[JacobJans]

The answer to this question is relatively straightforward, and has been well developed by the psychology community.

Focus on process, not outcome.

Don't focus your mental energy on the awesomeness of your projects. (Even if they are awesome.) Focus your mental energy on the production of them -- the process.

Ultimately it is the process -- the way you are doing things -- that your life is made of. What you do is who you are. Your projects exist outside yourself. They're quite literally not you.

This is often discussed as "fixed mindset" vs "growth mindset."

See: [(https://sivers.org/mindset)]

[psycr]

Several of the studies supporting growth mindset have methodological flaws. For example:

http://slatestarcodex.com/2015/04/22/growth-mindset-3-a-pox-...

[wcbeard10]

This seems intuitive. Scott Adams expresses a similar idea as focussing on 'systems' rather than 'goals.' Failing to meet a goal leaves you with nothing if the goal is all you focus on, but what you learn from the system is more reusable.

http://blog.dilbert.com/post/102964992706/goals-vs-systems