When I was a kid, I wanted to write games. I wanted to use the same techniques that "real" games used, not some dumbed down "for kids" thing. I disliked everything that stressed ease-of-use and instant gratification and I liked everything that looked like it was written for professional use. In hindsight, this probably wasn't the smartest decision.

But it did lead to me learning C++, DirectX, OpenGL, 3d math, and so on. And I did end up in a place where I'm more or less paid to do what I did for fun back then.

Also, the learning process taught me frustration tolerance, which is a very useful skill to have in the industry, and which many others seem to lack.