Table of Contents
Setting a New Benchmark for Myself
My Most Productive Six Months Yet
2 Hackathon Wins
GitHub Copilot CLI Challenge...
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First off, really well done!
Secondly, that's not hard-work, that's passionate work. You did the hackathons in ways you wanted to do, on topics you were passionate about (dogfood, you built it for yourself, it just so happens to help everyone else). Same goes for the charity and engineering manager position, those are things that you were passionate about, so you made it happen. The VirtualCoffee is also one you wanted, you were passionate, so you made it happen, the blogs are the same.
The age old truth of follow your heart (passion) and whatever you seek to achieve, if your heart's in it, you'll have a much better chance at achieving it. Because you put in those extra 2h a day, you sit in your spare time doing maths, you post blogs late at night because you want to, not because of some arbitrary deadline.
So well done on a life well lived over the past 6 months, you did exactly what you wanted to and it paid dividends.
Oh wow! What a feedback! Thank you so much for such amazing words! π And your perspective is absolutely spot on!
As long as you do what you enjoy, you cant fail. So keep THAT drive, dont 'lock-in', locking-in isnt what you did, locking in is the day-job you didnt like anymore, that's why you threw it out for a new job. The hackathons were alot of work, but I'm pretty sure you enjoyed every second of it. Sure, you get frustrated, but you liked the projects you worked on and you "poured your heart and soul" into them. You cant put a value on a human life, so how do you value the product of a human life? You experience and passion is what drove those projects to being priceless, because you put yourself as nr1, the core-user. As long as you develop for yourself and not others, anything you do is a success, because you'll have 1 happy customer, you already have your first alpha tester, you already have 99% of the hard-part done, finding a market. You marketed the pen to yourself and as a result, your desire for that pen drove you to building the means to achieve it. Long hours, waking up at 2am to jot down an idea quick, sitting at work while working through your next feature in your head... All signs of passion, not dedication and hard-work, those are side-effects of passion, not the driving force. Hard-work creates fatigue, passionate work releases endorphins. Dedication creates resentment, while passion creates commitment. Understanding passion at it's core, is 1 of the philosophies to a happy, prosperous life.
Actually my last position at work was also really good, but this one is better in terms of challenges, it's an uncharted territory for me and I love it.
But again, what a comment! someone needs to frame that and put it on the wall. π You really know what you're talking about! And I appreciate that!
But it wasnt interesting? It didnt get you excited the way the prospect of Engineering Manager does? That's the difference between locked-in and passion. Whether you enjoy it or not, you're craving something more at the old job, you dont at the new 1?
It was interesting, but it was time to move on. And my definition of lock-in is a bit different. It's when you really enjoy what you're doing and can spend hours, or even days working on it without even thinking of taking a break.
The part people will skim past is that none of these are separate wins. The articles fed the stars, the shipping fed the hackathon credibility, the credibility fed the promotion. Six months of locking in works because the outputs quietly become inputs, each thing you ship lowers the cost of the next one. That is why it looks like a sudden jump from the outside and felt like slow grind from the inside.
And "success doesn't teach us much, failure does" is the line I would frame. Congrats on the run, well earned.
Thank you! Youβre spot on. And one more important thing is the character building aspect of it. When you go through that intense βcampβ, youβre not afraid anymore to do the same thing again (or even longer and more intense). And thatβs the most valuable skill.
Exactly, and I think the fear does not disappear so much as move. What was your ceiling becomes your floor, so the next camp does not feel braver, it feels normal, you just start from higher ground. That is the compounding turned on yourself: each run does not only ship work, it raises the baseline you run from next time.
Thatβs the most accurate description of it. π―
π₯²ππ......
That's incredible.
Please i want to ask you a question, i know that most of those things were hard and you decided to take them onπ, but how did you cope with procrastination and distraction ?,
what exactly made you to...you know get up and go do it and keep on doing it till it's done ?
And you did more even though the previous achievements could discourage you ?
Thank you!π
Dealing with procrastination is definitely one of the toughest things to deal with, especially when working full-time and all you want in your free time is to relax a bit.
But whenever that feeling shows up, I remind myself of my goals, theyβre hard to achieve even with hard work and consistency, without either of those, itβs literally impossible. So I need to show up every single day, no matter how I feel.
And about the previous achievements discouraging me, thatβs actually a great point. Itβs easy to say βoh thatβs good enough for now, letβs enjoy some free time now, I deserve itβ. But I have to remember that every hour counts, a well-used hour can change your whole year.
Thank you !!
Congrats! This is huge!
Thanks a lot!
congrats for this huge success...
Thank you!
