It's both. It's the "lawyer, gym, delete facebook" advice that is a joke but also helpful beneath the surface.

The tech world is flooded but there's also a lot of need and turnover, so it's possible you'd study and learn enough to be competent at a job, but they likely won't hire you unless you have a silly degree or past experience. "So create projects and put them on your website" again nice in theory but what corp is going to fight HR on procedure and hire you on a hunch when there are a hundred other 22 year olds who qualify?

It's more about self improvement than anything else. Get a hobby, learn problem solving skills and new ways of thinking, and if you're persistent you'll have a few fun things to show off when you're done.