I had a similar experience with my job. Maybe even more night and day. I really do like to get a lot of my self esteem from being a productive member of society, which might sound pitiful but I think it is a very big drive especially in Germans to do something for the greater good and I am just acknowledging that fact for myself.

That is why I am not big on financial independence/ early retirement, but I do think having big savings/investments is really neat and cancels out a lot of anxiety one might have otherwise.