Nice that you were able to retool while being able to pay your bills with a mediocre job but that's hardly the worst case scenario. Many young people come out of university and grad school and can't get much of any job. I can't spend 3-4 years retooling because I can't focus on anything that isn't going to help me pay my rent this month. When I was much younger (teen/college student), I didn't have this pressure; I could just sit and commit huge chunks of time to anything I wanted without worry; I could experiment with little risk, and that's why I at least had some side businesses that made a bit of money.