The playfulness comes from developing an internal map of how the programming language you use exposes the underlying system. Cutting and pasting from examples is not going to help you.
Solving problems sets with discreet tasks attached to them like the project euler problems may help give you a structure to develop your fundamentals.
If you dont enjoy doing it in your free time. Don't try to force yourself. You will never succeed. If you are an aspiring entrepreneur then there are still plenty of ways to get involved in the startup scene without being a code monkey. One lesson I learned is that if you enjoy something, you will both do well and want to persevere when the going gets tough.
I don't get excitement and joy from programming: so what? There are moments when I can't get pleasure or joy out of anything I do, like sleeping or eating, but it doesn't mean I should stop doing either of those things.
I'm not interested by entrepreneurship and startups for the moment, for now I'm more into acquiring technical skill.