I wasn't a full time programmer til 2010, been programming since I was a kid in the 80's, didn't think I was good enough at programming to do it for a living (confidence issues) so I spent 8 years working for Staples and gradually mostly by accidents of the "I can build that for you" sort built up a customer base, one of those customers offered me a full time job as a programmer on double the salary I was on and I jumped and never looked back, these days I run my own business doing contract work for SME's and while it has its moments I generally love it, mostly the freedom of starting and stopping when I want.
I'm 34, only got into programming this year after completing a boot camp. Got my first full time job in July. I always wanted to be a programmer but also had confidence issues. When I changed my mindset from over thinking to not giving a fuck and going for it, my whole life changed for the better.
