Definitely this for me as well. When I was younger I was at an interesting crossroads with my freetime where I'd either program or play video games obsessively. I decided to try putting that video game energy into improving my programming ability, and 10 years later now I'm in the valley making FAANG wages at a young age and still absolutely love programming. I have no idea how my life would have turned out if I didn't luck into discovering this amazing hobby. I feel bad calling my job "work" since I very rarely don't feel like coming in.