This is basically my approach to programming. Prob ~1 book a month, ~3 talks/week, ~7 articles/day since 2001, then books only for the 10 prior years. No special aptitude, just lots of time and practice. https://medium.com/@byrnehobart/the-startling-convexity-of-expertise-5058e90a6c19
It's nominally about compilers, but think about this 250 words every time I think about projects. https://steve-yegge.blogspot.com/2007/06/rich-programmer-food.html
I am totally delighted to see someone built a thing I daydreamed about building for the exact same reasons: https://lobste.rs/s/lyweie