Disclaimer 1: The most significant impact I wish for this article to have is on myself.
Disclaimer 2: The purpose of this article is to encourage a thoughtful slowdown for a beneficial reason.
Backstory
I always wanted to be knowledgeable in many different areas and have the qualities of a jack of all trades. I have a lot of respect for people who are very good at one thing; they are very important to the progress in their fields and have made a big contribution to the achievements of today.
But knowing that we only have one life motivates me to strive to be a jack of all trades. My drive to discover and acquire as much knowledge as I can stems from the fact that death is inevitable. At first, this method worked for me, but as I moved into my late 20s, I realized that learning at a slower pace could improve my effectiveness. I was anxious to learn as much as I could quickly because I believed that the more I learned, the more I could explore. Despite being reasonable, this way of thinking caused me to only understand many things on the surface, never reaching a level of comprehension that I found satisfactory—a subjective and personal standards.
So what, in my opinion, makes this "satisfactory level"? I'm studying to the point where I can confidently answer questions and mentor others on the subject, providing concise explanations and setting the foundation for the way they learn.
The Mistake
From the above 3 paragraphs you probably got the idea of the mistake I am about to talk about i.e learning too fast. I didn't believe that there is something called "learning too fast" until recently when I turned around to see how I got to where I am, don't get me wrong, I am very happy where I am but it is important to acknowledge the mistakes and better one self.
I just think that if I slowed down and took my time learning each topic or in my case, programming languages or a certain technology or concept, than I would have achieved more than what I did as of now, I failed to tell myself that it's not a race but a marathon. Going forward I want to set goals trying to slow myself down when it comes to learning and will not fall into the trap of FOMO(Fear of Missing out).
Next time you feel like you're not learning fast enough just tell yourself that it's okay, it's okay to take your time to learn. It's okay to slow down at times.
Top comments (1)
Thank you so much, Mo. It's my first time this week on this platform after a long-time break and seeing this first really strikes a cord.
For instance, if only I could live a second time, I personally would have learnt the art of writing instead of going in circles like you mentioned.
Howbeit, these lessons are to be learnt and thought to our posterity.
March on, Mo. You're doing great.