably not rotating shoes.

Let’s talk about that first part. Go into Nordstrom (if your not in the states look for the high end department store in your area). The reason is because the staff are trained in the product, and the return is amazing. Your going to be spending $2-400 on a pair of shoes. Talk to the sales person about what your looking for. Your goal is to not end up with a track shoe, but something made of leather with a real sole.

Secondly. You weigh a bunch compared to your shoes. Every step puts some level of stress on the sole(be it leather, rubber, foam, etc). When you lift your foot back up that stress is relaxed and quickly reapplied. Over time this can wear down your shoes. The trick here is to rotate your shoes so each pair has a day or two to “rest” before usage. This (In conjunction with buying good quality shoes) will result in you needing a new pair closer to every 5 years (longer if you get the soles replaced).

Like most things there is a book that looks into this. Take a gander at the Wikipedia if your interested (the author argued that there are 11 ‘nations’ in the US). https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Nations

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Then. Honestly. You need to do a radical shift. No matter what part of IT you are in you will still be doing some level of support.

The best advice I can give is to get away from a front line support role. If you stay in tech you could work your to engineering, sysadmin, data stuff, or project management. If you want to get away from tech go as far as you feel you can (because once people learn your good with computers…).