Hey man, don't feel too bad about it. That sort of mindset is something that takes practice. Lots of people don't get it as a kid, for whatever reason, so you have to learn it as an adult. You are saying you feel stupid, which is natural, but think of that as a sign that you are challenging yourself in the right way.

It's important to realise that it's very difficult to learn if 90% of your brainpower is taken up by little demons telling you that you can't do it, that you're stupid, or whatever dumb shit that demons like to do because they're mean.

Unsolicited advice follows:

The first step is to learn how to fail and not feel stupid, or to treat the failure as part of you. And I don't mean to not really try, so you have an excuse for failure. I mean to actually put serious effort something that you know will be hard for you to do, to fail, and to be ok with it. Failure is OK. Failure is necessary and healthy. Even if it's something that other people make look easy, just remember that you don't see their failures. And sure, some of them have a head start. But you can't start out by comparing yourself to them. Comparison is only healthy once you are OK with failure.

In other words, to start out, change your goal from success at the task, to success at failing gracefully. Think about Neo from the Matrix, and realise that that's not how the world works. Neo was chosen by mysterious forces, he was special, and he got magic powers without having to work for them. That's not what life is like. Not only does it take hard work to become really good at something, sometimes it can take a lot of hard work before you start to feel passion. Sometimes passion only comes once you've reached a certain skill level.

The other problem, which I personally struggle with, is discipline. Discipline is about keeping your eye on the goal, and not letting your mind wander, even though it would be so easy to give up. It's not so much dealing with fear, or feeling stupid or embarrassed, as it is dealing with fatigue, or the temptation to do something that has more reward in the short term.

Discipline is tricky. It's best to start very, very small. You don't have to practice 8 hours every day, but what you do has to be very intentional. Start out with concentrating for 5 minutes, thinking of nothing else but what you are trying to get good at. Then increase it more and more each day until you are happy with the amount of work you're putting in.

Take breaks of course. You might like this blog post, and others by the same author: http://calnewport.com/blog/2011/11/11/if-youre-busy-youre-doing-something-wrong-the-surprisingly-relaxed-lives-of-elite-achievers/

I think what you are doing is playing, not practising. It's understandable -- deliberate practice is hard, and outside of one's comfort zone. I have plenty of trouble with it, having not been raised by a strict Chinese Tiger Mom :)

And finally, it's important to realise that the passion Day9 has for Starcraft didn't just happen magically. He grew up at the right time, and has a brother that he's very close to who is also interested in the game. That creates a feedback loop of excitement. I really think that if one of Day9 or Tasteless weren't interested in Starcraft, then the other would probably not be anywhere as involved in the game.

The final advice I have for you is to think back to the times in your life when you felt pumped up, inspired, passionate, and determined, and think about what environment and circumstances you found yourself in. Then try to reproduce that every day, if you can. Maybe it was being around certain kinds of people, or reading stories about great things people did, or playing certain songs, I don't know. Try to put yourself into those situations, until you can start to carry that feeling around with you inside.

Just remember that you're starting on a journey. It won't be easy, but it will be worth it.