[breakinggood]

You talk of passion, but speak in terms of escapism. It sounds like you have some personality flaws. From your short description, the writing describes someone who appears unfocused, impulsive and unreliable. If you were slave to your clients (working on your own startup), would those traits magically disappear? Also your root motivation for quitting is suspect. Don't quit because of boredom or from feeling empty. Quit because staying at your job is preventing you from taking full advantage of a growing opportunity from one of your side projects.

Also, advice on success is very situational. To replicate Arnold Schwarzenegger's success, you would need to go through physical child abuse and develop a deeply rooted negative self image. Somehow he got over it, and channeled those flaws into body building, real estate, and movies. Did he do these things because he felt unworthy and strived to become worthy? Would you want to be tortured and abused during your childhood if you had a greater chance of "success" in adulthood? For other wildly successful people, what demons are they hiding?

Whether you decide to work own your own startup full time, or stay at some job, I'd urge you to increase your chance of future success by working on yourself. Read books, do exercises, see coaches and mental health professionals.

[magicianred]

I do have personality flaws.

>> If you were slave to your clients (working on your own startup), would those traits magically disappear?

No. But I can pick and choose people to complement my weakness. People who are reliable and are finishers.

[breakinggood]

I can pick and choose people to complement my weakness. This is commonly preached advice, and is somewhat true. Think about all the business types with "brilliant" ideas that are only a technical cofounder away from millions. When you're rare and in demand (in your case people who are reliable and finishers, and in the previous case idea guys who need technical people), you don't just go with the first bloke that makes an offer. You need to offer something compelling that they can't get elsewhere.

This is only a suggestion, but think about optimizing for lifetime happiness instead of focusing most of your energies on the now and the short term. So with respect to these personality flaws, it might also affect other areas of your life. If you spend the necessary effort now, you'll experience the compounded effects of these benefits over a longer time horizon.

This post may seem overly critical. In actuality I'm trying to have a conversation with my earlier self who was about to make similar missteps as you. I sincerely hope you find what you are looking for.

[magicianred]

When you're rare and in demand (in your case people who are reliable and finishers, and in the previous case idea guys who need technical people), you don't just go with the first bloke that makes an offer. You need to offer something compelling that they can't get elsewhere.

You raise a valid point. But I am hardly ever naive. I live a pretty frugal life and saved up quite a bit of money ($xx,000). I usually hire people from codementor.io/airpair/railshotline (this is free) and pair program. This was the secret to finishing my last two products on time and landing my first paying customer for the last product.

Please don't apologize for stating your opinion. I always seek feedback and I am not easily discouraged.

[panjaro]

'mental health professionals' - that was a bit too harsh

[yzzxy]

Only if you see a stigma in understanding and improving your mental health.