At 25 I could code until 3am, sleep four hours, and do it again the next night. I had endless energy. I also had no idea what to do with it. I would start projects and abandon them. Chase every shiny new framework. Rewrite working code because I read a blog post that made me feel bad about my architecture. The engine was running hot but the steering was all over the place.
For fifteen years I played guitar in my bedroom. Noodling. Learning the opening riff of songs and never finishing them. Playing the same power chords I learned in 2005. I owned nice gear. I watched YouTube tutorials. I told people I played guitar, which was technically true in the same way someone who owns running shoes is technically a runner. Then I started playing at church and everything changed. In six months I learned more than the previous fifteen years combined. Not because church music is particularly complex (it is not) but because I finally had something I never had before: a reason to actually get better.