incremental wins

Last weekend I finished a project for work. I'd wanted to finish it last week, but the last bit ended up being more complicated than I thought. And I ran out of juice.

But I still wanted to have it done and ready for review when everyone else got back to work on Tuesday, so I put in a few hours on a Sunday, and I got more done in those two hours than I usually get done in a day.

It was as though a thousand little things clicked and all of a sudden I could see more of the board. Not the whole board, but better than I've been doing. A real step-change in my level of understanding - the kind that puts wind in my sails.

Two years ago I started over. I'd left the SEAL Teams and only really had soft-skills. I could read and write and lead but I couldn't DO anything myself.

So I looked for a job that would allow me to stay home with my family, but would pay well enough that we wouldn't have to spend the rest of our lives stressing about money.

I'd written code as a hobby in high school and college (no, young Dave was not very successful with the ladies - why do you ask?). And I liked it. So I figured I should try to be a software engineer.

I took 6 months off and taught myself to write software again. I did one of those bootcamps, but 99% of the benefit came from the fact that I ended up working through the curriculum with my (now) friend, Sean.

See, most of the people in the bootcamp were unserious. They thought hanging out and listening to music together in a zoom room would get them the skills they needed. They were more focused on the grades and the certification (which I never got because I got a job before the bootcamp was done) were more important than learning to DO things.

Sean and I both had previous careers and were fathers. We didn't have time to fuck around. We were there to learn as much as possible so we could support our families.

So while the other students (most of whom are still #OpenToWork) played around, we pushed each other and helped each other and got our shit done.

It's been one hell of an uphill climb. At times it felt impossible or pointless, but I did what I always do when I start to feel sorry for myself: I told myself to shut the fuck up and keep working.

And two years in, things are starting to click. I don't feel dumb or stuck every day. I know that I can work through the next problem and the next one after that. I know that the work I'm doing now is exponentially better than the work I was doing a year ago, and that the work I'll be doing a year from now will be exponentially better than the work I'm doing now.

I'm not satisfied and I'm not resting, but it's good to feel like the curve is flattening.

TWO YEARS TO FLATTEN THE CURVE is hard af, but will have been worth the pain.