I see a lot of new developers struggling to find their way, and here's my advice: First, you have to love what you do. If you don't, now is the time to try truck driving school or some other venture. You can make money in software engineering, but if you wouldn't do it for free (for your own purposes), it's not clear to me that it could ever be satisfying. Second, you need to DO what you love. You need to be coding either at home or after work or, if you're really blessed as I was, at work AND home. I wrote things like Windows Zip Folders and started Task Manager at home as a creative outlet to tinker with things I didn't get a chance to touch at work. Remember, if you're coding on something that truly ignites your passion, the time invested is never wasted, even if the project doesn't reach its full potential. However, I sincerely hope it does. And when you get 80% done, and the fun is over, force yourself to slog through the website and user signup and promotion and whatever else to "ship it". I never made a dollar off a product I didn't finish. Finishing stuff is what made me unique. I shipped a lot of code, both at work and at home. If you do these things well, eventually you'll find yourself doing PRECISELY what you love all day long.