want to learn to 'quick-learn'

I am from the cubicle world. Do read lot about the startups and PG(Paul Graham) articles. I want to build something good in python/java(jython). I started this 2-3 times and left.What should I do correctly to leave this vicious circle..as I hardly do anything remotely to this at my day job.Can someone who emerged out successfully from the similar situation( and doing good independently/working with alike people); help me to catch up on the learning curve.