Today I had my first retro with the rest of the apprentices. I was really unsure of what to expect but overall it was a good experience as we got to talk about what we personally wanted to improve on or start doing more of. It was lovely to gain an insight into other people’s thoughts and ideas.
My three key takeaways were:
- Challenge myself to be better everyday.
- Push myself outside of my comfort zone.
- Stop being so self-critical.
I had quite a challenging week this week because I felt not every day was successful or productive. I felt I hadn’t learnt enough and that I wasn’t progressing as I “should be”.
Later on in the day I had a chat to one of the visitors who came in and he said something quite poignant about his learning habits. He told me he didn’t measure his success on what he got done but on the hours he put in which is such a healthy attitude.
He reminded me of an idea that Elizabeth Gilbert writes about in her book Big Magic. The idea is that you can have something that you’re trying to do earnestly and that somedays you’ll suck or won’t be feeling creative. Elizabeth writes that ultimately, as long as you show up every day and keep up your side of the deal, that’s the best you can do.
I will try and hold on to this sentiment which I feel is so very important, not just during my current programming journey, but also for life in general.
