I realized something today.
That thing that I realized is that having the right mindset is the only way to stay afloat amongst the myriad of pressures that life throws your way.
Last year I started a journey, to change careers, become a software engineer, and ultimately improve my life.
So far, I’m doing alright. I’ve come so far beyond what I thought I’d be able to accomplish at this point in my journey, I’m fluent in topics of conversation I couldn’t pronounce a year ago.
This isn’t about me though. This is about the mindset that comes along with trying to do something for an external purpose.
Trying to “reach” a goal for a specific end result.
Learning this one thing so that I’ll find a job.
For me, it’s been a struggle to separate the stress of finding a job with the stress of getting better as a programmer.
Allowing myself to equate the pure joy I get from attacking a challenge or coding problem, understanding a concept for the sake of learning, and growing my skills organically and painlessly, with the pursuit of growth so that I may be “qualified” for an hereto unknown position is what’s bringing me down.
Don’t get me wrong. I need to get better. I can’t stagnate, and I cannot stop learning because I believe that I’ve reached a point where learning is just for those “super passioniate” coders.
A small subtle shift in the way I view my daily coding activity is in order.
I would like to start thinking about it from a low-pressure perspective. From the perspective that says, “This stuff is so cool! Check THIS out.” Follow the glorious rabbit-hole that is StackOverflow.
Listing out topics that I can improve on for the sake of improving is better then frantically going from one to the next because I believe that if I don’t get better now, I won’t get better at all.
I’m probably rambling at this point. I don’t edit these posts. If this helps you, great! If you want to discuss these thoughts, reach out to me. I’d love to talk to you.