I added a side note about this. It's not really about having something to show for me, I need some connection to people or I will lose interest. I figured a topic would be the best thing for me. Apparently others speak before they think, which is why the nasty thing was removed.
If this is your first big project, the main thing you have to focus about is getting something playable out. Seriously, if you want a project to really take off, the only real motivation you need is something to attract you to your project. Which is gameplay. Don't waste any time on worrying about graphics or sloppy code, just get something playable, then make that stable (cleanup code), and work like hell adding new features. If you're working on boring stuff (AI, level loading), just do something fun on the side, like adding items and enemies. Also, never ever restart unless
completely necessary. Allot of times I get stuck on entity AI, level loading, and I get board and blame the bug on broken code, and in doing so I haven't made a playable game in my 4 years of java game development. Learnt a s*** ton about OpenGL though
TL;DR: Do what you can to make a prototype, clean up code on the way, make some cool stuff while doing boring stuff to keep you occupied and to have something to show to the forums. And never ever restart unless you seriously need to, not just because you want that 'It'le be better next time!' vibe.