I don't do large projects - I'm a self-proclaimed hobby/hacker programming type. And happy with it.

I don't really disagree with what you say. It all seems quite reasonable. I probably most lack method and memory from your list, as well as a need for the large project. I *could* write a large program which monolithically did everything I needed it to. Or I could munge a small utility which took the data produced by program A and munged it thoroughly so that I could use it in program B.
A small utility to act as a bridge or to automate an annoyance is often much more efficient a use of my time than writing that Large Program(tm) that does it all at once.

So why have I never developed your Large Program Mindset? Because I've never needed to. I worked on two Large Programs once, as part of my employment. One was good. The other - well, it was not a happy project, because the way in which I was managed was poor. Feeling that I'd be happier with systems administration, I stuck to what I knew and passed over my chance to migrate to being a developer. I sometimes regret that - usually whenever I start to flex my atrophied development muscles - but I do think it was the right decision at the time.

I have a few Large Programs I want to write, most of which probably aren't that large by your standards. Things like an MP3 player & music library which works the way I want it to, or a few large applications designed to monitor/automate/alert systems I work with on a day to day basis.
But the need just isn't quite large enough to sit down and begin deicating time to those projects. Not yet, anyway...

As I grow older, I feel the calling... *grins evilly*