Hello, it has been a while 👋🏾

It has been a long time since I was active in this space.

The last time I was here, I was doing a 90-day development challenge for Tasty Hub.

Funnily enough, I officially stopped at Day 4 of 90 here 😅

But I actually made it to Day 9 before I stopped completely.😂(I believe some of you will say what is the difference)

Looking back, though, I learned quite a lot from that experience.

So, after more than a year away, I thought I'd come back and share some of what I've learned, what I've been working on, the mistakes I've made, and a whole lot of other things from the past year.

Here are a few lessons that have stuck with me:

• Starting without adequate planning is sometimes just preparing to fail.

I was excited to start, but excitement isn't the same thing as preparation.

I didn't properly account for what I needed, how I would sustain the challenge, or what could realistically get in the way.

That taught me that before building, I need to understand what I'm building, what I need, and how I'm going to sustain the process.

• Burnout is real — and it can start very quietly.

It doesn't always look like suddenly being unable to do anything.

Sometimes it's the little things you keep pushing aside.

Lack of resources.

Mental fatigue.

Poor planning.

Trying to force progress.

Eventually, those little things compound.

And that brought me back to the first lesson: you have to build in a way that you can actually sustain.

• AI can give you false confidence when your foundation isn't strong.

This one was probably one of the biggest lessons for me.

Using AI when you barely understand what you're doing can make you feel like you understand more than you actually do.

You get something working, but you haven't necessarily developed the ability to build it yourself.

The problem isn't AI.

The problem is using it as a substitute for understanding.

That made me realize that I need to know what I'm capable of without AI before I use AI to extend what I can do with it.

• After a setback, you eventually have to pick yourself back up.

I won't lie — this past year taught me to embrace that reality.

People can encourage you.

People can advise you.

People can help you.

But at some point, you have to decide to start again.

And that's what I've done.

• My foundation needed to be revisited.

This one changed how I think about learning development.

I've started thinking about software development almost like building construction.

Foundation → Structure → Scaffolding → Building

If the foundation isn't solid, adding more floors doesn't solve the problem.

So instead of rushing to learn more and more technologies, I'm going back, strengthening my fundamentals, and building from there.

And this time, I'm approaching things in phases.

I've already restarted.

I'm currently five projects in, and I'm deliberately not giving myself arbitrary constraints like I did before.

Because I'm human.

Unexpected things will happen.

Life will happen.

The goal isn't to build a perfect streak.

The goal is to keep building.

So, after being away for more than a year...

I'm back.

And this time, I'm building differently.

More projects.
More lessons.
More mistakes.
More things to share.

Let's see where this goes. 🚀