fair enough
You never know where your ship is headed to. At least I never did. One thing leads to another and you are somewhere hundreds of kilometers away from home where you never imagined you will end up in. Was it the best decision? Maybe? Definitely? Hopefully? Life works in ways you never expect. One day you're on top and another day out of nowhere (or maybe you had it coming) it all comes falling down. You build back up. Start over again. All you can do in these times is to stick to one decision and just go all in.
Did your previous efforts go to waste? That probably depends on what you wanted out of it. Was it means to an end? Shouldn't all the effort be done for the sake of doing it because you love it? Regardless of whether it takes you somewhere? That is what Ali Abdaal talks about right?
We need to have a lot more play, a lot more experiments. Try stuff out just because why not. And stick to it (this is something I always forget)
Regardless of what you do, you can come out the other end of the tunnel. You will probably figure it out and get your shit together