Design has never been an easy career path. Many designers I know struggled the first 15-20 years with their choice to stick with it. It’s why you don’t see many old-timers still actively designing. Many of the designers I came up with moved into software or they built agencies/companies they eventually sold or they just completely changed careers. Many of them have told me how miserable they are/were. Meanwhile, I was freelancing, head down, pushing myself to learn and grow in different ways and expanding my skillsets. I always chose to focus on the things I’ve been interested in. I didn't want to look back and regret doing something I loathed. Software was absolutely not for me and the idea of building an agency just to babysit employees and chase work to feed them sounded awful. I chose joy in my day to day work over status, potentially more money, even benefits like health insurance, bonuses, and stock. Granted, as a freelancer I can make what most software designers make. But I am the one networking, building my clientele, managing basically everything. After all these years I can still look back and not regret any decisions I've made career wise. Even the bad experiences showed me what I didn't want. I LOVE designing. I love it. After nearly 30 years of this I'm still learning, still growing, still finding new things to be interested in and try to master. The only thing I can recommend for a long career in design is to follow what brings you joy, love it enough to get really good at it, and make a lot of friends along the way. Design isn't an easy career, but I've found that the more you chase your interests over money, the more fun you're going to have and the more you'll love it.