alt Hacker NewsI think whether you 'succeed' or 'fail' on a side project they are still valuable. No matter if you can't finish it or it turns out different to how you imagined -- you get to come away as a better version of yourself. A person who is more optimized for a new strategy. And sometimes 'failure' is a worthwhile price for that ability. Who knows, it might be exactly what prepares you for something even bigger in the future.
I guess the kind of extreme effort that doesn't usually have a promising conclusion is more common in scientific research, or experimentation in general, but sometimes you just have to get accustomed to it.
Eventually it doesn't really make any difference if there's no breathtaking milestone because it turned out to be impossible by nature, ran out of runway, or lost interest after a more or less valiant attempt.
What can be gained is the strength to overcome the near-impossible next time and all it has to do is be a certain degree less-impossible and you know whether that would take you over the goal line like few others because you've been there.
Without even worrying as much about whether you will lose interest or not, that's a lot less stress and pressure when you think about it.
This can enable you more realistically to succeed in other areas where peers may find it impossible or not be able to do as well without as big an inconclusive project behind them.