Counting the small wins
Studying something new can feel overwhelming. I often read the LinkedIn profiles of people who are years ahead of me in tech, then I scroll down to see how long it took them to get to that stage, and then I calculate how old I’ll be by the time I invest that same amount of time. It sounds unhealthy, but we are all guilty of it. Silently freaking out over how long the journey is, and then spacing out into mental paralysis as we wonder if we can do this. It’s often easier to just put down the pen, go back to your other work or a hobby, and do something that you know you can do well instead. Sometimes, hours or even a whole day can pass by like this when you let yourself succumb to it.
I am trying to get into the habit of reminding myself every day that a few months ago, I could not have understood what I understand today, and that is an achievement. I need to put one foot in front of the other, and keep at it. It takes each person a different length of time to get through the courses. Sometimes I like to think I’m superwoman, and I can power through this at the speed of light. But, I can’t, and that’s not the point of studying. I’m in this to really learn, and I’m not signing up to a fast-track bootcamp that promises wild accomplishments within 3 months. I learnt that through studying Arabic - there is no fast way to really absorb and understand something so complex. It takes a lifestyle change and years of commitment and regular deposits of time and effort.
It is absolutely basic and the very first thing you learn in Python, but yesterday, I smiled to myself because I wrote the line:
print(potus [-1][2])
where potus was the name of my dataset, and I understood exactly what the line meant. I’m much further ahead in my studies than this, but I took a moment to remind myself that a few months ago, I had no idea what that meant. Today, it’s second nature. That feels like an achievement to me, and I’ll count that as a small win. Now let’s find my foot that was lingering behind in a state of momentary anxiety, place it in front, and march forward.
