When a free soloist climbs a mountain by themselves, they are entirely alone. Do you think they have time to think about loneliness while climbing? No.
That’s the mentality you need when building solo. If you’re thinking about how lonely you are, it just means you’re losing focus. Get your head in the game.
When you get to the top, you have all the time in the world to think about how lonely you are up there. And if you don’t get to the top, well, don’t worry about it…
Free climbing is a high-risk pursuit. A free climber goes on occasional expeditions where they solo a route, but before then, they train with others, have spotters and partners during route practice, and whole communities to provide help, support and emergency contact should things go wrong. Alex Honnold doesn't just rock up to a mountain (if you'll forgive the pun) and solo it every day for months on end.
It's very difficult to just put everything aside and focus on a singular task for the amount of time it takes to complete a significant software project. Once the initial enthusiasm wanes, keeping going can be a real challenge when you're on your own. The OP's concerns are absolutely valid and deserve respect.
You should never expect enthusiasm to last. How many people are just as enthusiastic about going to the gym for years compared to when they first start out? These are all the things people need to realize before embarking on these solo journeys.
You may not like it, but if a person was drowning and they actually do start to “just swim better”, they will survive. Just do what you need to do.
A drowning person can't "just swim better". That's exactly why they're drowning in the first place.
What you're saying is true but not helpful. There's a whole process that goes into "just do it" that is weirdly unpopular to talk about. You have to become capable first, and that only happens in community where you can safely make a lot of mistakes.
I don't think this is true. You can become capable while building for a customer base. I don't think I've ever built "in community".