Hi there. Just wanted you to know that you shouldn't be embarrassed/ashamed about the stuff that you're putting out there. A lot of people don't want to admit their struggles or often won't post something for fear that someone will consider them stupid, not gifted/insightful, etc... These fears are illogical and usually stem from personal views/beliefs on intelligence.
Especially if you were always ahead of the class in school, and could get away with less studying than your peers, you are prone to this way of thinking. The fact that you cannot grasp something immediately and innately may be disturbing to your brain, and it will easily get overwhelmed by the sheer scale of it all.
Just want to tell you that if you are able to recognize these fears/doubts, and continue what you are doing in spite of them, you will reach your destination. You are still incredibly young. I am 30 and not even to the point where you are, congratulations. You have 6 years to fuck around before we're on even playing ground.
It may sound stupid, but what has helped me deal with overwhelming emotions is the fact that we can only be successful one day at a time. If you have a successful day, then you are on the path to being successful at whatever you're wanting to do. Even if you don't exactly know what it is yet.
Focus on having successful days, and eventually you will look up and be amazed at what you were able to achieve. Also, realize how much time you spend looking for those silver bullets-"Am I reading the right stuff, is there a way to get there faster? Is there a better way?" These are all important to think about, but they can also be used for reasons to do nothing, which is not a good formula for success.
As one successful dev once told me, there are tons of ways to get there. There isn't a better or best path that anyone really knows of. I know this isn't what you want to hear, but it seems to be true. I think a lot of times, worrying about finding the best way to get there is the best form of procrastination. You fool yourself into believing it is better to find a better way than to actually do something. I think the best advice when you come to a point like this is to think of something you want to create and just take some time off to learn how to create it. You may realize along the way that there are certain things that you really don't care about learning for the time being. If you look at all the different responses from HN users, you will see that every response is unique. Some may suit you, but some won't. I think it's really going to be up to you to find what you need and what you don't. The only way to find out is to do the work.
Cheers, and I love the website you created. Keep up the good work and remember to not be too self conscious about the stuff you put out there.
I can't convey to you how good this post made me feel. It's extremely reassuring to me that there's someone out there who feel the same way I do about this stuff.
And the procrastination part made me smile. I keep trying to find better and more optimized ways of learning something and I keep getting stuck at certain points. Only after I've read your post have I realized that this was just another way of procrastination (and perhaps the most insidious form of it).
Thanks billions and billions of times (hat tip to Mr. Carl Sagan) for the very kind words and the motivation!
Especially if you were always ahead of the class in school, and could get away with less studying than your peers, you are prone to this way of thinking. The fact that you cannot grasp something immediately and innately may be disturbing to your brain, and it will easily get overwhelmed by the sheer scale of it all.
Just want to tell you that if you are able to recognize these fears/doubts, and continue what you are doing in spite of them, you will reach your destination. You are still incredibly young. I am 30 and not even to the point where you are, congratulations. You have 6 years to fuck around before we're on even playing ground.
It may sound stupid, but what has helped me deal with overwhelming emotions is the fact that we can only be successful one day at a time. If you have a successful day, then you are on the path to being successful at whatever you're wanting to do. Even if you don't exactly know what it is yet.
Focus on having successful days, and eventually you will look up and be amazed at what you were able to achieve. Also, realize how much time you spend looking for those silver bullets-"Am I reading the right stuff, is there a way to get there faster? Is there a better way?" These are all important to think about, but they can also be used for reasons to do nothing, which is not a good formula for success.
As one successful dev once told me, there are tons of ways to get there. There isn't a better or best path that anyone really knows of. I know this isn't what you want to hear, but it seems to be true. I think a lot of times, worrying about finding the best way to get there is the best form of procrastination. You fool yourself into believing it is better to find a better way than to actually do something. I think the best advice when you come to a point like this is to think of something you want to create and just take some time off to learn how to create it. You may realize along the way that there are certain things that you really don't care about learning for the time being. If you look at all the different responses from HN users, you will see that every response is unique. Some may suit you, but some won't. I think it's really going to be up to you to find what you need and what you don't. The only way to find out is to do the work.
Cheers, and I love the website you created. Keep up the good work and remember to not be too self conscious about the stuff you put out there.