That's great! I'm starting to view things through your lens as I get older--that work is more about setting up the foundation for the rest of your life instead of being the central focus of your life. I think if you can make it the central focus of your life and manage to succeed--however you define it--that's a wonderful thing, but there's also nothing wrong with taking, as you said, a "seemingly dull job", performing well at it, and then coming home and pursuing other interests. It doesn't sound as defeatist as it did when I was in my late teens and early 20's. It sounds practical and even somewhat motivating to me, that your work doesn't have to be this grand adventure. It can simply be a job that you show up on time to and perform well in, and then afterwards you can close your laptop and do something else.
Absolutely, and I'll admit I definitely had a defeatist attitude starting the job search knowing that the goal was security & stability. I'm 27 now and spent nearly two years self-employed and/or job searching in the last five. It was definitely a stressful roller coaster of an experience, but it was just the kick in the pants to reevaluate my priorities, and quickly.
