Don't lose sight of the fact that it's supposed to be fun!!

The fundamentals are very important as everybody has pointed out. As soon as you have 3 chords under your belt, find a song that uses them. Or find a song that has some simple chords and learn those chords specifically so you can play the song.

Bash away and have fun!!

I started trying to learn guitar at the age of 10 or so. I had one of those Mel Bay books. I'm not sure if it even had a single chord in it...it was all notation and things like "Row Row Row Your Boat". I lost interest very quickly.

Fast forward to when I was 13, a friend of mine showed me 3 chords...D, A, and E....and eventually a 4th, which was G. In a short span of time, I could play "Polythene Pam" by the Beatles, and I haven't put the guitar down since (I just turned 51).

That handful of chords had me practicing my strumming, my chord changes...all in the context of a song I enjoyed.