Draw Inspiration From Those Around You…
- March 6th, 2006
- Posted in IT / Computers . SpikedEffect.com Development
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Over the past few days, I’ve had a lot going through my mind, I see people moving on in life, progressing towards their goals and their dreams, and it made me realize am I really doing enough to reach my goals? There are smarter, more determined people in this world that will be aiming for the same goals I am, so what makes me stand out from the rest? What will make a company take a risk and choose me above the rest? At the moment I can’t even pick that out myself, and that is pretty worrying…
Yet again, it’s not too late to start, I’ve got a year left of university and the remainder of this academic year before I am unleashed on the real world, so maybe it’s time to step up the heat and work towards what, I know if I try hard enough, I can achieve. I’ve always been someone who sets real high goals from himself, but at times I have also lacked the willpower and determination to follow through with it. And I’m determined to change that, I can’t face seeing myself sink into a below par standard.
So what am I going to do? Well first off with one change in determination comes a change in lifestyle, I’ve been meaning for a while to get back on track with fitness, I’ve let myself be too lazy and the only one who has suffered is myself…
So first thing is first, I will decide how to dedicate a couple hours of my day to fitness training, with a lack of funds a subscription to a gym is out of the question, but it doesn’t mean I can’t change my eating habits and eat healthily, as well as doing the classic sit ups, push ups and bar weights. Sure it will take tremendous will power and determination to achieve but I must do it for my own good…
“When a company looks at a prospective employee they look for experience, determination and personal interest in the field. But how? Well it normally means a project in a person’s free time, something that shows personal development in the area…”
So that’s the physical side, now the academic side, I have some things I really have to sharpen up on, I have to look back on my matrix manipulation and matrix maths especially if I wish to pursue a career in gaming and programming. It’s not going to be easy as I’m not that fond of maths even though if I look back it does seem I had the ability… Again, its all down to determination…
But that’s just the start, when a company looks at a prospective employee they look for experience, determination and personal interest in the field. But how? Well it normally means a project in a person’s free time, something that shows personal development in the area… Sure I have knowledge in PHP, HTML, MySQL, Design Programs (Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Illustrator, Macromedia Flash & Dreamweaver), but really I need to hone up my skills in C, C++ & C#. C & C++ I have actually programmed in before, but not really enough to get a reliable grounding in a prospective employer’s eyes.
So I have a few projects I have ideas for, that will help me develop my skills as a programmer, which will probably mean my social life will begin to suffer… But if I am to achieve my goals then I have to do what has to be done… Of course I will do my utmost to ensure I do have a life outside of the world of computers, especially since I love my social life, but there are things you need to do to reach the goals in your life and make yourself stand out.
As time goes on, I will draw inspiration from those around me, people my age, or even in some cases younger, who are achieving so much in life, I look at the online communities like at web2Messenger, Mess.be & MsgPlus! which house some really talented individuals, TheBlasp, Aziraphale & Patchou as examples but of course not limited to. I’ve had the pleasure of speaking to both Az and TB and they are both good lads who put a lot of time and effort into what they do and who are sometimes given less credit then they deserve for what they do, but in a way they form part of my inspiration to show a level of what I can achieve if I put my mind down to it. So Az & TB if you ever read this cheers, and keep up the good work.
Another person who I have huge respect for is Hamlesh K. M. who is CEO of his own company which has grown over the years through his utter determination and hard work and who I can see doing hugely well if he keeps his mind to it. Hamlesh is hugely talented and also forms a huge part of my inspiration to succeed where I know I can, and being the good friend he is can only be plus in my life at the moment, so thank you Hamlesh if you ever read this.
“So as I tread on my new path towards my goals, I will not push aside what I have already learnt in life, I will use it to inspire me further, to make my impact in this cut throat industry and to achieve the goals I know I can…”
So as I tread on my new path towards my goals, I will not push aside what I have already learnt in life, I will use it to inspire me further, to make my impact in this cut throat industry and to achieve the goals I know I can…
I don’t think I can offer anything particularly inspirational, here, but my experience of life is that an awful lot of things are due primarily to luck. Neither TB nor myself gained any specific new skill before creating Web2Messenger in the same way that I doubt Patchou did before creating Messenger Plus!, TB did before creating StuffPlug or Inky did before creating Bot2k3 – It’s down to having a good idea and being lucky enough for that idea to be successful. I suppose having the enthusiasm to keep working on that project through difficult times helps, too.
Of course you do have to have some degree of skill in what you’re doing, but having a skill in something by no means makes you instantly successful. On the other hand if you have a good idea but don’t have the programming skills ot execute it it’s much easier to be successful with it – find someone who does have those programming skills and partner with them.
I’ve realised that I don’t really know where I was going with this comment, but I’ve found that I can relate with a lot of what you have said in this post, though I have no social life to speak of so that has never been a concern for me. I can see myself being in a very similar situation to yourself in 2 year’s time – I’ll hopefully be on a work placement year before spending one last year at university then having to find a job for the first time in my life. I’ve yet to work out how I’ve avoided proper employment for so long but I am more than a little concerned that my skills lie in an area that few people are interested in. Sure I can write website backends in my sleep but decent actual website designs are few and far between, and who wants someone who can only do half of the job?
The way that ever younger people are seeming to have the exact same skillset that I have is somewhat worrying, too. When I’m seeing people four or five years younger than me, still in their early teens, who can do the same stuff as me I’m left wondering where I’m going to be in a few years’ time when they’re in the job market at the same time as me.
Anyway I’ll shut up now, since this has ended up being quite a bit longer than I intended. Just keep working at it and you’ll have no problems. :)
I really don’t think theres anything special that makes me different from anyone else. Everyone has the ability to achieve whatever they want to achieve, it just takes that one moment, that thing, a spark, an incident, that something, to make them think “I can do more”. You are there, so where you go from here is up to you.
I have been in similar situations plenty of times in the past, feeling down that I am not achiveing anything. I differ from AZ though, in that I dont think its down to luck. Granted there will be an element of luck in things, but its not solely that. I have full faith that whatever will be, and whatever I am meant to do I will. I go through each day doing what I feel is right, and trying to be honest and ethical. Hasnt steered me wrong yet, karma comes around and goes around :)
There are times I wish I could pack it all in and be like you. Lucky with the ladies, lots of friends in your life, easy going and stress free. Infact I feel like that about 1000 times a day :) As you said it comes down to being determined. If you want to come down this road, trust me when I say, you can totally forget about your social life. I have no social life whatsoever. Thats my fault for not even attempting to keep some sort of balance, but hey :) I’ll become more social when I have lots of minions working for me – blatently not true, but I can keep kidding myself for now. Being alone, sucks. Loving what you do, rocks.