The "thing" in getting things done is fuzzy. For you it was a "meaningless" puzzle. For me it was an implementation of Conway's game of life. For others it was modifying their wordpress blog or making automating their financial tracking.

The point is there is something you want to do and you used a programming lanaguage to do it. As a result:

   * You were self guided not following someone elses steps.
   * You were rewarded with some self confidence when it worked.

That's the tipping point the OP was talking about I think.