I am really not that great of a programmer. I am 35 and was not paid to write code until I was 31. Before I learned to code I spent about 10 years in the military, infantry to be specific. The leadership and problem solving skills learned in that domain have served me extremely well in my current position and pushed me into a project lead position before my first year of employment was over.

I have found solving problems outside of your normal problem domain allows you to develop fresh ideas inside of your domain.