Sometimes I feel that I do a lot of work, but I don't make much progress. Part of that is lockdown. (Part of it is dealing with the MICT SETA, which means I really didn't make much progress.) And part of it is the need to remember one of life's lessons:
Success requires hard work and perseverance.
It's easy to forget
This is a fact of life. And the inspiration for hundreds of motivational slogans, such as:
"Don't think of it as failure. Think of it as time-released success".
"Neither success nor failure is permanent".
"Perseverance is the hard work you do after you get tired of doing the hard work you already did".
"Fall down seven times, stand up eight."
You know this. I know this. But sometimes it's easy to forget.
Pandemic pessimism
Since the pandemic, it seems to take twice the effort to get half the results. And that may be true, which means I have to double my effort. Or it might be pandemic fatigue. But I have needed a reminder that my hard work will eventually pay off.
Maybe you don't need a reminder. But most of us need the occasional motivation. So here is a tiny, personal success story.
A short story about halloween feet
First some background. I attend aerial fitness classes. Or I did, until lockdown. Now I have an occasional private class and work out at home.
I have never been able to point my toes in a way that even vaguely resembles what any dancer can do. (I'm not talking about ballet dancers, who take it to the extremes of dancing on pointe.) Thanks to foot injuries and broken bones, I have permanent nerve damage and weird pain. And my feet regularly cramp in strange positions. Which is why an aerial classmate nick-named them "halloween feet".
Recently I set a goal that requires pointed toes. I've never worked on this before, because ... halloween feet. I did not really believe exercise would help. But it can't hurt (actually it can - halloween feet again), so I've been doing daily foot exercises for weeks. I haven't noticed a change. But on Saturday my instructor commented on the improvement! And she said it inspired her in her own training! And that is why you get up the eighth (and ninth and tenth) time! (And a reason for all the exclamation marks!) It's a very small thing. But it reminded me of a very big thing: eventually, hard work pays dividends.
And now for the technical application
Robert Cecil Martin (aka Uncle Bob) is a software engineer and co-author of the Agile Manifesto. In 2015, he published an ethical framework for developers called "The Programmer’s Oath". This is Promise 6:
"I will do all that I can to keep the productivity of myself, and others, as high as possible. I will do nothing that decreases that productivity."
So this is more than just a fuzzy-wuzzy-feel-better message about toes. This is an application of Promise 6. If you are struggling with work or code, then I hope I've helped your productivity in some small way.
And if you wanted something more technical, please check out our blog post on "10 Common Myths About Cybersecurity".