This is an unhappy state of affairs created when an individual lets others decide for them how their career should progress. In other words, they allow their careers to creep, slowly and quietly, away from what suits them until one day they realize things are amiss. Because they don't understand what has happened, they let themselves live with job creep thinking things will improve. They usually get worse. The symptoms of job creep are a general malaise about work, a reluctance to go to work, even physical signs of stress.
Some people resort to using drugs and alcohol to mask the discomfort.
A simpler antidote is a career overhaul, a review of what works for you at work, and what doesn't. My background includes venture capital experience and renovation of income properties. I do not have steady work and worry about the future. Employment agencies that specialize in the placement of attorneys have all told me that my age and my general law practice fail to distinguish me from other lawyers who are also looking. I am eager to leave the practice of law because I have a quiet nature and do not have the aggressive, self-promoting tendency that a solo practitioner needs.