Growing Pains
Oct 5, 2019
Sometimes, especially when you're new to something, you might feel like you're always getting it
wrong, you’re just not good as the rest of them...the ones that are already successful or sure
to be successful because they are talented. I want to tell you, my friend,
that THAT is simply not true.
To be talented - according to the Oxford dictionary - is to be gifted. To have a natural skill at something. Natural, magical, innate gifts are rarely required for "success".
Let me give you a couple of examples from my own life.
In my day job, I lead an engineering team at Microsoft. In the evenings and weekends, I write. I run almost every day. In all these aspects of my life, the story has been the same. I was not very good at them when I started. My growth has almost always come with pain and a LOT of effort.
Exhibit A: Let us look at one of my early code reviews
To be talented - according to the Oxford dictionary - is to be gifted. To have a natural skill at something. Natural, magical, innate gifts are rarely required for "success".
Let me give you a couple of examples from my own life.
In my day job, I lead an engineering team at Microsoft. In the evenings and weekends, I write. I run almost every day. In all these aspects of my life, the story has been the same. I was not very good at them when I started. My growth has almost always come with pain and a LOT of effort.
Exhibit A: Let us look at one of my early code reviews
Yes, those were forty-three comments from a single code reviewer for a single code checkin I wanted to
make.
Such crushing code reviews were not infrequent early in my career as a programmer. I was never that genius, "natural programmer" who always wrote flawless code. It took me a lot of on-the-job learning to do my job well. Gradually, I made fewer mistakes. I started being recognized by my peers as a good dev.
How long did it for me take to get to that point? People talk about the "10000 hours of practice rule". In my experience, it is more than just the number of hours you put in. I practiced deliberately. I reflected constantly on what was not working, how I could leverage my strengths better, and how I could learn from feedback. Any success I got, I would argue, came from these. NOT from being born with a flair for coding.
Such crushing code reviews were not infrequent early in my career as a programmer. I was never that genius, "natural programmer" who always wrote flawless code. It took me a lot of on-the-job learning to do my job well. Gradually, I made fewer mistakes. I started being recognized by my peers as a good dev.
How long did it for me take to get to that point? People talk about the "10000 hours of practice rule". In my experience, it is more than just the number of hours you put in. I practiced deliberately. I reflected constantly on what was not working, how I could leverage my strengths better, and how I could learn from feedback. Any success I got, I would argue, came from these. NOT from being born with a flair for coding.
Exhibit B: Let us look at my first attempts at writing for public
Has this happened to you? You read something that you wrote years ago, watch/listen to a recording of your speech from way back when, and you CRIIIIIINGGGGE! It happens to me a LOT. Case in point: my blog from an earlier time in my life.
You need to write EVERY SINGLE day for writing to “come naturally” to you. Even when you write every single day, you could still get stuck. You could still face a lot of rejection, disappointing silence, and disheartening responses when you try to get published.
Exhibit B: Let us look at my first attempts at writing for public
Has this happened to you? You read something that you wrote years ago, watch/listen to a recording of your speech from way back when, and you CRIIIIIINGGGGE! It happens to me a LOT. Case in point: my blog from an earlier time in my life.
You need to write EVERY SINGLE day for writing to “come naturally” to you. Even when you write every single day, you could still get stuck. You could still face a lot of rejection, disappointing silence, and disheartening responses when you try to get published.
Sometimes, despite the effort, you might still feel like you have not "arrived". For instance I still feel
quite average as a writer, as a speaker, as a photographer - you name it. You perhaps will never "arrive" in
some cases. I imagine I will never run a 4-minute mile in my life. It's just not in my genes.
For most activities, though, effort pays off. People who appear "arrived" have likely put in that effort and paid their dues. My reminder to you, dear reader, is this: if you feel like you're not talented at something or are currently struggling with it, please DO NOT give up. You'll get better if you stick with it and practice, practice, practice!
For most activities, though, effort pays off. People who appear "arrived" have likely put in that effort and paid their dues. My reminder to you, dear reader, is this: if you feel like you're not talented at something or are currently struggling with it, please DO NOT give up. You'll get better if you stick with it and practice, practice, practice!