Upskilling and Breaking Barriers-2023 Round-up
The year’s playlist: A Melody of Highs, lows, and everything in between.
I have always wondered why life sometimes presents us with challenges that are beyond us, forcing us to make difficult decisions that we are incapable of making. It’s like being handed a bunch of lemons and asked to decide whether to make lemonade or endure the bitterness of the fruit. The problem is, that we often don’t know what to do, feel incapable, and struggle to overcome the obstacles.
And sometimes life doesn’t even offer anything, just bleak and blandness and you are left wondering what to do, how to do it, and why you should do it.
I had no intention of writing my year-end summary. However, when I came across the post above, I started wondering about my accomplishments in the past five years that would make my younger self proud. I did graduate from college, albeit with a degree classification that I know (and everyone else knows) could have been better. I also served my country, but apart from these two achievements, I couldn’t think of anything significant. This led me to question every decision I had made in the past. Did I not want more for myself? Shouldn’t I aspire to achieve greatness like other people do? Will I still be wondering how I have not achieved anything significant in the next five years, or will I strive to do better?"
During my moments of retrospection, I realized that this year was the only year I let myself go beyond my limit, where I met myself in ways I never thought I could have, leading me to discover unknown aspects of myself. I have accomplished more in this year alone than I have in the past five years and the funny thing was, I can’t say exactly when or how it happened, but somewhere along the way it did and I found myself pushing, craving for success, breaking limits and barriers and striving for more.
Somewhere along the line, my life took shape, I began to have a clear vision of what I wanted to do, and how I wanted to achieve it, I yearned and craved the satisfaction I knew I would get from doing it. I am not there yet, not even halfway, but I know I am on the right path, it might be laden with challenges, struggles, and tears, but I am confident that I am on the right path. I believe that, in the end, the reward will be the sweetest thing to happen to me yet!
Challenges I faced.
Nothing comes easy. That is the one rule of life. You won’t get the life you envision without facing some challenges. It’s up to you how you let those challenges shape your journey. Will you give up and settle for the bare minimum, or will you strive harder and bring your visions to fruition?
Challenge 1
Commitment and Consistency- I have struggled with commitment and consistency in the past. Sometimes, I feel like there is something inherently wrong with me because I find it difficult to care about certain things. If something stresses me out even just a little bit, I tend to let it go. It’s hard for me to stick to what I set out to do. When I first started on my journey, it was easy because I had a clear goal and a drive that pushed me beyond my limits. However, my main motivation was money, and when it wasn’t coming in, I lost that drive. Learning became harder, and it was difficult for me to stay committed.
Solution
To avoid setbacks and reach my goals, I developed a plan for consistency and commitment. I made the effort to follow it every day, no matter how I felt, how tired I was, or how discouraged I felt. This shift in mindset helped me focus on growth instead of financial gain. Although I don’t have much money, I am proud of the significant improvements I’ve made. I’ve broadened my knowledge, which is a valuable achievement in itself.
Challenge 2
Lack of support- This was a major issue for me. Where I come from, it is not common to earn money through a laptop. People here believe that it’s either a government job or nothing. It took me a while to find ways to explain technical concepts to people, otherwise, they would consider it a waste of time and effort. At times, I felt like giving up, but I refused to be a quitter. Even on days when someone said something hurtful to me, and I had to cry myself to sleep, I kept going.
Solution
Since I realized that I am all I have, and no one can support me better than myself, I created a support system for myself. I wrote an affirmation that I can refer to when things get difficult, and shared my struggles on social media. To my surprise, strangers came forward to support me and root for me in ways that left me in awe. This experience has been one of the best things that ever happened to me.
Challenge 3
Saturated industry- finding a job is not as easy as we all thought, the job market is highly competitive. You receive so many “unfortunately” that you wonder if you will ever get a “we are glad to inform you” I haven’t received many of those “unfortunately” e-mails since I rarely apply for jobs but when I do get them it stings, although it doesn’t bother me as much as it should, I still worry that when I eventually start job hunting fully it will cause a setback to my journey.
Solution
The industry might be saturated, but I believe in myself and my capabilities, when the time comes I will do everything in my power to secure one and when the time is right, it will happen.
Challenge 4
Money- One of the biggest challenges that I encountered during my learning journey was the lack of funds. At the time, I was not employed and had no source of income. As we all know, learning can be quite expensive. You have to pay thousands of dollars for courses, purchase assets for your projects, and pay for electricity, data, and books that you need to read. While some may argue that there are free resources available for learning, it’s evident that paid resources offer more, and there are certifications that can aid in the learning process, which are not free. On some days, it was hard, and I found myself crying because of all these challenges. There were days when I just wanted to give up and settle for a low-paying, unfulfilling job.
