The Writers' Coffeehouse Forum Staying focused

Hello, my name is Jess and I am a word fanatic. I simply can't get enough of them.
This, however, is not really my problem.
The problem is focus.
I have always loved writing, and have written since I was able to hold a pen. The only pieces of writing I have completed have been short stories and assignments for classes, things with looming and important deadlines.
I would love to complete an entire novel. Over the years I have started several stories, obsessively rewriting them, changing characters and plot lines, falling madly in love with what I was working on and the next day hating everything I'd ever written. Then I get a new idea and run away with that for a time, until I become frustrated with that.
I have tried to give myself deadlines, but this does not seem to help. Many times I have thought that if I were meant to be a published author, I would have finished and submitted at least one book by now.
Does anyone else have this problem, and if so how did you overcome it?