Get Up And Start Walking
[quote, Nossrat Peseschkian] "" If you want something you never had, then do something you never did. ""
When I heard the above quote for the first time, it was eye opening to me. Why? It expresses very clearly to me, that you need to get active, if you want to reach a goal in your life. No matter what it is. Get a promotion, earn more money, hike the https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pacific_Crest_Trail[Pacific Crest Trail]. You get the idea.
I’m a software engineer working for a big company. I don’t like to stand still and do the same things on a daily basis. I like challenges and the unknown. Exploring new tools, frameworks and languages is part of my nature. But not everybody has the same degree of freedom at work.
Being a programmer, engineer, software developer, front/back-end developer provides enough challenges on a daily basis. What if you want more? How do you get to the next level? Do you want to be Dev Lead? You want more responsibility? Or you just want to earn more money?
What is your plan to get there?
In recent job interviews, I asked candidates if they tried tool/framework/language/skill that is useful for the job.
In a lot of cases, I heard one of the following answers
- nobody asked me to look at it
- I was busy doing my day to day job
- my Manager didn’t give me permission to do so
I totally understand that we are all living busy lives. I have a demanding full time job, a family and some friends. All of them require time and time is a scarce resource. Once it’s gone, you won’t get it back. So act wisely! You wanted to reach goal A/B/C, right? The I call the answers lame excuses.
Don’t tell me that you didn’t have the permission, time, energy to learn something valuable or new. This is your life, your career and these are your goals. You don’t need to ask for permission to learn.
Be Bold. Do it. Do it every day.
Set aside some time during the day. Create an event in your calendar and plan for it. Tell somebody, show the results. That is the only way that works to get it going. Move out of your comfort zone and learn that awesome tool/framework/language/skill.
A journey starts with a first step. Go out there and start walking. Or as https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laozi[Lao Tse] said
A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.
This is a great closing for the upcoming week. Think about what you want to reach. How can you get there?. It doesn’t have to be the perfect plan. But hey: you want to reach that goal. So, make a plan and act according to your plan.
Talk to you next week.