You may have a point here, or at least you have made me think about it.. :)
As with many people around here, I prefer to do my own things rather than waste time doing "work". Not that I'm lazy (as in sit on a coffee table all day), but I have lots of other interests. So I've been quite unhappy for the last couple of years because I'm going crazy (almost) trying to come up with ideas for monetizing side projects, so that I can live the dream. Unfortunately, similarly to you, nothing seems to be working.
I do also have a full time job (that is ok) and family to provide for, and they deserve the better parts of me. And I'm tired of going around in my head trying to come up with a miraculous idea and being unhappy in the process. Maybe I'm trying too hard to get out of the rat race, and although I consider myself technically proficient - i.e., capable of writing my own apps, maybe I'm just not as lucky as other people.
In summary, just to say that I am agreeing with you that maybe we (I) should just take it slowly, focus on something we enjoy and has (some) meaning.
I'd love to work on impactful and meaningful projects so at least if/when that opportunity comes at least the hobby will have paid off in terms of what I know.
"maybe we (I) should just take it slowly, focus on something we enjoy and has (some) meaning."
A hard yes on this! I am going to try to shift my focus into something meaningful, enjoyable and see where that take me.
Good luck with your journey!
Thinking about this recently, I've attributed some of my failure to my youth. I use to be in such a hurry to be successful. Maybe it was ego or ambition or a twisted sense of competition with all the other 20-something founders, but building because you're "behind" definitely wasn't the right approach. And because I was in a hurry, I never stopped to really invest in an idea. I'd build something in 6 months and if I didn't see any traction, I'd move on to a totally unrelated idea instead of pivoting - truly throwing away my efforts.
I'm in my 30s now and life's slowing down. To some degree, my dreams of uber-success have died and I don't really feel that same hunger I use to. Maybe it's complacency, maybe it's just my age and refocusing on things that make me happy.
Don't get me wrong, I still work on side-projects, but I'm approaching it from a place of building on my strengths, rather than reinventing the wheel every 6 months. So I'm not changing ideas anymore, but pivoting to semi-related ideas where my work builds upon itself. I'm also focused on an industry I've been working in for the last decade. I've been able to reach out to my network to brainstorm and discuss the value I'm bringing to the table.
Who knows what will happen, but I'm not in a hurry anymore and I've found enjoyment in work, life, and my project.