I'm gonna guess that working only half a full time job while (I'm gonna assume) having some money from a programming job saved up played more of a part than you may think, but I'm sure not watching movies also helps.

Meanwhile people working 8+ hours in a physically demanding job just to be able to afford rent and maybe enough food for the week who then still have to take care of general life stuff are a lot less likely to have the money, time, or energy to do much else.

Out of curiosity, did you

cycling 2 or 3 hours a day and spending about 45 minutes a day at the gym and I still have plenty of time for fun and socializing and whatnot while also getting 8 hours a day of sleep

While you had a job as listed in the pic (8hrs/day)? I'm betting time was a major factor in why you only started 5y ago.