2024 overview so far
so its really just 2 months remaining for 2024 to come to an end. to be quite honest, this year was all about execution, in contrast to 2023, where i experienced life at its peak... had some deep realisations, learnt about people and faced some mild lows.
stepping into 2024 was a soft ride, the initial months went by smoothly, landed my first big internship in February, who knew 3 months later i was going to bag a part time offer along with promotion. the internship period allowed me to develop proficiency and pick up new skills, both professionally and technically.
mid 2024 was a bit bumpy, got my first software product out and also developed a good social presence on linkedin and x, couldn't thank buildspace enough!
i feel the way i took decisions during all of this was a direct or indirect result of the things i went through during 2023. i also came across vyom bhatia's instagram account during 2023, his thoughts really provoked me to work towards achieving something, i remember meeting kirti after a long time and discussing how i wanted to become financially independent and hopefully move out to live on my own, similar to what vyom did at the age of 19.
(to set the context, im talking about this reel.)
battling mediocrity
it is indeed true, one of the major sources of inspiration for me is the fear of being average. i was an average student in school, and i couldn't afford going back to the same point in life where i was constantly being compared to students performing better than me, back then my actions were often governed by the expectations my peers.
the perfect example of mediocrity is college, tons of people milking the same course, learning the same skill, making the same project. in fact, college today isn't even about knowledge anymore, everyone just seems to be too invested into relationships and other dramas, having a partner to emotionally support is an absolute necessity, but come on, did we really lower our standards out of desperation? all i see around myself is stagnant students with lack of ambition and creativity to really do anything, no one's really doing anything out of the league and so when one them is an outlier, he is told that "you are a geek".
some of my friends already consider me a maniac because i am often focused on things that most of the students aren’t (it gives off bookworm vibes to them), i don't quite enjoy that but on a long run whats the worst that can happen? i miss out on fun, i waste my teenage sitting in front of my laptop screen, get replaced by ai in future despite my efforts in the present. but what if everything pays off? i get the bragging rights, i'll be doing what i enjoy doing and i'll still have options to explore other things in life, most importantly i’ll have satisfaction of experimenting different things despite failure.
“being indifferent and having really low expectations is the key to being happy and content”
- nikhil kamath
so what do i do in such environment? someone on reddit told me "get busy in yourself and everything else will become quiet", seems convincing. vyom in his reel highlighted acquisition of skills and its monetisation, what do i lack? monetisation - i've successfully been able to land internships, build connections and launch product through my skills but haven't earned a single penny yet. the next two months my focus is to acquire skills that could potentially pay me while improving myself through minimising distractions and inculcating discipline, i want to be a 'jack of all trades' instead of just being a developer.
im going all in on exploring web3, ml and non-programming skills that i truly love but never really tried learning it. all of this while ensuring that i am improving as an individual, cut down the drama in life, distance the people bringing negativity, minimise distractions and practice discipline.