Congratulations on such an impressive six months! What stood out to me the most wasn't just the list of achievements, but the mindset behind them. It's easy to admire the resultsβwinning hackathons, contributing to open source, writing articles, speaking at events, and taking on leadership responsibilitiesβbut those outcomes are really the product of consistent daily effort.
I also appreciate that you mentioned personal growth alongside technical progress. It's a good reminder that becoming a better developer isn't only about learning new technologies. Communication, discipline, collaboration, curiosity, and the willingness to keep improving often make an even bigger difference over the long run.
Your post is a great example that meaningful progress doesn't happen overnight. It comes from showing up every day, staying focused on your goals, and being patient enough to let small improvements compound over time. That's probably the most valuable lesson here.
Thanks for sharing your journey so openly. It's both motivating and refreshing to read a story that celebrates persistence rather than looking for shortcuts. Wishing you continued success, and I'm looking forward to seeing what your next six months bring!
Thank you for a great feedback!
Bravo!
You've improved and helped others along the way by focusing and gritting through difficulty during six months. This was super inspiring to read.
Do you have any articles about how you are able to make time for personal projects and building your career all while publishing somewhat regularly? I would love to read your tips for time management.
Great job on making such great progress in your life and in your work!
Thanks! I don't really have any articles specifically about that topic, but maybe one day I'll write one.
Great reminder that consistent execution compounds over time. The mix of building, writing, contributing to open source, and growing into leadership shows how diverse skills reinforce each other. Congratulations on an inspiring six months!
Thank you Anisha! And youβre spot on! The more diverse your skills are, the more they reinforce and complement each other, especially in todayβs era of software engineering.
Congratulations ππ. These are high end achievements. I didn't achieve most of my own goals, but seeing this as really encouraged me. Hard work really does pay off. I also don't believe in too much luck, all what has happened to you for instance is as a result of continuously showing up and doing the work, bringing the results that have come your way.
Thank you so much! Appreciate your feedback!
Good Work Bro. That's Great. Keep Up the Good Work.
Thanks buddy!
Your Welcome! Bro.
@georgekobaidze A great post indeed. Not only did you make a huge progress, you've also inspired a lot of software engineers (including myself). I know I can be in your position as well. I just have to work harder and be consistent. My current status is just over a year now as a self-taught full stack engineer and seeing genuine posts like this ignites a fire inside me. I have this feeling that I've already achieved great things and only time is in my way. Again, incredible read!
Thank you Elmar, really appreciate your comment. And you definitely can do even more. I'm not special in any way, so if I can do something, you can do it too.
Good luck on your amazing journey!
Such an inspirational story. Congrats on grinding six months and achieving all this. You are truly a hardworking individual and a person with utmost dedication. Hope to see you grow even more. Cheers to all your success and all the best for your upcoming ones as well.
Thank you so much for your kind words!
This hits different. Been on DEV less than two months and reading this feels like staring at a version of myself six months down the road.
"Success doesn't teach us much, failure does" β that line stuck. And the idea of setting the bar high enough that even when you miss it you've already outgrown your old limits.
The real opponent was never the person next to you. It's who you were yesterday. Your six months made me realize I haven't pushed hard enough. You set the bar. Now I know where to aim. π
Thanks for the comment!
Itβs amazing how simple the formula is. All you need is to show up every single day and have passion for what you do.
But itβs tough to follow.
Congratulations !!!!! I am so happy for you. A question if you may. What would you advice on the new generation of tech student in this AI era? T^T
I watched your videos I am genuinely impressed <3
Thanks, I really appreciate that!π
As for an advice, I would say, donβt rely completely on it, but also keep in mind that knowing how to use AI tools effectively definitely is a separate skill, which will be more and more relevant in the future. So try to be smart about it and practice as much as you can. Find learning materials, identify different models, tools, techniques, approaches, thereβs so much to learn itβs amazing. Donβt look at AI as your replacement cause itβs definitely not that. Quite the contrary actually.
Wow! Congrats
Thank you!
nice article and its motivating ππ»
Thanks a lot!
6 months locking in is incredible I wish i had that drive.But you've inspired me i'll try and give it a shot maybe something great will come of it.
Iβm glad my article helped. It doesnβt have to be 6 months right away. You can start with a little bit less than that and then build everything else on top of that.
Awesome buddy
Thanks mate!
One workspace for developers. Analyze, review, explain, test, and debug your code in one place.β
Hmmβ¦. π€
One workspace for developers. Analyze, review, explain, test, and debug your code in one place.β
Not sure what's that referring to but sounds good!π
I was referring to my AI project, BugDetectAI. Itβs built for developers and coding students to analyze code, detect bugs, review code quality, identify security issues, and help fix them before production. and if you are a developer even your friend developer and give a try link in bio π