🗿 Standing On The Shoulders of Giants
🗿 Standing On The Shoulders of Giants
Sunday Scoop #28 - In this issue, I share a snippet of my '2020:Milestones In Review' article that I'll publish next weekend. Please consider it a cheeky preview instead of a testimony to my laziness.
Hey friends,
One of the things that I've truly learnt to appreciate in 2020 is the sheer potential of standing on the shoulders of giants.
If you're not familiar with this metaphor, here is what it means.
Using the understanding gained by those who have gone before us in order to make our own progress.
I think that this concept is especially applicable when we look to learn new things.
🎙 The Experience
When I started dabbling with coding and setting up my personal website, there were a series of hiccups.
Hitting the preview button inevitably led to a '404 - Page Not Found' screen.
The reading progress bar refused to animate in sync with the page scroll.
The articles could not be sorted according to their tags.
You get the idea.
Discussions in the developer forum helped to resolve a couple of issues but the rest remained, incessantly bugging me for weeks on end.
I was on the verge of chucking this project into my 'Someday' folder (and probably never revisiting it) but I decided against the instinct to take the path of least resistance. I tried my luck and fired an email to Martin, who authored one of the online blog set-up tutorials I came across.
I received a reply on the night itself. He easily identified where my code went wrong and suggested ways to rectify the error. He even offered to help me out with any further issues.
From there, we exchanged emails, with me asking for help and him directing me to the proper resources. Within a week, the website was ready to launch!
💭 Thoughts
With an unprecedented privilege we call the Internet, we know that there is probably a comprehensive tutorial online for anything that may strike our fancy, ranging from coding and investing right up to photography and sketching.
However, the Internet doesn't make the mere notion of venturing into a completely foreign field is any less frightening.
Its often not procrastination or laziness that stands in the way of our learning, but uncertainty and fear that hinders our progress.
While online tutorials are helpful, there is so much content out there that we often lose the forest from the trees. We don't even know where to start without someone guiding us to master the basics and work through our doubts.
This brings me back to Martin.
I genuinely doubt the website would've launched without Martin's help.
I might've been resilient enough to hold out for a couple more weeks, going around in circles trying to figure out what went wrong. Once the frustration was to much to bear, I'd probably convince myself that this is not worth killing myself over and eventually scratch the whole project.
Fortunately, that email I sent out helped secure Martin's help and I got all the bugs out of the way within the week!
The point I'm trying to make here is that any field that interests you is likely a well-trodden path. Chances are, there is someone out there who was also once a beginner like yourself, but is now living your dream and will be more than glad to help you out and direct you to the best resources, if only you reached out to them.
With that said, I hope that this snippet of next week's article that I am sharing with you today adds value to your life in some shape, way, or form.
Have a great week ahead and see you in the next issue of Sunday Scoop!
Jia Shing.
Links
🧪 Counselab - The article snippet this week ties nicely to one of my senior's startup - Counselab. They aim to connect those seeking advice to those ready to share advice and create a synergistic, diverse and personalized relationship between both parties. If you have a Passion Project stored away in a vault far away, this is your chance. Sign up for their questionnaire to keep up to date on further updates here.
💬 Quote - Issac Newton
🎙 Inaugural Poem - Amanda Gorman's recital of the Inaugural Poem went viral last week. My favorite lines-
When day comes we step out of the shade,
aflame and unafraid
The new dawn blooms as we free it
For there is always light,
if only we're brave enough to see it,
If only we're brave enough to be it.
Challenge
We all know the value of lifelong learning. We understand the importance of developing ourselves beyond classroom walls and lecture halls.
Uncertainty always stands in the way.
Write down a list of Passion Projects that you want to pursue in 2021. Find your Giant. Make progress.
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