Solution
I began writing articles and though they paid less, I was able to afford the necessities I needed. And boy oh boy, It brought me a sense of contentment and made everything I used to stress about seem inconsequential. Life became simpler, easier, and stress-free. I work hard knowing that the story won’t always be the same. I have the confidence that in the end, I will earn the money I desire and it will all be worth it.
Challenge 5
I am an introvert- Which means I don’t enjoy interacting with people. This affects my work because in the creative industry, networking with other creatives is essential. I am afraid to share my work because I fear that it is not good enough. Sometimes I post my work, but then I delete it later. I have many pieces that I could publish, but they are still sitting in my drafts. I know that I need to learn to put myself out there and connect with other creatives, but the thought of doing so scares me."
Solution
How bad is it to reach out to someone through a DM, a cold email, or a comment to appreciate their work? It’s not that bad, right? I realized that no one will know about my work unless I try to connect with at least one or two creatives. So, one day I decided to send that email, and even though I didn’t get a response, which made me feel bad of course, but then I saw a tweet that changed my perspective and I realized I have to keep trying to get my desired results. I realized that it doesn’t matter if I don’t get a reply or connect immediately, eventually, it will happen. Since then, I have connected with so many creatives that have significantly impacted my growth.
Habits I have Mastered
- I developed a habit of reading beyond my usual romance or fantasy novels and began to delve into psychology, analytics, and other industry-related material.
- I make it a point to read one book related to design every month.
- I make sure to read at least one chapter every morning before I start my day.
- I recreate a design every single day.
- I write every day, I don’t post but I do write and my writing has improved immensely.
- I use a day every week to research design trends what I am doing wrong and how I can improve.
- I don’t just learn, I write everything I have learnt down in simple terms so I can go back to it when I’m lost.
My Accomplishment
- When I published my first article, I was added as a writer for boot camp. To some, it may seem small, but to me, it means a lot.
- A year ago, I had no idea what the tech industry was all about, now I’m so versed in it, that I listen to news related to tech (shocking man!)
- I’ve written six case studies, which depict each stage of my growth. ( My first was so bad man)
- I know HTML and the basics of CSS. (I had no idea they existed last year)
- My very first earning since graduation came from tech.
- I became a project manager and led my team to execute projects that had made an impact.
- I took five courses and completed all without fail.
- Learnt webflow, and created my portfolio there from scratch.
- Earned money from writing articles.
- Found a niche, and worked on what I was good at ( it’s not UI, trust me)
Lessons Learnt
- No one is going to do it for you, you have to take control of your life and make tough decisions that will shape your future for the better.
- It won’t happen overnight, but if you quit it won’t happen at all.
- The ability to do what you set out to do, regardlessof how you feel- is arguably that one thing that will make you a success.
- What you believe about yourself will affect your general out look on life, pysically, emotionally and mentally.
- Books will broaden your knowledge to realms you never knew existed.
- Falling is never the end of the road, get back up and keep going.
- Getting so many “Unfortunately” does not mean you’re any less or incapable.
- You don’t have to meet 100% of the job description, apply anyway.
- Ask questions, ask for help, no man is an island.
- If you learn something without practicing it, you may end up forgetting it. It’s important to practice what you learn to retain the knowledge.
- Don’t listen to others who tell you it will not work out, if you believe it will, it will.
- No one, absolutely no one will believe in you if you don’t believe in yourself and your capabilities.
- If others can, then I CAN.
Goals for the next year
- Get a good, well paying job.
- Connect with more designers.
- Dive deeper into UX strategy.
- Attend tech conferences.
- Improve my craft and be a better designer than I am now.
- Read more design related books.
- Write more technical articles and maybe start a blog.
- Improve my coding skills.
- Help others struggling to find their feet.
- Be a better person and be more intentional.
- Receive 150 rejections In the coming year, 50 for each quarter.
The year as a whole has been great, despite its challenges, technicalities, and hiccups. It has exposed me to new realms I never knew existed, widened my horizons, pushed me beyond my limits, and presented me with opportunities I never thought possible. I am grateful for all of it - from the challenges to the triumphs, every moment was a stepping stone towards personal growth and development.
Wrapping up 2023 with a bow of gratitude and lessons learned.
2023 thank you.
2024 let’s do this.
