I feel that the biggest mistake I made starting out was spending so much of my free time in front of the PC. I was working a great paying job and had no reason to be neglecting my friends and loved ones just because I wanted to make more money than I already was. When they got on me about how futile my efforts were and how much time I spent trying to make 'money online' they laughed, bitched and said no freaking way. This only fueled the fire inside me and made the situation I put myself in worse. I was young, stupid and had a big ego. As time went on (and I got older) I found that creating a healthy divide between my time spent online and my family/friends was best. If you don't give yourself downtime and make that divide, you'll find that the creativity and drive you had in the beginning to succeed will disappear. Messed up part is that you won't even know it's happening till you have to quit IM and get a 9-5 again. Time is more valuable than most people realize.