startups and code

Practice, Resting, and Balance

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I'm coming to the end of my 30 day challenge of creating websites and daily practice takes time. The goal of this challenge was not to create the most stunning, mind blowing websites, but to get in the habit of creating something everyday, even if it is just a placeholder. That reminder helps me remember to keep producing, I can always go back and add, update, and fix. That is the iterative process.  Some days I put in a placeholder and did nothing else (a lot of the days actually), but I did something.

When you practice, you may learn something you didn't plan on learning.

I also realized that each day I would find a new concept that I would want to implement, a stickynav, an animation, an animation on scroll, etc... and I put a lot of those in my sandbox on the same site.

All of this practice has taught me to do a little each day. It also taught me to rest when I feel the need to rest. The most important thing I learned (again, and continue to learn) is balance in everything is what makes me happy.  I love to be heads-down on a project and just go.  However, doing that makes me exhausted and I lose productivity with lack of sleep.  I also don't like laying around and doing nothing for long periods of time.  It takes a little physical exercise, a little diet awareness, a little prayer/meditation, a little relaxation, a little work, and a little social time that makes a day complete and productive.

I know more and more of what I am capable of, I know I can create apps, can create websites, can manage big data, can build amazing development teams, and can help companies wherever I go. I keep learning new talents/skills over time from Rubik's cube speed solving, to a new magic trick, to a triangle choke, to a CSS animation, to a new automation tool.  Random as it seems, it is the combination of all of that which leads to a happy balanced life.

Practice is key for mastery

Practice what you love, and enjoy it. Create something that is amazing and remember to do something that helps others. It is the balance in life that makes the journey exciting.

Experience is key for balance

We have lived all over the US, (Seattle, New Orleans, Tampa, Atlanta, Brooklyn) and because of that we have the opportunity to know what else is out there, what is exciting for us, what is not exciting too.  Remember that you can always learn from an experience, sometimes what you want to do, and sometimes what you never want to do again.

My actions for you in this post:

  • Listen More
  • Practice Daily - your current goal
  • Do something physical, mental, and spiritual everyday
    • Physical - Do 10 pushups
    • Mental - Solve a Rubik's cube
    • Spiritual - Spend 15 minutes in prayer/meditation
  • Do at least one kind thing daily

Hope this helps you balance a little more and figure out how to enjoy your journey as much as I am enjoying mine.