Hey, Mirza. I can relate your pain and I'd like to share my own opinion:
First of all, this quote "If you don’t come out of this quarantine with a new skill, your side-hustle started, or more knowledge gained, that you never lacked time, you lacked discipline" is utter nonsense. We are living in difficult times where so many people around the world have lost jobs, are struggling financially, and loved ones get contracted with COVID-19 and even lost their lives. It takes so much more time and effort to stay composure in this situation. The guy who made that statement is less likely to be affected by the pandemic and may lack empathy and compassion.
Secondly, no one is obligated to own a portfolio or blogs to get a job in software development and be successful in the career. You often hear this advice because it helps you to come off as an expert which in turn will give you an edge on the recruitment over other candidates although how much of this is true depends on circumstances such as locations and the technologies they are covering. Personally, I am writing blog posts as a way of fighting Imposter's Syndrome and give back to the tech community who helped me to learn to program.
Thirdly, no matter what you do, there will be always someone who is better than you in terms of knowledge, skills, and amount of money they make. However, there will be also other people who are below you and it's all matter of perspectives. If anything, I suggest you compare yourself against the previous you. For example, is there programming concepts and tools you used to struggle so much and now you can use it easily? Or, is there a bug that you can fix it without having to google every single time? By thinking this way, you'll notice how much you know your stuff. You're a more capable person than you initially thought!
In the end, you should not listen to someone who frequently puts you down and instead looks for someone who lifts you and makes you a better developer and a better human being.
P.S: In case it's not clear: you are a GOOD software engineer!
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Hey, Mirza. I can relate your pain and I'd like to share my own opinion:
In the end, you should not listen to someone who frequently puts you down and instead looks for someone who lifts you and makes you a better developer and a better human being.
P.S: In case it's not clear: you are a GOOD software engineer!