heardtheword

This is the reason I chose a community college with a high job placement record. I had a job right after graduation and gained experience working instead of wasting an extra 2 years in college. Plus, an associates degree costs significantly less than a bachelors.

I should have also mentioned that I was forced into shipping a personal project at one point because I almost went broke. So perhaps finding a friend that can push (i.e. nicely force) you to finish something would be helpful? It may also add unnecessary stress to the situation so take that advice with a grain of salt.

I'm also guessing you edited your post several times (or maybe that's just me) just to make sure it was perfect, right? So you've figured out how to "ship" your words, now you just have to figure out how to do that with projects. ;)

First, teach something you are interested in. This will keep you going when something is challenging. Even if you don't consider yourself a "pro" in the subject, you can always get to that level.

Find somewhere you can teach and receive feedback. I teach piano to students and several times I've been caught with a question I had to look up. The best thing you can do is say "I don't know but I'll figure it out for you". Plus, this way you also have to figure out a way to explain it in a simple method to those you are teaching.

Feedback is really important because it will be how you can affirm what you know and also give you opportunities to branch out. If you aren't getting feedback on a blog, forum, or wherever you may just need to find the right place to share your knowledge.

This is something I've personally struggled with as well. I don't think there is a one-size-fits-all solution but here's what helped me. Maybe it will apply to your situation.

Shipping a complete project is perhaps one of the best ways that helped me get past the "It has to be perfect" thought. In my case it was doing a few ludum dare competitions and forcing myself to submit whatever I finished after the weekend was over. After a few times of doing that it got a little easier to forgive some of the atrocious code I had written. Coding Horror has a good post on this, http://blog.codinghorror.com/version-1-sucks-but-ship-it-any....

Another thing for me was getting involved in open source projects and maintaining my own. The first project I open sourced was a port so once it was in working condition I made it available for others to use. That lead to other projects that I could finally finish even though they weren't "perfect".

I wish you the best and hope you can find a way to cope with it.

It may not directly increase intelligence but it will solidify what you know. Explaining something to others requires a deeper level of understanding in my experience. It will also show you what areas you don't know and give you opportunity to learn those things as well.

Try teaching other people. It's amazing what you find you don't know by explaining things to others. If there aren't people who want to learn what you know then post on a blog or forum and get feedback from those who are interested.