My position is simple. I have a daughter to take care of, that means even though I love mixed martial arts more, I can't just resign myself to taking a lower salary to live out my passion. I want her to have a good life, so monday through friday, eight to five, I show up at the office. And you know what? It's not THAT bad.

Sure, I wish I had the time to myself, and I wish I wasn't sitting all the time; but really, I get paid decently, and enjoy the stimulating nature of my work. I'm able to know that even as a single parent I'll be able to take care of my daughter, I know that she'll have money to go to college with (something I never had until after my military stint), I know that we can take vacations and see rock concerts, I know that when I go out on dates or out with friends and people ask me what I do, I can tell them, I'm a software developer. Yes it's a bit of an ego thing, but it's also part of who I am, I write software for a living, its not all I do while I live, but it is something I do.

I also know that by working I'm able to pursue financial independence so once little girl is all grown up, I can look at stepping back from work and move into training / coaching fighters more.

You need to absolve yourself of your ego, that's why you care about the respect you receive, you assume that software engineers are given low amounts of respect because you don't feel lauded for your accomplishments but in truth, being a software developer is quite respectable. It may be only as respectable as your circle of friends and acquaintances, but that only means that you aren't 'above' them, and that's not a bad thing, it's just something you have to accept.

And yes, you are faceless. You want to fix that? Make a name for yourself. Write, do seminars, make yourself invaluable to the company; yes, it means work "harder". Work so hard you cry tears in the middle of the night, give up yourself to pursue some level of perceived respectability that's only going to get you into another group of peers that you won't be any higher socially than. You can give yourself up to pursue your dreams, and sometimes that is a good thing, sometimes that's a thing you need to do (I was SO close to giving up on getting a software job when I landed my first one, it felt hopeless but I was pouring every OUNCE of my soul into getting a position), but you have to also respect that by being 'faceless' you have other benefits, you have a life, you enjoy life, you don't have to assume the risk of starting your own business, or branching yourself out as an independent consultant, as well as you are more often then not, able to turn work off at the end of the day. As professionals, we take work home every now and then, if you want to work harder, you have to do it more and more and more, which means that quite simply, you have less and less and less time for you. It's a tradeoff, a decision, a bargain and it's also an extremely independent decision to you. What do you want now, What do you want in the future, How hard are you willing to work to achieve it, How accepting of risk or failure or giving up opportunities for other opportunities are you willing to be. You have one life though, so don't look back, keep pushing, evaluate, re-evaluate, decide, act and most of all, to quote Nick Diaz, "don't be scared, homie".