Now!

For a long time I’ve been trying to write more, not only because I wanted to keep a log of what I do (I have a really bad memory) but also because I think that when I write I get a new perspective on the subject and I’m able to pinpoint areas where I lack understanding. Spending some time trying to explain something is a great way to better understand it.

Last year I started writing about some topics that interested me and that seemed relevant to keep notes on for future reference. However, I ended up not writing nearly as much as I set up to initially. Also, I wanted to start my own blog to publish these texts I was writing. I set up to do it but… resistance creped in. I ended up with this first post laying around for a couple of months (a version of it at least), but was to afraid to post it.

Should I do it? Can I stick with it? Do I know enough?

After some reflection and a very helpful talk with a friend, that reminded me (yet again) on how to approach this kind of problem, I could finally answer my worries. Yes, I’ll never know if you don’t try and I’ll never feel like I know enough.

So, just do it. Now!

When you sense this feeling of resistance, you know you are going in the right direction. Find this feeling and lean towards it, not away from it. - Seth Godin

Of course I’m afraid. Afraid of what people will think of my writing, ideas, opinions and the impact it can have on my reputation, even though I don’t have one :). My lizard brain wants everyone to like my work and doesn’t want to deal with the possibility of criticism - Just stay safe! - The reality is that this is an impossible goal. How could a guy that hardly ever wrote anything please everyone when people that have been writing professionally for years, real artists, don’t achieve this.

You have to approach criticism in a different way, as an opportunity to learn and not as an attack on your work. After all, what is the point of a comment if it does not criticize your work? Every human feels good with validation, and I’m not saying that it is a bad thing at all, sometimes you need a boost on your ego or motivation, but validation on itself doesn’t make you evolve. You stagnate if your way of doing things don’t get challenged. You need to get new perspectives, other points of view on your perceptions. To be able to get that you have to be open to criticism and failure. However it does not mean that all criticism has value, it is important to recognize good criticism. You should only acknowledge a specific kind of criticism, the kind that tries to help you. There is no point considering destructive criticism (trolling) with no basis. With no reasoning there is no value or learning opportunity.

I’ll make mistakes, I can’t avoid it. The most important thing you have to remember is to learn from these failures and just try again. You’ll never really fail if you don’t stop trying.

Although I worry about what others will think of my work I don’t pretend to believe that anyone other than myself really cares about what I will be putting in here. In the end, I’ll write about whatever the hell I want, but this should primarily be a record of my findings in my day to day work, things that I think are interesting and that can help me remember how I approached some problem (technical or not) or how something works under the hood.

I know it will be difficult at the beginning but I expect it to get easier as I keep doing it. Well… I hope I can stick with it and that it proves to be useful.