[adioe3]

While a bit cheesy, I've always found this diagram to be pretty much correct: https://i.imgur.com/SvsJnyf.jpg

From my experience, finding something that you love doing and can get lost in for hours on end will be the most rewarding activity. Rewarding activities tend to stick longer -- I was good at fiddling with web pages and now it's what I do professionally.

The tough stuff is finding out what you're good at -- that requires a bunch of trial and error and (especially in IT) people tend to think themselves better than they truly are. This is why you should always seek out advice from more experienced people and stay humble. As in chess, the only way to get better is to play against a stronger opponent.

Best advice I was given for persevering at times of boredom/burn out/etc was to simply keep going at it. How much you get done is not as important as is just doing it. Not every workout or coding session has to be at John Carmack's level but it should never be skipped.

Lastly, what other fine folk here already said: don't go it alone! Every person needs a support system! Whether it's family, friends, colleagues, local bartender, or IRC pals is not important - just have somebody to talk to and perhaps get excited about the stuff you do.