A friend of mine said to do a successful software product you need three kinds of developers. Skip one and you will likely fail.
1. the kamikaze
2. the soldier
3. the sniper
Kamikazes start the project. They have a broad vision of how the result will look (total victory, ofc) and they do not pay attention to the mountain at the horizon or the road missing a bridge over a canyon a few hundred clicks ahead. They just start running.
Soldiers are those who march on day by day. Following in the kamikazes footsteps they do the grunt of the work. Much more thoroughly than a kamikaze ever could muster patience or care for.
Snipers are needed when the army hits an obstacle. Like a booby trapped rock in the middle of the road. They will shoot the explosives from afar. They are highly specialized individuals who care much more for the problem they solve than what means to what end it presents.
Most developers I know have a little bit of all these three types in them.
I did understood long ago that I am mostly a kamikaze.
Coming to terms with that when I do not finish yet another spare time project ... that's a lifelong goal to overcome.
You are in good company. As others said: focus on the learning more than on the result. This is what makes coping with not finishing stuff much easier for me.
At the same time this change of perspective may just provide the inkling of additional motivation needed
to actually do finish one or the other of those projects.
I had two cofounders, and this is possibly the best description of how we operated... each with a different timeline and focus. Although I can't say that it ended well between us
I really like that three kinds of developers take. I've never thought about it in that light before but it seems to ring true in my (albeit limited) experience. And I'm definitely a kamikaze as well.
1. the kamikaze
2. the soldier
3. the sniper
Kamikazes start the project. They have a broad vision of how the result will look (total victory, ofc) and they do not pay attention to the mountain at the horizon or the road missing a bridge over a canyon a few hundred clicks ahead. They just start running.
Soldiers are those who march on day by day. Following in the kamikazes footsteps they do the grunt of the work. Much more thoroughly than a kamikaze ever could muster patience or care for.
Snipers are needed when the army hits an obstacle. Like a booby trapped rock in the middle of the road. They will shoot the explosives from afar. They are highly specialized individuals who care much more for the problem they solve than what means to what end it presents.
Most developers I know have a little bit of all these three types in them.
I did understood long ago that I am mostly a kamikaze.
Coming to terms with that when I do not finish yet another spare time project ... that's a lifelong goal to overcome.
You are in good company. As others said: focus on the learning more than on the result. This is what makes coping with not finishing stuff much easier for me.
At the same time this change of perspective may just provide the inkling of additional motivation needed to actually do finish one or the other of those projects.