A job always entails working on someone else's problems and working within constraints of their (or their field's) own making. So it could never compare equally to what motivates us when it comes from within. But we get paid to do that work, so it is not a bad exchange.

That isn't to say we can't try to be more picky about the positions that we seek out. The problem space might be motivating for us, or it might be that the coworkers are what drives us on. Perhaps the work life balance is really nice and the tech stack is either cutting edge or the internal practices are really solid.

Hopefully all of these can be true, to a degree (perfection is unachievable).

However if the place is occupied with rock star developers, corporate politicians as well as unrealistic requirements and time constraints then it is just a hands down bad place to work, and the dark cloud over your head has nothing to do with where your motivation comes from.