We all have aspirations and objectives, but staying focused and sticking to them can be challenging.
The ability to complete tasks even when they are boring and sometimes difficult is what distinguishes top achievers from the rest. The distinction between pros and amateurs is also the same. Anyone can work hard when they feel motivated. Far too often, we mistakenly believe that our objectives are solely focused on the end outcome. We consider success to be a measurable event that may be attained and finished rather than the process it involves.
As a person in the field of Software development, I’ll start a personal project, work on it for a while, then lose interest and move on to something else. Then I’ll lose sight of my new objective and try something different. It goes on and on.
Many in the start of their career in software development report they had similar sentiments. [freecodecamp]
This same issue reminds me of a lesson I learnt one day at my first job as a junior developer sitting with a manager who has worked with hundreds of people and consulted multiple big corporations such as Nokia in his more than 20 years of long career path in software development.
Enthusiasm and Inspiration
In this same day when we began talking, I wanted to know what his opinion is on the difference between those engineers with good development skills and everyone else.
I asked " what do really successful devs do that no one else does?"
He went on to mentioned the common things that you would expect: luck, talent, upbringings, environment. But then he said something that I did not see coming, he said
"At some point it comes down to the fact whether you keep taking steps, right or wrong, towards achieving the goal you set. Specially, when things grow dull and doing the same thing over and over again becomes uncomfortable."
His response amazed me because it offers a unique view on work ethic. People, when talking about work or business, often say "You have to be enthusiastic about it" or "You must really want it". As a result, when we lose inspiration or drive, many of us become disheartened because we believe that successful individuals have an endless supply of enthusiasm and drive.
"Fall in love with boredom. Fall in love with repetition and practice. Fall in love with the process of what you do and let the results take care of themselves." Atomic Habits. Read more here.
