OP suggests that some people don't get what they want because they focus too much on what they want to be instead of what they want to do.
I suggest that they take it one step further and focus not so much on what they want to do as on what they want to deliver.
OP says it himself later in the post:
Fix other people’s problems.
Getting what you want becomes a byproduct the moment you stop worrying about yourself and begin focusing on what you're going to deliver to others. The things you need to do for others are (conveniently) the exact same things you need to do to get better at what you do and eventually, to get what you want. For someone on a mission the help others, the endless hours you need to put in at a keyboard may not seem like work at all.
Let your code be the star, not you. Let your user be the recipient, not you. The rest will take care of itself.
I suggest that they take it one step further and focus not so much on what they want to do as on what they want to deliver.
OP says it himself later in the post:
Fix other people’s problems.
Getting what you want becomes a byproduct the moment you stop worrying about yourself and begin focusing on what you're going to deliver to others. The things you need to do for others are (conveniently) the exact same things you need to do to get better at what you do and eventually, to get what you want. For someone on a mission the help others, the endless hours you need to put in at a keyboard may not seem like work at all.
Let your code be the star, not you. Let your user be the recipient, not you. The rest will take care of itself.