I can see it clearly. My app is live, bug-free, and users are raving. Investors are calling. My GitHub repo has stars pouring in like confetti at a parade. My IDE never crashes, my build scripts run flawlessly, and every pull request I submit gets merged instantly.
…Then I open my terminal.
Reality hits harder than a failed npm install. My mind’s eye is a liar. My code doesn’t compile. My API returns 500. And somewhere, a junior dev is laughing at my commit message: fix everything.
Here’s the thing: every developer has that vivid vision of success. But success in tech isn’t a mental snapshot—it’s a series of iterative bug fixes, Stack Overflow deep-dives, and “why is this happening” moments at 2 AM.
Step 1: Visualize…But Realistically
Yes, visualize your success. But also visualize the errors, the unexpected nulls, the CI/CD pipeline explosions. If you can imagine both, you’ll be ready for anything.
Step 2: Embrace the Debug Life
Debugging is meditation for developers. The more cryptic the error, the more you grow spiritually. Your mind’s eye might see the perfect solution, but your console sees the truth: SyntaxError: Unexpected token '}'.
Step 3: Celebrate Tiny Wins
Remember that console.log('it works!') moment? That’s success. Deploying a patch without breaking something else? Even bigger. Mind’s eye dreams big—but your keyboard deserves applause too.
Step 4: Commit Often, Commit Early
The path to success is paved with commits. Some of them are ugly. Some of them are horrifying. But every commit is a step closer to your mind’s eye masterpiece.
Step 5: Keep the Humor Alive
If you can laugh at your 37th merge conflict of the day, you’re already winning. Your mind’s eye might see glory—but your code might see chaos. And that’s okay.
Top comments (3)
Yesterday, I spent an hour trying to figure out why this error was happening. I decided to take a break, and lol, when I launched VS Code again, the issue was right there in front of me - I'd simply forgotten to declare a function in two places. After I fixed the error, I needed to create new functionality, and lol, I threw it into Copilot, and it erased those places and refactored those functions. It was a good evening. I love chatGPT.
Haha, that’s awesome! 😄 It sounds like you handled it with patience and humor, and it’s great to see how Copilot and ChatGPT made your evening both productive and fun—way to turn a tricky bug into a win!
wonderful!