I've thought a lot about why I do my job. In the beginning it was because being a full-time programmer didn't live up to my college expectations of what I'd be doing all day. Later, it was because I needed a direction or a reason to keep programming. Since the beginning, my answer has been:
I want to make something that people use.
Whether that's ten line scripts or software that's part of a massive system, my real goal is to make something useful.
This extends to my hobbies as well. I like to sew and crochet because I can make something useful, something I need, in exactly the shape or form I need it to be. I like to write because I want to tell a story that people enjoy. That may not be as useful as a scarf, but I get the same excitement about creating it.
Recently I read an article about a book called How to Avoid Work. One of the quotes from the article is about creative work and exactly captures what I want to do.
The greatest satisfaction you can obtain from life is your pleasure in producing, in your own individual way, something of value to your fellowmen. That is creative living!
I was stunned when I read that. Finally, someone understood what I wanted to do!
The article goes on to talk about the relationship between doing what you love and making money.
In a world marked by constant change, where the rich of today are often the poor of tomorrow, due to circumstances beyond their control, the only security is your ability to produce something of value for your fellow man, and your only guarantee of happiness is your joy in producing it.
This reminded me strongly of Cory Doctorow's book For the Win which had some eye-opening parts for me. One of them was as follows.
Gallons and liters are measurements of water, not water itself. And dollars are measures of value, not value itself.
Knowing that money is just a measure of the value I bring to my job with my skills somehow lifted a weight off my shoulders. I make money because what I make with my skills are of value to someone. How wonderful! I'm doing exactly what I wanted to do: I'm making something useful!
So even if I've never been able to answer the question of "where do you see yourself in five years?" I know that I'm in the right field. I'm doing something creative, making something useful, and I enjoy doing it.