" It was in February this year that I decided to try and make triathlon my career. It was a leap into the unknown: I knew nothing about what it meant to be a professional athlete. Now, two months down the line, I am still climbing that steep learning curve. And believe me, it’s a long slow climb. But what made me take the plunge, give up my job and throw myself into a life of continuous physical pain and torture? It was a case of ‘now or never’. Having just turned dirty thirty, I was getting on a bit and knew that my shelf life, at least at Olympic distance racing, was limited. I had watched the elite women race at the World Champs in Lausanne last February. Could I be as good as them, if not better? Had I fulfilled my potential, or did I have more to give? Had I pushed my mind and body to the limit? If not, what were those limits? What stars was I capable of grabbing? Without giving it a shot I would never know. I never want to look back and say ‘what if’. "

So i said let me come back see how well this person does, will they be a success? Nobody knows. To find out here is the blog from the first post, http://www.chrissiewellington.org/blog/taking-the-plunge/

This reminds me of a great line I ran into somewhere: "If you have built castles in the air, your work need not be lost; that is where they should be. Now put the foundations under them."

EDITED to add: ah, through the magic of the Web I discover that this quote is from Thoreau. I've corrected my misquotation.

Ideas are a dime a dozen. Execution is the only thing that matters.

Now go, and to great things worthy of honor.

Ok, even I felt motivated after reading this. Thanks!

The longest journey begins with a single step.

>The reason you're stuck is because you're too focused on yourself. Remember, it's not about you. It's about others.

I disagree. Often times, great projects start with "scratching a developer's personal itch" (ex: Linux kernel).

If you try to build something for others, it will often be boring and unmotivated. You have to be passionate about making exciting & new things. Most importantly, hack for fun, not to satisfy someone else and get profit.

If I am understanding the OP correctly, he is not looking to be an incredible hacker; he is looking to be an entrepreneur. If you want to be a successful entrepreneur you have to follow the market. You have to. There is no other way. If people are not willing to give you their money, you have to do something else or you fail. I completely agree that you have to be passionate about making things, but you definitely don't have to be passionate about making new things, or even exciting things. These things are awesome bonuses, but they are not requirements.

Entrepreneurship is about creating value for other people. It is often not fun and is quite often very uncomfortable. There are moments of dread, hopelessness, and fear. You can reduce the number of these moments by building a company which definitely solves other people's problems.

My startup grew out of an open source project designed to scratch my own itch, which was a great way to start. Being my own user, I saw the pain points and could form a true direction. However, that only goes so far, since not everyone is me. At some point you have to start looking at what your users care about, at least as much as what you care about, if you want the growth.

That's where the mix comes in. You shouldn't just develop it solely for someone else, or you may lose that drive, passion and direction (plus what they want and what they say they want aren't always the same thing). At the same time, you must listen to them (if you want to solve their problems) and take their opinions into consideration. Do it right and you end up building for both yourself and your customers.

Here's another expectation to think about: In ten to twenty years, someone is going to run across this thread and this post and ask, "I wonder what happened to Stefan Kueng?", before running a search for "Stefan Kueng."

What do you want this person to find?

This single line is worth the price of attendance.

When i asked famous spiritual teacher a while ago about "me being depressed and how to solve it" - that exactly the answer I was given: "Depression is focusing on too much me, and very little on others." Hence the solution would be to find and help others - and inevitably help comes back to you.

> Stop reading code. Stop messing around. Find something that needs to be built (preferably by someone other than yourself). Then build it. Trust yourself and trust the process of building. You will learn what you need when you need it. I promise.

>> I don't have too much time left. My 20ies are gone.

> Bullshit. I didn't do my first startup until I was 32. Stop thinking like that. If you're a programmer, your prime is still 20 years ahead of you. (Believe me, I know.)

The single biggest thing I got out of this. Thanks for your $0.02 edw519.

The "stop reading code" snippet.. I think its important he continues to read code and mess around, it is what keeps passion alive and influences you. He should start building things on top of what he already doing

Another point, about "the best software is written by one person" is completely false. Any significant software project usually requires a team with good chemistry. You kind of alluded to the whole "genius programmer" myth.

I am not saying people can't write great software or build great products alone. Just that its not good to think of programming as an activity done in isolation. If not just for the fact you can get more ideas and feedback working with a team.

A lot of other stuff you said is sound advice. :-)

I love you a little for that