[jen729w]

Regarding point 2., which I absolutely agree with, I think we suffer a bit from "the WhatsApp problem"; that is, there's this ludicrous benchmark set by WhatsApp - ~$19,000,000,000 - that taints our view of the world.

It's like, here there's zero, and that's you sitting on the couch watching TV. Then over there there's nineteen billion dollars, and that's you being "successful". And in the middle there's nothing. And that's daunting and, of course, ludicrous.

Code little things. Or don't code, do something else. Go make something out of wood. But do it for the enjoyment, for the little thrill it gives you. Don't think about anybody else while you're doing it; don't think about what it might make you, or whether you'll end up on the front page of HN, or whether you'll get funding, or move to SF, or whatever.

Good luck. I'm 38 and your post resonated with me - this stuff doesn't necessarily get easier as you get older!

[throwaway_emb]

I do enjoy coding. A friend asked me to create a little website for him and instead of telling him to check out WordPress, I sat down and coded a CMS, complete with authentication and multi-user options etc. But that was years ago. Now it feels like I WANT to do it but I just can't. Which language? Which DB? Which tutorial? Which whatever? I get tired just thinking about the questions...

[mod]

Your problem resonates well with me. I used to be able to code 24 hours straight, forgetting to sleep, when I was just out of high school. I dreamt about code. Now I'm a grown man, professional developer, but I have a hard time accomplishing my (code) goals. I want to learn Clojure, I want to build some side projects, study SICP, and become an expert in one language. But I don't. I play bf4 and watch bad TV shows ("The 100" iirc). I'm a great heli pilot, though...

On to my advice:

Decide on a project to build. Set a deadline you want to build it by.

All those other questions will fall into place.

Don't pick a project that is the next-big-whatever. Just pick something you can accomplish within, say, a week. If you want a list of ideas, I have a couple of links or I'd even be willing to share my list of (mostly non-trivial, hopefully profitable) ideas.

Doing a few projects small projects has turned me around more than once, and made me focused and proud of myself.

[nostrademons]

Just pick something that seems sane and run with it. One thing you learn when you've worked with a bunch of frameworks is that they all rely on the same fundamental concepts, and it's basically just window-dressing. The framework you choose will determine what sort of jobs you get and which community you follow, so make sure you're happy with those, but it won't ultimately determine your success as a programmer.

[beagle3]

How are you doing physically?

Your description resonates with me - physical exercise (a lot of it - back then, it was running 5-10Km 4-5 times a week, in addition to other gym visits and martial arts practice) seemed to be the cure. (Or, it was just coincidence ... who knows).

And I wasn't a sporty person back then, by a long shot - before I took that up (around age 20), I couldn't finish a 2Km run to save my life.

[valarauca1]

Don't ask just do.

In this world there are 2 kinds of languages. The kind people like, and the kind people use. You'll find pro's and con's everywhere. Just sit down and do something, it doesn't matter how fast it is, how bad it looks. You'll have finished something.